I'm scheduled to take delivery tomorrow of a model 3, but am having serious second thoughts. First because I found out it would cost between 5 and 10k to get the home we rent outfitted for charging. I thought it would be like seven hundred but the electrical panel needs updating. Second, just looking at my financing agreement the full cost of the vehicle sunk in. Whatever I save in gas will no way be covered especially if I can't charge at home. And I understand also that owning a Tesla without charging at home is a drag. I wanted the car because I drive a 240 miles round trip work 1-2 times per week, 32 weeks a year and I wanted a fun, safe car for the drive. And I like gadgets. But maybe I'd just be better off driving my Suburu. Thoughts?
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Having second thoughts
- Thread starter Fifthmonkee
- Start date
Charging at home might not require a full 48A of 240V... You can probably make it with a lot less power, you'd still be charging at home. I guess I'm saying it depends on how much your panel is full already... How many amps can you spare...
If you have a clothes drier, you can use that plug with a device that ensures only one is drawing power at a time, the drier or the car. That's just one option that doesn't require more from the box...
That's what I thought for my panel as well. But apparently there are skinny breakers that can double the slots without needing to replace your panel.
They are slightly more expensive than the "fat/wide" breakers. But worth it.
It cost me less than $1k in california to get 6 gauge cable installed with nema 14-50. With regular 120V I'm getting around 6 miles per hour charging for model 3 long range. With nema 140-50 (50 amps breaker), I'm getting 33 miles per hour.
It is still doable with regular outlet for my around 50 miles per day driving. Overnight charging works well before I had the 14-50 installed.
Ah well it depends what "panel full" means. If you're just out of room for new nreakers then yes, you can do that. If your power draw (stuff plugged in) is already too high that's something else. Only an electrician could tell you which is your real problem.
I would not own an EV if there was no home charging. Go with the Scoobie.
If you’re buying the car purely for saving fueling costs, you probably wont come out ahead vs keeping whatever car you drive. If you were in the market for a new car anyway, then the case for an EV becomes stronger.
Regarding charging, depending on your commute, even a 120v outlet can be feasible. I haven’t had any trouble with 120v charging for my daily routine.
Regarding your panel - what capacity do you have? If 200A or higher, odds are you do have room for some extra loads. Even if the panel is physically full, tandem breakers do exist.
Regarding charging, depending on your commute, even a 120v outlet can be feasible. I haven’t had any trouble with 120v charging for my daily routine.
Regarding your panel - what capacity do you have? If 200A or higher, odds are you do have room for some extra loads. Even if the panel is physically full, tandem breakers do exist.
So, as mentioned, you can look into skinny breakers, that double up your slots. You can look at sharing an electric dryer outlet, with a Dryer Buddy. You can also look at combining two 120V outlets on separate circuits, with a product called a Quick 220.
I wouldnt either, but my tolerance for inconvenient stuff that I can make "convenient" is pretty low. a 120v charging solution will not work for a 240 mile commute, and the other kicker is the OP stated "the house we RENT will cost XXX to get outfitted for charging"
Key word there is "RENT" not only is any investment the OP might make into charging of no long term benefit to themselves, but (and this is the big one) the owner of the property has final say on what they will allow to be done. Perhaps the owner of the property only wants to pay "their specific trusted electrician" for example, who states "you need a panel upgrade, period".
OP doesnt get to look at other options, other than perhaps researching it and suggesting. Of course, since its "rent" OP can always look to move elsewhere when their lease is up.
OP, if you thought you were going to "savings" your way to making this decision for the car, as in, you didnt need a new car but "the savings is too good to pass up", then you likely need to re consider. If your landlord is flexible and reasonable, perhaps you can look into what actually you can get for home charging. Too many people ask an electrician "What is it going to take for me to install a tesla wall charger that supports 60amp charging here?"
Any good electrician is going to quote you exactly that. "What its going to take for you to install a wall charger that charges at 60amps".
The ACTUAL question should be. What is the largest 240V circuit I can put in this panel for EV charging, that does not require any large expenses like panel upgrades or large infrastructure purchases?" Perhaps you find out that you can get a 30 or 40amp circuit, or something could be re purposed, etc.
Thats what you would do as the homeowner, anyway. The landlord, if not reasonable, can absolutely require something else. I would not go through with the purchase of the car if I could not charge at home, or, in your case, if I was not willing to move to enable home charging in a reasonable amount of time (4-6 months that would be for me.)
bo3bdar
Member
You need think carefully about the financing and whether you can actually afford the car. That's paramount.
I disagree with the other posters- for this scenario you can easily use 120V charging without having to do any fancy electrical upgrades or get permission from the landlord.
The key part here people are missing is that it is 1-2 times per week, not every day. Any Tesla can fully charge over 120V in about 36 hours. So if you don't need the car on back-to-back days, letting it sit and charge would not be a problem. Even if you do need it back-to-back for the 2nd day, you can always hit a Supercharger as needed.
Lastly, if this driving in to work, see if your work has charging available. Even if it's only 120V, you can also charge while working, and get enough range to make it a non-issue.
This is how I charge my car, and have the same problem that if I touch my electrical, I need to pay $10K for a panel upgrade.
On 120V, you gain somewhere around 5 miles of range per hour of charge. So overnight of roughly 10 hours, I get an easy 50 miles of added range, which has so far always been sufficient.
I disagree with the other posters- for this scenario you can easily use 120V charging without having to do any fancy electrical upgrades or get permission from the landlord.
The key part here people are missing is that it is 1-2 times per week, not every day. Any Tesla can fully charge over 120V in about 36 hours. So if you don't need the car on back-to-back days, letting it sit and charge would not be a problem. Even if you do need it back-to-back for the 2nd day, you can always hit a Supercharger as needed.
Lastly, if this driving in to work, see if your work has charging available. Even if it's only 120V, you can also charge while working, and get enough range to make it a non-issue.
This is how I charge my car, and have the same problem that if I touch my electrical, I need to pay $10K for a panel upgrade.
On 120V, you gain somewhere around 5 miles of range per hour of charge. So overnight of roughly 10 hours, I get an easy 50 miles of added range, which has so far always been sufficient.
EVRider-FL
Active Member
If you can afford to go through with the purchase, do it and see how it works out. If it doesn’t work out, you can probably get at least what you paid if you sell it within the next few months. You’ll lose your deposit if you back out.
I'd skip the hot tub, and use the repurposed breakers from the tub to put in a 240V outlet for the Tesla.
If I had a 240 mile round trip commute, I'd want to do it in a Model S/3/X/Y that could drive itself part of the way. There's gotta be some charging stations along the way, and you only really need enough for 120 miles each way.
If market conditions hold steady, you could buy it for 6 months and sell it for minimal loss if it doesn't work out.
If market conditions hold steady, you could buy it for 6 months and sell it for minimal loss if it doesn't work out.
Shelburne
Member
I see that you live in Atlanta. There must be some superchargers reasonably close to your home. You could always charge the car there once a day while on your commute. Yes, it will take about 30 minutes each day to charge the car, but it sounds like you really want one.
Buying a Tesla is worth it for a ton of reasons but saving money is not one of them.
Birdsfan
Member
There are extension cords that are rated for higher output, just Google the question. The outlet on the back porch is the simple solution you are looking for until you find a place of your own or a different place.
It's clear you should not buy the Tesla. You will spend a lot of money for something you may not like or fit into your life style.
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