Not able to charge at home....new perspective on EV ownership.

[TW14 9LF]

First, a bit of background. 4½ years ago when I bought my first electric car, I knew that I had to have a way to charge it at home. With a 55 mile round-trip commute, and a range of 75 miles, charging every day was a necessity, and I didn’t want to have to bother with having to find a public charger. So, before I purchased my car, I updated the infrastructure in my home to allow me to charge in the garage at night. Returning home with <5 miles range remaining wasn’t an issue, because I knew that I could plug the car in and magically, in the morning, the “tank” was full again.

About a year ago, we replaced the Focus Electric with a Tesla LR. Now that I have >300 miles range, I still plug in every night. I only charge to 80% now, unless I’m going somewhere that requires the longer range. Having this capability has made owning an EV seamless. In fact, in the 11 months I’ve owned my Tesla, I had never charged it other than at home until recently.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago…..my wife and I decided to do a major remodel on our home. Fortunately we have a second home available to stay in while our primary home is being re-done. However, the second home does not have off-street parking, and there is no way to re-charge the car in the close proximity. Plus, my commute has increased from 55 to 64 miles round-trip (in the opposite direction). So, PlanA was to charge the car every third or fourth day at my destination, a Metro Train Station in Norwalk. Go to plug in, but those chargers don’t work; they haven’t worked for months, and no amount of complaining has resulted in anybody fixing them. So, Strike 1. No problem, I think…..we have two dozen or so Chargepoint chargers at work. So, every third or fourth day, I’ll bite the bullet and drive the entire way to work, rather than ride the train. Everything works great….for three hours, when I get a notification on my phone that I’ve exceeded my maximum charge time, and need to move my car or I’ll begin to incur parking charges. I’ve gained about 110 miles of range. Roundtrip to work is 95 miles. Not much net gain. Strike 2. So, Plan C….this is Southern California, and there are numerous Supercharger networks between my office, the train station, and where I’m saying. I’ll have my pick of stations. But, what I forget is that there are WAY more Teslas than Supercharger slots here in SoCal. Every station I look at is full. So, I pick one and drive over, with about 11% charge remaining. There are at least 10 cars waiting ahead of me. I wait patiently, and after about 40 minutes, it’s my turn. I plug in, then get a note that because I’m at a high volume station, I’m limited to 80% charge. So, instead of having >300 miles range, I’m only going to get 240 or so. About 40 minutes after starting the charge, I’m at 80%, and I leave. So, including the time to drive from the highway to the charger, waiting in line, charging, and driving back, I’ve added > 1½ hours to my already long commute. And I’ll have to do this every three days. Not quite Strike 3, but close.

Now, why am I complaining about this, and writing such a long message? I guess as a warning to anybody considering purchasing a Tesla (or any EV for that matter), and thinking they will be relying on public charging rather than having a dedicated place to “refuel”. You need to ask yourself these questions:

1) How many options do I have to charge my car?
2) How much time does it take to get from my normal commute route to the charging station?
3) How busy is the station? Will I have to wait to get a charger?
4) Once I’m at the station, will I be able to completely charge? Or will I be limited in the amount of time I can stay?
5) How often will I have to do this routine?

Sorry for the long-winded message, and for those that have made it this far, thanks for reading. Fortunately, I’ve only got to do this for another 6 weeks or so. And when I’m done, I’ll not only have my home charging station back to use, my house will be beautiful inside (thanks to my wife’s interior design skills, and my contractor’s contracting skills). And I won’t have to rely on public charging anymore, and won’t have anything to complain about with my Tesla.

Absolutely love the car, by the way!! Still the best car I’ve ever driven.

Thanks for reading….

Keith

 

[eprosenx]

First, a bit of background. 4½ years ago when I bought my first electric car, I knew that I had to have a way to charge it at home. With a 55 mile round-trip commute, and a range of 75 miles, charging every day was a necessity, and I didn’t want to have to bother with having to find a public charger. So, before I purchased my car, I updated the infrastructure in my home to allow me to charge in the garage at night. Returning home with <5 miles range remaining wasn’t an issue, because I knew that I could plug the car in and magically, in the morning, the “tank” was full again.

