Newbie question - Is it a good idea to get a Tesla in my situation?

[jbcarioca]

I think this sounds a good idea.

I was reading that, I shouldn't do this too often since I could potentially hurt the battery. Is this correct?

If you are near Pinecrest Gardens there is a CHAdeMO and also a Tesla HPWC there. CHAdeMO does zero damage to batteries, although the CHAdeMO adapter is $450 or so, and is a bit clumsy to use. You do have options.

Don't kid yourself. This is going to be a major hassle. It just depends on how "dedicated" you are.

When you move, be sure to tell the Assn and your neighbors why. The Assn is devaluing the property for pocket change. I'm sure the other owners would be interested to know.

I spent my first four months of tesla life without charging in my condo, just where the OP works. I beg to differ, it is NOT "a major hassle". It does require a bit of planning. In addition there are quite a few options for the OP that did not exist 1 1/2 year ago when I bought mine. Please do not exaggerate the difficulty.

 

[Electric700]

If you are near Pinecrest Gardens there is a CHAdeMO and also a Tesla HPWC there. CHAdeMO does zero damage to batteries, although the CHAdeMO adapter is $450 or so, and is a bit clumsy to use. You do have options.

I spent my first four months of tesla life without charging in my condo, just where the OP works. I beg to differ, it is NOT "a major hassle". It does require a bit of planning. In addition there are quite a few options for the OP that did not exist 1 1/2 year ago when I bought mine. Please do not exaggerate the difficulty.

Good points there.

 

[jbcarioca]

Good points there.

Thanks. I should add another two points.
1) When I bought my tesla everyone told me I was stupid to buy without home charging in place. That included the Tesla Dadeland delivery person. I ignored them. I am happy I did.
2) My situation is a trifle complex because I reside in Rio de Janeiro half the time and in Coral Gables the other half. My Tesla sits unused for months at a time. Initially I charged to 90% and let it sit, watching anxiously as the SOC dropped by 1% a day or so. Nerve-wracking! Zero problem, it never dropped below 30% when I was gone for two months.
Frankly I would not have done it, but just then a Norwegian S owner described his experience leaving his S unattended at Oslo airport without connection during January, and he still had 30% left when he returned. I only left mine in protected garage parking in Coral Gables, not outside in an Oslo winter,

The OP should quit worrying and get his car. It will work out nicely. He can park at my place and use my charger if he wants to walk three blocks.

 

[torcator]

WAW, 3 pages with great recommendations. All of the from real passion people.

It seems that Tesla not only creates the most advance cars, but also a great community that I'm really looking forward to be part.
So my last question, to take advantage of CHAdeMO I would need only the $450 adapter or anything else?

 

[jbcarioca]

WAW, 3 pages with great recommendations. All of the from real passion people.

It seems that Tesla not only creates the most advance cars, but also a great community that I'm really looking forward to be part.
So my last question, to take advantage of CHAdeMO I would need only the $450 adapter or anything else?

Only the adapter, nothing else. Remember that CHAdeMO is quite useful, especially if you like, for example, Pinecrest Gradens, but it really is not usually necessary any more in most areas, including South Florida. There are owners who will lend their adapters if needed. Actually, IIRC, Pinecrest Gardens has one on hand to lend, although they also have a tesla HPWC. Many CHAdeMO are at Nissan dealers who often have little enthusiasm for visiting Tesla, although the more remote the location the better the odds they'll welcome you.

So, my recommendation is to get your car first, see how you do and if you note a need for CHAdeMO then pop for one. If you reach that point there are used adapters often on sale here. Either way, if you do buy an adapter make sure to take it into the Tesla Service Center for a software update once a year or so. They can only be updated at an SC, unlike our cars!

 

[auger]

If you are near Pinecrest Gardens there is a CHAdeMO and also a Tesla HPWC there. CHAdeMO does zero damage to batteries, although the CHAdeMO adapter is $450 or so, and is a bit clumsy to use. You do have options.

I spent my first four months of tesla life without charging in my condo, just where the OP works. I beg to differ, it is NOT "a major hassle". It does require a bit of planning. In addition there are quite a few options for the OP that did not exist 1 1/2 year ago when I bought mine. Please do not exaggerate the difficulty.

It's a hassle.

He's coming from an ICE car, where he spends a few minutes per week refueling. Please don't understate the amount of time that he's going to spend hoping the EVSE is available, plugging in, walking to work, going back when it's done (or you've reached a parking time limit,) moving your car to a new parking spot. Rinse, repeat a few times a week. It's not difficult at all; it's time consuming.

Can it be done? Of course, I did something like this for over a year as many of have and still do. If you can charge at home in your own spot, an EV is more convenient than an ICE car. Otherwise, it is far less. Like I said, it just depends on how dedicated you are . . .

And I would do it again because I like the car so much. However, not everybody is as enthusiastic as we are. My sister has a Tesla, too. There is no way she would have one if she couldn't charge at home.

 

[jbcarioca]

It's a hassle.

He's coming from an ICE car, where he spends a few minutes per week refueling. Please don't understate the amount of time that he's going to spend...

