Moving to Oahu, need recs

[starmarc]

Greetings,

I am moving to Oahu in September, temporarily staying in Ko Olina at a rental. I'm coming from So Cal, where obviously we have a ton of superchargers.

I have a dual motor long range M3 i got last December, and really, only charge at my house here in Cali with the wall connector at 48 amps averaging about 44mile/hour.

I will be working 25 miles away 3 days a week.

I actually am not familiar at all with public charging, as I have been spoiled out here with charging at home. If any one would be kind enough to give me some quick info on:

- Charging stations near Ko Olina that can accomodate a Tesla
- Typical charge times (miles per hour) at these charge stations
- Costs of charging
- Adapter I need (bear in mind, I have never charged on a non-super charger, so my knowledge of charging adapters is non-existent)
- Website/App that is useful for charging in Oahu

I would great appreciate any help, and thank you in advance for your time. Once restrictions are over, I'll even buy you a drink, LOL.

Thanks again!
-Marc

 

[Casper702]

Welcome to the island Marc.

I believe all the destination chargers in Ko Olina are only open to guests of the hotels.

The local electric company has a handful of fast chargers spread out across the island. To use those chargers you will need the Chademo adapter which runs about $350 from Tesla.
Cost to use the chargers range from .49-.53 cents per Kwh.

The nearest charger to Ko Olina is in Kapolei which is about a 10-15min drive. Check out the apps plugshare or greenlots for more information

 

[Brian808]

There is a Facebook group for KO olina residents. Maybe they can help. I live near the resort. Let me know if you have any questions about the area.

K'O Resort Social Page for Residents and Owners

 

[gmtom1]

Depending on where you will be living, your garage situation, and how much you'll be driving on the other four days you're not working, you might be okay with just using 110V at home. Standard household 110V charges at 4 mi/hour, which will add back 32-36 hours while you sleep. If charge while you're home (incl. non sleeping hours) you'll probably get 40-48 miles of range added back overnight. The downside is the higher home electricity bill, but that might be worth the hassle of finding and waiting at public chargers.

Ko Olina has charging stations, but as Casper702 said, they are only free for guests/customers of the hotel. Aulani has about 8 Chargepoint J1772 chargers in the self-parking lot that are frequently available, but parking is only free if you patronize the hotel.

 

[StephenM]

Not sure if Model 3's come with the J1772 adapter, but probably did as it's the most common plug in America. A lot of the plugs around town don't require anything special than that adapter, but some require you to create an account which you use to unlock the charging cradle. I suggest you make a ChargePoint account. I think it's still free. You can even download the app so you don't have to carry a card around. I think they charge about 23 miles/hour or so.

 

[starmarc]

Welcome to the island Marc.

I believe all the destination chargers in Ko Olina are only open to guests of the hotels.

The local electric company has a handful of fast chargers spread out across the island. To use those chargers you will need the Chademo adapter which runs about $350 from Tesla.
Cost to use the chargers range from .49-.53 cents per Kwh.

The nearest charger to Ko Olina is in Kapolei which is about a 10-15min drive. Check out the apps plugshare or greenlots for more information

Thank you Casper702 for the information, appreciate it. Funny, I actually never knew about the Chademo adapter until this forum, lol. BTW, I just checked on Tesla they are going for $450 now.

Do you use these Chademo adapters? I see these stations scattered around the island. How fast can you get a charge per hour using Chademo adapters? I am wondering if its even worth it to dish out $450.

Thanks again for the info!

 

[starmarc]

Depending on where you will be living, your garage situation, and how much you'll be driving on the other four days you're not working, you might be okay with just using 110V at home. Standard household 110V charges at 4 mi/hour, which will add back 32-36 hours while you sleep. If charge while you're home (incl. non sleeping hours) you'll probably get 40-48 miles of range added back overnight. The downside is the higher home electricity bill, but that might be worth the hassle of finding and waiting at public chargers.

Ko Olina has charging stations, but as Casper702 said, they are only free for guests/customers of the hotel. Aulani has about 8 Chargepoint J1772 chargers in the self-parking lot that are frequently available, but parking is only free if you patronize the hotel.

Thanks for the info, yah after doing a little research, I see every chargepoint on Ko Olina is at a hotel. And Aulani is closed, which probably explains why there's no chargepoint activity since March. On the other hand the Marriot Beach Club chargepoint showed activity recently, so I wonder if they are open. Though, it looks like its valet only?