About a year ago, we replaced the Focus Electric with a Tesla LR. Now that I have >300 miles range, I still plug in every night. I only charge to 80% now, unless I’m going somewhere that requires the longer range. Having this capability has made owning an EV seamless. In fact, in the 11 months I’ve owned my Tesla, I had never charged it other than at home until recently.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago…..my wife and I decided to do a major remodel on our home. Fortunately we have a second home available to stay in while our primary home is being re-done. However, the second home does not have off-street parking, and there is no way to re-charge the car in the close proximity. Plus, my commute has increased from 55 to 64 miles round-trip (in the opposite direction). So, PlanA was to charge the car every third or fourth day at my destination, a Metro Train Station in Norwalk. Go to plug in, but those chargers don’t work; they haven’t worked for months, and no amount of complaining has resulted in anybody fixing them. So, Strike 1. No problem, I think…..we have two dozen or so Chargepoint chargers at work. So, every third or fourth day, I’ll bite the bullet and drive the entire way to work, rather than ride the train. Everything works great….for three hours, when I get a notification on my phone that I’ve exceeded my maximum charge time, and need to move my car or I’ll begin to incur parking charges. I’ve gained about 110 miles of range. Roundtrip to work is 95 miles. Not much net gain. Strike 2. So, Plan C….this is Southern California, and there are numerous Supercharger networks between my office, the train station, and where I’m saying. I’ll have my pick of stations. But, what I forget is that there are WAY more Teslas than Supercharger slots here in SoCal. Every station I look at is full. So, I pick one and drive over, with about 11% charge remaining. There are at least 10 cars waiting ahead of me. I wait patiently, and after about 40 minutes, it’s my turn. I plug in, then get a note that because I’m at a high volume station, I’m limited to 80% charge. So, instead of having >300 miles range, I’m only going to get 240 or so. About 40 minutes after starting the charge, I’m at 80%, and I leave. So, including the time to drive from the highway to the charger, waiting in line, charging, and driving back, I’ve added > 1½ hours to my already long commute. And I’ll have to do this every three days. Not quite Strike 3, but close.

Now, why am I complaining about this, and writing such a long message? I guess as a warning to anybody considering purchasing a Tesla (or any EV for that matter), and thinking they will be relying on public charging rather than having a dedicated place to “refuel”. You need to ask yourself these questions:

1) How many options do I have to charge my car?
2) How much time does it take to get from my normal commute route to the charging station?
3) How busy is the station? Will I have to wait to get a charger?
4) Once I’m at the station, will I be able to completely charge? Or will I be limited in the amount of time I can stay?
5) How often will I have to do this routine?

Sorry for the long-winded message, and for those that have made it this far, thanks for reading. Fortunately, I’ve only got to do this for another 6 weeks or so. And when I’m done, I’ll not only have my home charging station back to use, my house will be beautiful inside (thanks to my wife’s interior design skills, and my contractor’s contracting skills). And I won’t have to rely on public charging anymore, and won’t have anything to complain about with my Tesla.

Absolutely love the car, by the way!! Still the best car I’ve ever driven.

Thanks for reading….

Keith

Thanks for the post! I totally agree... Public L2 stations don’t really cut it for anything other than convenience charging. If you can’t rely on them and say park your car there all day then they are not useful.

Not having rock solid charging at home OR at work would make EV ownership really difficult (at least if you have a long commute for sure).

This will get better though. Frankly, once the “unlimited supercharging for free” cars die out there will be less competition for the supercharger stations and hopefully they cover their costs and so ramping the network larger won’t be a financial burden for Tesla. For them to be really useful they need to not have lines.

Also, once there is a financial model that works, private entities will put in their own fast charge stations (there needs to be the right tech though and at the right price first). They will be just like gas stations...

For your current situation though: Are you positive there is *nothing* around you could charge with? No option to temporarily run an extension cord across the sidewalk? Even 120v charging will recover a good amount of range overnight. Maybe enough to greatly reduce your need to charge elsewhere.

How about any other residences or businesses nearby? I personally can wire myself into just about anything with a meter base. Maybe make friends (or financially incentivize) someone to let you plug in on their property?

 

[Piwacet]

I also have a 3 hour limit for charging at work. If I need it, I park in an EV spot in the morning, charge for almost 3 hours, then move my car. Then, later in the day when I estimate I'm about 3 hours from being able to leave work, I go out and move my car back the the charger and charge for another 2.5 hours or so. Since there's a 3 hour limit and it's enforced with a hefty fee, the charging spots do tend to be available.

Not very convenient, but just at thought.

 

[KenC]

Wow, what combination of circumstances. So, there's no way to run an extension cord from 2nd home to car?

 

[KJD]

Fast forward to a few weeks ago…..my wife and I decided to do a major remodel on our home. Fortunately we have a second home available to stay in while our primary home is being re-done. However, the second home does not have off-street parking, and there is no way to re-charge the car in the close proximity.

Why is there no off street parking ?

 

[ucmndd]

Just FYI, all you need to do to get around the 80% limit at busy stations is move the slider after you start charging.

 

[dhrivnak]

First, a bit of background. 4½ years ago when I bought my first electric car, I knew that I had to have a way to charge it at home. With a 55 mile round-trip commute, and a range of 75 miles, charging every day was a necessity, and I didn’t want to have to bother with having to find a public charger. So, before I purchased my car, I updated the infrastructure in my home to allow me to charge in the garage at night. Returning home with <5 miles range remaining wasn’t an issue, because I knew that I could plug the car in and magically, in the morning, the “tank” was full again.

