Living without home charging in downtown San Diego?

[twonius]

hey I'm looking at moving to little Italy but I'm not sure how I'll get buy with the charging infrastructure downtown.

I have about a 10 mile commute and there's a charger near work but not many buildings have charging in little Italy. Will I not have trouble finding public charging or should I rent a spot in a lot with chargers?

 

[Lloyd]

I count 12 stations in little italy that are public charging on plugshare!

 

[kort677]

living without home charging is doable but it is hardly a good experience. you'll waste a lot of time charging at public stations while people who can charge at home top their cars up overnight. the second best option is to be able to charge while at work. I'm assuming that the charger near work is a public charger, and 1. the owners of that charger may not appreciate their charger being your primary charger and 2. a charging space is just that, it is not a parking space for you to monopolize, your should charge and leave, if you can do that it might work.
the bottom line is that yes it is possible to live without your own dedicated charger but it isn't the optimum way to live with an EV.

 

[BertL]

I suggest you take a look at Chargepoint and Plugshare to see what options exist in the areas around you and where you frequent. From there you can determine the right adapters you'll need with your UMC.

Good luck with your move!

 

[bmah]

This situation isn't quite ideal, but I think you can make it work. Consider: If your commute is only 10 miles, that's about 100 miles a week. You ought to be able to cover all of your commute driving for a week on one charge no matter your battery size. Certainly you won't need to plug in every day. So charging might be a once or twice a week thing for you, not counting whatever you do on weekends / non-workdays. As @BertL suggested, see what your options are on Plugshare, et al. (I have a friend who drives a LEAF as a short-range commute car, no home charging possible, and he uses public chargers once or twice a week.)

Also, if you're only driving 20 miles a day, that's about 7 hours on a "normal" household 120V/15A outlet. Any chance you can just trickle charge somewhere? (I'm not familiar with the implications of "Little Italy" and why home charging seems to not be an option.)

Good luck!

Bruce.

 

[twonius]

I'm assuming that the charger near work is a public charger

Yeah here's the one near work. I figured occasionally getting a few hours in the morning or afternoon would suffice. Especially since i'd have to pay for parking there.
County Operations Center Visitor Parking | San Diego, CA | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare


Little Italy is a bit of a hole in the map, but a few blocks up there appears to be a decent public option.
Aladdin Parking | San Diego, CA | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

If I get desperate i can always patronize one of the hotels downtown for a while for valet charging. (Definitely sub-optimal)

 

[kort677]

This situation isn't quite ideal, but I think you can make it work. Consider: If your commute is only 10 miles, that's about 100 miles a week. You ought to be able to cover all of your commute driving for a week on one charge no matter your battery size. Certainly you won't need to plug in every day. So charging might be a once or twice a week thing for you, not counting whatever you do on weekends / non-workdays. As @BertL suggested, see what your options are on Plugshare, et al. (I have a friend who drives a LEAF as a short-range commute car, no home charging possible, and he uses public chargers once or twice a week.)

Also, if you're only driving 20 miles a day, that's about 7 hours on a "normal" household 120V/15A outlet. Any chance you can just trickle charge somewhere? (I'm not familiar with the implications of "Little Italy" and why home charging seems to not be an option.)

Good luck!

Bruce.

this isn't an attack on you but why is there this assumption that people only drive back and forth to work? how many people just drive to and from work with no other side trips? so while his daily commute might fit this schedule, he's better live his entire life along his commuting route or he could run into times when he'd need an extra charging session

 

[bmah]

this isn't an attack on you but why is there this assumption that people only drive back and forth to work? how many people just drive to and from work with no other side trips? so while his daily commute might fit this schedule, he's better live his entire life along his commuting route or he could run into times when he'd need an extra charging session

Sure you have a valid point, and that is why I qualified my remarks as only covering the OP's commuting (I mentioned that twice in my reply). He/she didn't give any other information on what other driving he/she might be doing. For all we know, the OP drives a thousand miles every weekend, but because he/she didn't mention that, we can't provide much guidance if that's really the case. But I stand by my comment that with a small amount of driving, charging every day isn't required, and using public charging stations (paid or free is irrelevent) might be viable.

I have some friends with a Leaf as their only car to do a short commute (probably 15 miles round-trip), no way to charge at home, but they hit up the CHAdeMO charger at Whole Foods once or twice a week. Personally I would not want to operate this way, but I've seen them do this for a couple years.

(OK this isn't the point, but during the work-week, all of my driving is drop-off-my-kid-at-school-go-to-work-go-back-home. What few errands I do during the week are indeed pretty close to my commute route. So I exactly fit the driving pattern you're so skeptical about. Weekends are a different story.)

Cheers,

Bruce.

 

[twonius]

have some friends with a Leaf as their only car to do a short commute (probably 15 miles round-trip), no way to charge at home, but they hit up the CHAdeMO charger at Whole Foods once or twice a week

For longer trips it seems surprisingly a bit easier to figure out (supercharge, charge at restaurants, hotels etc.). I figure grocery shopping / going to the mall would probably present some opportunities for top ups as well throughout the week. I may want to consider a CHAdeMO adapator eventually.

 

[K_style]

Does your work has charger? my work has 8 chargers and I am planning to charge during work.

 

[David99]

I had to do it (not in SD but in LA) for a few months. You can make it work, especially if your commute is short. But it's annoying having to look for a charger all the time. Many times they are occupied. Sometimes it's easier to get an outlet at your work place than dealing with public chargers.

 

[S'toon]

As I read it, you can request in writing for an EV charging station to be installed at your expense, as long as your rental includes parking.
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations for California Landlords

 

[twonius]

As I read it, you can request in writing for an EV charging station to be installed at your expense, as long as your rental includes parking.
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations for California Landlords

A friend of mine tried this with his building in Miami, they quoted him $6k

 

[gaswalla]

Being able to charge every night at home is one of the biggest advantages of tesla vs ice. If you are at the mercy of public charging, the experience will be so negative, that even I would say it's better to get a primitive car instead of a Tesla.
Maybe if a supercharger opens up in the mission valley area, as rumored, you'd find it manageable.

 

[David29]

After 9 months of living with a Model S while living in a condo with no charging at home, my advice is to try to be certain of your arrangements before you commit to the move. I have the good fortune to live only a mile or two from a Tesla supercharger, and yet it is still quite annoying and wasteful of time to have to go elsewhere to charge. (I am, however, close to a solution -- I think.)
As one or two others said above, it can be difficult to live with. And if the chargers you have access to are level 2 chargers, charging will take so long that it is impractical unless you can either (1) do it while at work, or (2) do it while parked there at night, and easily walk to your house. There will likely still be times when you won't be able to do what you want when you want to, because the car won't be ready.
So, be sure of the arrangements before you move.