Installing a charging station at work

[Vip]

Has anyone convinced their place of employment to install a charging station. I am looking to do this in the near future and wanted to get input from anyone who may have done this. Convincing my employer is vital to me as my commute is 65 miles one way. I could make it round trip without any problems but my concern is mainly during the winter when I will be driving with the heat on and in the snow. Also I mostly likely will be driving at least 75 mph (obviously not this fast in the snow) so this will decrease my range. Plus if I need to make a side trip I don't want to worry about range.

Would like to know what kind of charger was installed and the cost. And any other information you may want to provide would be helpful.

FYI: I do not have a Model S yet. Plan on getting the 85 kWh. I am debating over a few features as for the reason I have not ordered just yet.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Rest assured, though, that you won't need it with a 85 kwh. Nice to have, for sure though.

 

[hcsharp]

I think a lot of employers make the mistake of thinking they need to install the expensive networked charging stations (Blink, ChargePoint) when they usually only need the far less expensive units. You have to find out what will appeal to the decision makers. Do they want bragging rights for being green? Do they want to attract hi-tech oriented employees? Do they just want a ride in your car? Show them examples of similar employers who installed equipment and why they did it.

Has anyone convinced their place of employment to install a charging station. I am looking to do this in the near future and wanted to get input from anyone who may have done this. Convincing my employer is vital to me as my commute is 65 miles one way. I could make it round trip without any problems but my concern is mainly during the winter when I will be driving with the heat on and in the snow. Also I mostly likely will be driving at least 75 mph (obviously not this fast in the snow) so this will decrease my range. Plus if I need to make a side trip I don't want to worry about range.

Would like to know what kind of charger was installed and the cost. And any other information you may want to provide would be helpful.

FYI: I do not have a Model S yet. Plan on getting the 85 kWh. I am debating over a few features as for the reason I have not ordered just yet.

 

[GlennAlanBerry]

If you are going to get an 85 kwh battery, you really don't need to have a charging station at work to make a 130 mile roundtrip. Your rated range with a Standard Charge will be about 235-242 miles. Depending on how you drive, and the driving conditions (such as elevation change, temperature, wind, etc.) it is typical to get the rated range or better during normal driving. As long as you plug in at home each night (and have at least a NEMA 14-50 outlet to use), you should always have a full battery in the morning.

As far as how to convince an employer, hcsharp has a good response for you to start with. Even if you can just plug into an existing 120V 20 amp circuit at work, you should get 3 miles of range for every hour of charging. A 240V, 50 amp circuit should give you close to 30 miles of range for every hour of charging. Keep in mind that your UMC cable is only 20 feet long and Tesla recommends that you are no more than 15 feet away from a plug. You are not supposed to use an extension cord with the UMC cable either.

 

[Al Sherman]

Agree that with the 85 and a 130mile round trip commute you wont need charging at work. "Normal" driving is relative however. I wouldn't plan on rated range under any conditions at 75 mph.

 

[brianman]

Agree that with the 85 and a 130mile round trip commute you wont need charging at work. "Normal" driving is relative however. I wouldn't plan on rated range under any conditions at 75 mph.

Climate, elevation changes, traffic, time of day, and driving style all contribute.

One of my best "trip" consumption rates in CA was from San Diego to Los Angeles. For some of this trip I was going 75mph, but I started out cautiously at 55mph.

Here's the route according to bing (113.4 mi, 1hr 42min, "2hr 2min with traffic"):
http://binged.it/15zIgga

My distance via REST was 111 mi. and travel time was 2hr 4min.

Additional data: I left San Diego with 129 mi. rated and 111 mi. nav estimated distance. So 18mi buffer. I arrived with 19 mi buffer, so I beat the rated (not surprisingly). According to the screenshot I beat Ideal (281 < 283) as well. So I guess technically it's not "Imaginary" but it's still "definitely not typical".

 

[nspollution]

If you are really worried about the winter, a 120V outlet should be good enough. It will let you keep the battery warm and keep it from losing charge while at work.

But I doubt you need it.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I spoke with our building manager where I work and they have no issues with me charging in their garage (15amp). My P85 doesn't really need it, but I wanted to make sure it was OK if I needed to do it.

 

[David99]

My old employer provided free charging. Only 110 Volt, but since you have your car parked there all day, it's OK. They had their own parking structure so it was just a matter of using existing power and making some spots dedicated for EVs. Soon the EV owners outnumbered the 10 charging spots and they started to come in really early to make sure they got their spot. Others clearly did longer hours to charge a little more. Funny how a few cents saved on electricity can have such a positive effect on work morale LOL

 

[pete8314]

I convinced my Facilities guys to install something, it's certainly not glamorous, just a 110v, and NEMA 14-50 for me, but it does the job. Compared to the other inefficiencies in our buildings here, the electricity I consume is trivial (2 full charges a week, so <$5 at commercial rates), and the install cost was (I'm told) less than $250. This is a photo I took ages ago of the only 2 cars in the company that require charging, my S, and one of my guys' Volt.

As hcsharp said, it doesn't have to be a full-blown charging station, unless your company wants bragging rights. We did look at ChargePoint as they were doing a free charging station deal around this time last year, but needless to the say, the installation had to be completed by one of their contractors, and was about twice the price it should have been, so we passed on that.