Home chargers offered up to EV travelers

[Tomasz]

That said, I still think there's a lot of merit to having a dense, distributed network of home-based charging stations available to the public; I'm a big believer in the PlugShare concept. Of course, the ideal, shared charging stations will be those that can be reached without the host having to open up their garage.

Home chargers will always bring in privacy and safety concerns.

IMHO we should lobby to transition the whole infrastructure out of public L2 charging and into three layered model:

1. Home charging as the base of it all. I believe car manufacturers are neglecting that part but not stressing hard enough how important on overall EV owning experience is the ability to leave your parking spot with "full" battery every morning. By parking spot I mean the spot you keep your car over night. This limits situations when you need/want additional charging pretty much to two cases:

2. Daily commuting when you might need/want to recharge at work. This can/should be taken care of by widespread availability of L1 spots (regular outlets). Even US L1 (1.2kW/h) provides enough charge over 8-9h you're at work to completely cover your commute. And installing electrical outlets is dirt cheap compared to even basic L2 stations.

3. Long distance travel - this should be covered by DCFC station at gas stations, rest areas/oasis and supplemented with L2/L3 at hotels and other overnight staying places.

When I travel I don't want to be searching for somebody's house somewhere 10 miles from the interstate that will take me 20 minutes to get due to 25mph speed limit.

When I go visit friends - I leave my house with full charge, don't want to start the visit from 'sorry, can I plug in?' or 'hey you're neighbor is plugsharing, I'll be right back, just have to park my car there'.

 

[hpartsch]

I agree that getting more DC charging stations out there is a great thing to focus on. Just yesterday, I sort of just voted with my dollars by purchasing a Tesla CHAdeMO adapter...

That said, I still think there's a lot of merit to having a dense, distributed network of home-based charging stations available to the public; I'm a big believer in the PlugShare concept. Of course, the ideal, shared charging stations will be those that can be reached without the host having to open up their garage.

Suppose someone buys a new Tesla (or other EV) and hasn't yet gotten home charging installed. For a price, it may be very helpful if they can charge their EV somewhere close in the neighborhood, rather than waiting around for an hour to use a CHAdeMO/CCS charger at a gas station (assuming it isn't in use or blocked). Many of us would be willing to help new EV owners for a limited duration even if we only break even on costs. Further, such an arrangement could be a long term solution for some apartment dwellers, provided the charging host is able to make enough extra money to compensate for a stranger parking in their driveway on an ongoing basis.

Or suppose an EV owner is visiting family or friends in another city. Being able to charge at or near one's destination is preferable, in my experience, to having to make an extra stop (or two) at a Supercharger or CHAdeMO/CCS charger. This is especially the case during busy travel times such as long weekends when some Superchargers may have lines.

I'm curious -- how quickly does your Tesla charge with the CHADemMO adapter? What version is your pack & do you have dual chargers (does either even matter with DC)?

 

[Rocky_H]

Well, I can't say I'm excited about the direction this is going with people trying to figure out how to charge each other for being neighborly. Involving money just adds weirdness to being friendly.

 

[TexLaw]

Well, I can't say I'm excited about the direction this is going with people trying to figure out how to charge each other for being neighborly. Involving money just adds weirdness to being friendly.

I can't agree more, and I was thinking the same thing the whole time I was reading this thread. I posted our NEMA 14-50 and 120V wall outlet on PlugShare and never would expect anything for helping someone out. I sure as heck wouldn't take cash. The only thing I would ask is for them to pay it forward and add their home to PlugShare if they haven't already, even if all they have is an outdoor wall outlet. That might turn out to be just the oasis someone needs to make it.

I thought that's what PlugShare was all about when it came to residences. I figure that anyone who put their home on PlugShare has done so to lend a hand to someone in need, not to take advantage of a situation for gain.

Of course, I'm a hypocrite about all this. Were I ever to charge at someone's home, I would offer something to return the favor. Dyed in the wool Texan and all that . . . .

 

[Imafrog]

I'm curious -- how quickly does your Tesla charge with the CHADemMO adapter? What version is your pack & do you have dual chargers (does either even matter with DC)?

It depends on the site. I got from 211 to 244 km/hr ( 126 to 146 m/hr), about half of a Supercharger. Well worth it when there are no Superchargers. Here, in the province of Quebec, we have a good network of Chademo and it is growing.
I have dual chargers, but it is not required for DC, only for regular L2 that have more than 40 amps ( some Sun Country and ChargePoint)

 

[Manzacoty]

Well, I can't say I'm excited about the direction this is going with people trying to figure out how to charge each other for being neighborly. Involving money just adds weirdness to being friendly.

I made the suggestion but for the opposite reason. I wanted to pay someone for their use. My home is listed and is always free to someone in need.

 

[Rocky_H]

I made the suggestion but for the opposite reason. I wanted to pay someone for their use. My home is listed and is always free to someone in need.

You're always welcome to offer whatever you want if you want to, but the suggestion to make it a network of monitored and metered units creates that uncomfortable obligated feeling.

 

[abasile]

When I go visit friends - I leave my house with full charge, don't want to start the visit from 'sorry, can I plug in?' or 'hey you're neighbor is plugsharing, I'll be right back, just have to park my car there'.

If I'm going to being visiting somewhere for hours, and the round trip is beyond the full charge range of my car, then I'd prefer to charge at or very near my destination. This ensures that I won't have to detour for a DC charger (including Superchargers), potentially wait in line for said DC charger, or wait at all for the charge. If the destination charge happens to occur at a neighbor's house that's on PlugShare, then great. I'd be able to initiate the charge before walking over and starting the visit with my friend.

I made the suggestion but for the opposite reason. I wanted to pay someone for their use. My home is listed and is always free to someone in need.

Yes, exactly. I am happy to share my charging station with anyone in need and am really not worried about the cost of the electricity. However, I'd like to be able to pay a fair price to charge at others' homes, when that's the most convenient option, not necessarily because it's an emergency and I'm about to run out of charge, without feeling that I'm imposing. Presumably anyone who lists a price to charge at their home would be willing to support this kind of usage from time to time. Also, even if I were to list a price for my home, I'd be happy continuing to let people charge for free when they're really in need.

I'm curious -- how quickly does your Tesla charge with the CHADemMO adapter? What version is your pack & do you have dual chargers (does either even matter with DC)?

I have an 'A' pack (sort of - I actually have a loaner pack right now due to a fault in my 'A' pack) and only a single charger, though that makes no difference with CHAdeMO. Honestly, I haven't even tried my new CHAdeMO adapter yet, though I've used CHAdeMO 100+ times in my 2011 LEAF. It maxes out at 50 kW, or lower with some chargers, so it might be roughly half the speed of Supercharging.

 

[timk225]

A lockable TIP box with a slot in it, right next to the covered (with a small roof) HPWC in the front yard, seems like a good idea.

 

[boaterva]

I have to add... I had two HPWCs installed on Friday, put that fact on Plugshare, and Saturday AM (when the temperature dropped from the 70s earlier this week in NoVA to the 20s and 30s), I had someone message me to see if they could drop by! I was happy to help someone whose Tesla was low from sitting out all day at a soccer match, and I also got a chance to test the new setup. Win-win...

As for payment, he asked, but, of course not. For 40 minutes of power, it was under $1. (48 A of 240 V....)

BTW, this was a MS 60, so, perhaps one more vote for larger packs if you are doing long trips in cold weather? (This was someone that was down for the weekend from near Philly.)