And I would do it again because I like the car so much. However, not everybody is as enthusiastic as we are. My sister has a Tesla, too. There is no way she would have one if she couldn't charge at home.

I suppose this comes down to defining "major". Of course we have both lived with this situation, so we both have had hassles. I though they were minor and you seem to think they may be more than minor. Probably the fact that I actually like the odd excercise in planning could be a factor. Probably you're also correct that my inordinate affection for Cerise (the only time in my life I named a car) makes me prone to minimize the problem, just as you may have done.

However, the OP has several free L2 chargers with a couple of blocks of his office, and at least 3 HPWC as well as several CHAdeMO. Admittedly the parking locations where they are located are all paid parking, but cheaper than other paid parking in the same area. That is my context for thinking it would not be much of a hassle for the OP. BTW, zero of those were in existence when my Tesla arrived, they have all come during the last few months. So, I still see very little hassle for the OP.

 

[deonb]

50 mile daily commute...

This would be similar to not having a washer/dryer in your building and having to go to a laundromat all the time. And only owning 4 pairs of underwear.

Would you live like that? Some people do. I wouldn't.

 

[jbcarioca]

50 mile daily commute...

This would be similar to not having a washer/dryer in your building and having to go to a laundromat all the time. And only owning 4 pairs of underwear.

Would you live like that? Some people do. I wouldn't.

Imagine that the laundromat had current generation cleaning and drying, while the one in your building, if you could do it, was old-fashioned-agitator type that was inefficient, noisy, damaged your clothing and left soap that you had to rinse out by hand.

Now, IMHO, your analogy is set as a realistic situation.

Am I biased? Of course not!

 

[WannabeOwner]

to take advantage of CHAdeMO I would need only the $450 adapter or anything else?

CHAdeMO charging is, at best, half the speed of Supercharger. Thus if you need 30 minutes charge at Supercharger it will be 60 minutes at CHAdeMO. At that point it will be worth driving 15 minutes out of your way to get to a Supercharger (assuming the extra return mileage doesn't mean you are range-critical)

Dunno about over your way, but over here CHAdeMO chargers seem to only exists in ones-and-twos [on a site], so you might find that the only one/two that are on that site are already in use ... and given that they are at best 50% of Supercharger speed you are likely to have to wait 2x as long until they become free (actually, worse than that, if there are are 6 - 12 Tesla stalls, all full, then the likelihood is that one of them will become free sooner than a site with only 2x CHAdeMO chargers)

Also, over here, the service record of CHAdeMO chargers is not good - folk arrive to find that they aren't working (indeed, "haven't worked for months" in some cases), although that usually leaves the AC part of the charger still available, but at a very reduced charging rate. The PlugShare website is helpful in knowing what experience other people have had, and if lucky there will be a comment with a recent date, but its not interactive so therefore not perfect.

 

[Galve2000]

I'd buy a CHAdeMO adapter and use the EVgo charger at Coral Gables City Hall. You should be able charge at about 100 miles per hour there for days you need to charge quickly.

so at $0.10/min (+$14.95 monthly fee) each charge of roughly 250 miles costs about $15? is that how it works out in practice? if so, it may not be such a bad deal. if $45x4 = $180/month

assuming the $0.10/min holds and gives you roughly a full battery in 2.5 hrs. -- don't the ChAdeMo stations stop charging after 30 minutes? or is that no longer a limitation of the system?

 

[liuping]

so at $0.10/min (+$14.95 monthly fee) each charge of roughly 250 miles costs about $15? is that how it works out in practice? if so, it may not be such a bad deal. if $45x4 = $180/month

assuming the $0.10/min holds and gives you roughly a full battery in 2.5 hrs. -- don't the ChAdeMo stations stop charging after 30 minutes? or is that no longer a limitation of the system?

The on the go pricing is not bad if you use it a lot to offset the monthly fee. Also, you need to charge when your battery is fairly low to keep the charge rate at the maximum since it's by the minute. Charging to 250 Range will cost more, since it's slower after 80 % or so.

I'm not sure if all the stations still stop at 30 minutes. The on I've tried in San Diego did last month when I tried it, but that make only be for Flex plan users. Hopefully they change that to at least an hour.

 

[Galve2000]

Also, you need to charge when your battery is fairly low to keep the charge rate at the maximum since it's by the minute. Charging to 250 Range will cost more, since it's slower after 80 % or so.

I'm actually surprised that there would be significant Tapering at 80% from a 45kW charger... from a 120 kW, sure but 45 kW is only a little more than 2x what you can get from an 80 Amp dual-charger, obviously if u get up to 95 or 99% sure there would be taper, but at 80%? really?

 

[liuping]

I'm actually surprised that there would be significant Tapering at 80% from a 45kW charger... from a 120 kW, sure but 45 kW is only a little more than 2x what you can get from an 80 Amp dual-charger, obviously if u get up to 95 or 99% sure there would be taper, but at 80%? really?

The most Model S models starts to taper below 40KW right around 80%. The refreshed 90D seems to have a better curve for what ever reason.

Tesla Ups Supercharger Charging Rate For Refreshed Model S 90D & P90D - Video

The taper becomes more important when you are paying by the minute.