Quick question, if you know the answer... I've heard residential electricity being much higher in Hawaii. If you charge at home using 110V, roughly how much more a month do you see your electricity bill go up? The reason I ask, is that I will be staying at a monthly rental in Ko Olina with an electricity bill cap, and we will be responsible anything that goes over the cap.

Thanks in advance for any info on this!

 

[starmarc]

Not sure if Model 3's come with the J1772 adapter, but probably did as it's the most common plug in America. A lot of the plugs around town don't require anything special than that adapter, but some require you to create an account which you use to unlock the charging cradle. I suggest you make a ChargePoint account. I think it's still free. You can even download the app so you don't have to carry a card around. I think they charge about 23 miles/hour or so.

Thanks Stephen, yah ChargePoint was the first app I downloaded to scout out potential charging spots around the island. Now that I am aware of the Chademo Adapter, I am now debating whether to spend the $450 to get it, or just rely J1772 adapter. And yes, my M3 came with the adapter. I literally found out today, searching through my trunk lol. Have been spoiled with a wall connector.

 

[Akikiki]

Sounds like you've not noticed the price of GAS-O-LINE here. Once you do, you will realize the higher electricity is only surpassed by the yet still higher gasoline prices.

We don't need to point out the obvious to you. Put your downtime towards finding a residence that has or will cut you a break for letting you install your own 240 and leaving it behind.

and Aloha.

 

[StephenM]

Thanks Stephen, yah ChargePoint was the first app I downloaded to scout out potential charging spots around the island. Now that I am aware of the Chademo Adapter, I am now debating whether to spend the $450 to get it, or just rely J1772 adapter. And yes, my M3 came with the adapter. I literally found out today, searching through my trunk lol. Have been spoiled with a wall connector.

I've never needed a chademo adapter as I usually charge at home or work and those HECO (Hawaiian Electric) stations are the only chademo chargers I'm aware of here and they only rolled out more recently. I second what Akikiki said above. You'll often find that the J1772 enabled chargers around here have a car already charging there, particularly Leafs and other Model 3's.

 

[Casper702]

Until I bought a house I charged almost exclusively at the HECO chargers. I found trying to use the free chargers around the island was a hassle because they were either always taken or broken.

Alot of time people will park in the EV charging stations but not actually charge their cars.

 

[Akikiki]

And if you are lucky enough to find an empty space, park there to charge, its not uncommon - its actually too common that someone will unplug your car from the charger. We've heard many reports from owners complaining of being robbed of their time to charge when they have the charge spot. Sometimes its people unplugging and plugging their car in, other times its also people being mischievous or jealous.

 

[Casper702]

At the Kapolei mall I have had people unplug my car and set the charger on the ground. They aren't unplugging your cars to charge their, they are unplugging just to be jerks

 

[starmarc]

Thanks Akikiki and Casper for the tips.

Are the HECO chargers usually open for the most part? And does any of the apps give a real time update if someone is charging there or not?

 

[Akikiki]

There's a HECO charger near my house. I can answer for it, but I can't for others. The one near me is usually empty. It used to be busy the first year it was put in. But once they changed the charge rate from hourly to the high kw rate, few use it.

 

[starmarc]

There's a HECO charger near my house. I can answer for it, but I can't for others. The one near me is usually empty. It used to be busy the first year it was put in. But once they changed the charge rate from hourly to the high kw rate, few use it.

So does the HECO charger require any membership or fees for usage? Or can I just pay it straight up like paying for gas?

 

[gmtom1]

HECO's historical residential electricity rates can be found on their website. For 2019, the average electricity price for residential "R" tariff service was $0.3104/kWh. You can do the math based on your driving style.

 

[gmtom1]

So does the HECO charger require any membership or fees for usage? Or can I just pay it straight up like paying for gas?

I believe the stations take either CC or OpConnect cards. Click on the station for payment details on the map here.

 

[Casper702]

I know the Kapolei and Pearl City chargers uses Greenlots to process payments. I ordered a greenlots RFID card that you just tap against the charger and it will bill your debit/credit card. You can get by with just using the Greenlots app but I find getting a card is easier.

 

[TimboSlice]

The local electric company has a handful of fast chargers spread out across the island. To use those chargers you will need the Chademo adapter which runs about $350 from Tesla.

I was going to try to message you versus bumping this thread, but I didn't see an option for it. Anyways, these adapters you mentioned are now $602 on Tesla's website. Is there non-Tesla branded ones that work OK do you know? I'm gonna be without a home to charge my vehicle at for a few months and the more options I have the better. I'll be taking delivery of my Model 3 by the end of this month.