I'd like to relay my experience of living with only a 120V charging option at home. I have a LR RWD built June 2019.
I bought my car on the 29th of June and started using it full time late July. In 4 months, I've driven more than 8000 miles, so I would consider my self an average driver - miles per month wise.
Number of times I've faced range anxiety: 1
Number of times I've went to a supercharger to top up when near home: 1
Longest road trip: 1300 miles round trip
Background on me: I drive about 35 miles one way to work about 12-13 times a month for work. I park at work with sentry mode on for 12 hours before I come back home. I used to, but no longer use sentry mode in my parking garage (just to avoid BS cars driving past activations that fill up the drive). My LR RWD averages about 4.6 miles per hour charge rate with sentry mode off on my 120V plug.
Tips for success from my experience:
1) Get the LR if you can afford it.
2) Always plug your car in if you're home. I don't sometimes for a day or two when I'm full and not anticipating any trips. I do this less and less since it takes less than a minute to plug in.
3) Don't forget your charging cord behind at your friends/family homes when travelling. I left mine behind at my parents' who live 2 hours away and that is the only time I had range anxiety. That's also the only time I have went to the supercharger to top up because I couldn't charge at home.
4) Know your non-supercharger plugshare options - these will typically be closer to you than the supercharger. I have one at my public library and I've went and hung out at the library to charge once. You can get a 100 miles back in a 3-4 hour window. This is helpful when you're down to less than a hundred miles and anticipate heavy driving over the next week without lots of time at home without charging options.
5) Don't use gas car just because you're having range anxiety. This defeats the purpose of a Tesla.
6) Don't be ashamed to ask your friends or family to allow you to plug in when visiting overnight. If you're staying overnight or most of the day, they probably know you well enough to not care. That extra 50-60 miles of charge will maybe get you home without having to supercharge.
7) Carry your J1772 adapter in the car, never know when you'll run into a charge you can use. I went for a massage and found that parking lot had a free charger. The massage was even more worth it LOL.
8) If you have the option, get the 240 V charger installed. You will get that money back in charging efficiency over maybe about 50,000-100,000 miles of home charging.
9) Since I have not done a true experiment, this is purely anecdotal. Your battery might last longer. I still have full 325 miles with zero degradation at about 5 months and 8000+ miles. To me this doesn't make sense, but I don't know many people with zero degradation with my amount of charge cycles.
10) Don't be rough with your charger cable. You will be using it everyday, unlike faster home chargers. Make it last. I always neatly fold it up or lay it on the ground in such a way to avoid tripping. Breaking one of these will cost as much as having had a faster home charging option.
Share your tips below!
I bought my car on the 29th of June and started using it full time late July. In 4 months, I've driven more than 8000 miles, so I would consider my self an average driver - miles per month wise.
Number of times I've faced range anxiety: 1
Number of times I've went to a supercharger to top up when near home: 1
Longest road trip: 1300 miles round trip
Background on me: I drive about 35 miles one way to work about 12-13 times a month for work. I park at work with sentry mode on for 12 hours before I come back home. I used to, but no longer use sentry mode in my parking garage (just to avoid BS cars driving past activations that fill up the drive). My LR RWD averages about 4.6 miles per hour charge rate with sentry mode off on my 120V plug.
Tips for success from my experience:
1) Get the LR if you can afford it.
2) Always plug your car in if you're home. I don't sometimes for a day or two when I'm full and not anticipating any trips. I do this less and less since it takes less than a minute to plug in.
3) Don't forget your charging cord behind at your friends/family homes when travelling. I left mine behind at my parents' who live 2 hours away and that is the only time I had range anxiety. That's also the only time I have went to the supercharger to top up because I couldn't charge at home.
4) Know your non-supercharger plugshare options - these will typically be closer to you than the supercharger. I have one at my public library and I've went and hung out at the library to charge once. You can get a 100 miles back in a 3-4 hour window. This is helpful when you're down to less than a hundred miles and anticipate heavy driving over the next week without lots of time at home without charging options.
5) Don't use gas car just because you're having range anxiety. This defeats the purpose of a Tesla.
6) Don't be ashamed to ask your friends or family to allow you to plug in when visiting overnight. If you're staying overnight or most of the day, they probably know you well enough to not care. That extra 50-60 miles of charge will maybe get you home without having to supercharge.
7) Carry your J1772 adapter in the car, never know when you'll run into a charge you can use. I went for a massage and found that parking lot had a free charger. The massage was even more worth it LOL.
8) If you have the option, get the 240 V charger installed. You will get that money back in charging efficiency over maybe about 50,000-100,000 miles of home charging.
9) Since I have not done a true experiment, this is purely anecdotal. Your battery might last longer. I still have full 325 miles with zero degradation at about 5 months and 8000+ miles. To me this doesn't make sense, but I don't know many people with zero degradation with my amount of charge cycles.
10) Don't be rough with your charger cable. You will be using it everyday, unlike faster home chargers. Make it last. I always neatly fold it up or lay it on the ground in such a way to avoid tripping. Breaking one of these will cost as much as having had a faster home charging option.
Share your tips below!