About a year ago, we replaced the Focus Electric with a Tesla LR. Now that I have >300 miles range, I still plug in every night. I only charge to 80% now, unless I’m going somewhere that requires the longer range. Having this capability has made owning an EV seamless. In fact, in the 11 months I’ve owned my Tesla, I had never charged it other than at home until recently.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago…..my wife and I decided to do a major remodel on our home. Fortunately we have a second home available to stay in while our primary home is being re-done. However, the second home does not have off-street parking, and there is no way to re-charge the car in the close proximity. Plus, my commute has increased from 55 to 64 miles round-trip (in the opposite direction). So, PlanA was to charge the car every third or fourth day at my destination, a Metro Train Station in Norwalk. Go to plug in, but those chargers don’t work; they haven’t worked for months, and no amount of complaining has resulted in anybody fixing them. So, Strike 1. No problem, I think…..we have two dozen or so Chargepoint chargers at work. So, every third or fourth day, I’ll bite the bullet and drive the entire way to work, rather than ride the train. Everything works great….for three hours, when I get a notification on my phone that I’ve exceeded my maximum charge time, and need to move my car or I’ll begin to incur parking charges. I’ve gained about 110 miles of range. Roundtrip to work is 95 miles. Not much net gain. Strike 2. So, Plan C….this is Southern California, and there are numerous Supercharger networks between my office, the train station, and where I’m saying. I’ll have my pick of stations. But, what I forget is that there are WAY more Teslas than Supercharger slots here in SoCal. Every station I look at is full. So, I pick one and drive over, with about 11% charge remaining. There are at least 10 cars waiting ahead of me. I wait patiently, and after about 40 minutes, it’s my turn. I plug in, then get a note that because I’m at a high volume station, I’m limited to 80% charge. So, instead of having >300 miles range, I’m only going to get 240 or so. About 40 minutes after starting the charge, I’m at 80%, and I leave. So, including the time to drive from the highway to the charger, waiting in line, charging, and driving back, I’ve added > 1½ hours to my already long commute. And I’ll have to do this every three days. Not quite Strike 3, but close.

Now, why am I complaining about this, and writing such a long message? I guess as a warning to anybody considering purchasing a Tesla (or any EV for that matter), and thinking they will be relying on public charging rather than having a dedicated place to “refuel”. You need to ask yourself these questions:

1) How many options do I have to charge my car?
2) How much time does it take to get from my normal commute route to the charging station?
3) How busy is the station? Will I have to wait to get a charger?
4) Once I’m at the station, will I be able to completely charge? Or will I be limited in the amount of time I can stay?
5) How often will I have to do this routine?

Sorry for the long-winded message, and for those that have made it this far, thanks for reading. Fortunately, I’ve only got to do this for another 6 weeks or so. And when I’m done, I’ll not only have my home charging station back to use, my house will be beautiful inside (thanks to my wife’s interior design skills, and my contractor’s contracting skills). And I won’t have to rely on public charging anymore, and won’t have anything to complain about with my Tesla.

Absolutely love the car, by the way!! Still the best car I’ve ever driven.

Thanks for reading….

Keith

It sounds like it time to petition your employer to add some L2 plugs or at least some outlets.

 

[RichardL]

Agree completely with the OP - I recently went through nearly 5 months without in-home charging during a protracted move from the Bay Area to San Diego.

I am lucky in that my time is flexible, so I could find the best times for Superchargers. For a few weeks I had 110V charging available - better than nothing, but not THAT much better!

I was so glad to get into my new place and have the proper charging plug installed - without that, and Superchargers for travel, I think EV usage would be a very big ask for many people.

 

[abasile]

No problem, I think…..we have two dozen or so Chargepoint chargers at work. So, every third or fourth day, I’ll bite the bullet and drive the entire way to work, rather than ride the train. Everything works great….for three hours, when I get a notification on my phone that I’ve exceeded my maximum charge time, and need to move my car or I’ll begin to incur parking charges.

Why are the Chargepoint chargers at your work limited to only three hours? Is there a shortage of chargers? Perhaps it might make sense to try to work with your employer to modify that policy. I wonder if Chargepoint could enforce a three hour limit during peak usage hours, and have no time restrictions earlier in the morning and/or later in the evening. This could improve overall utilization of the chargers.

 

[doghousePVD]

This will get better though. Frankly, once the “unlimited supercharging for free” cars die out there will be less competition for the supercharger stations and hopefully they cover their costs and so ramping the network larger won’t be a financial burden for Tesla. For them to be really useful they need to not have lines.?

I’m not in CA, but what evidence is that the free S and X charging is the problem? I thought the overwhelming problem were 3s without home charging? Everybody I know always prefers home charging even when they have free available at SC.

 

[Need]

Go to work earlier. Most superchargers in SoCal has rooms to charge at 5am
My commute is 128 miles roundtrip, so I have to charge at home every night. One time I forgot to plug in... I had to charge at a supercharger near work in order to make it home. It was empty.... I left home at 4am every day.

 

[ajdelange]

Not sure the CHAdeMO adapter is out for the 3 but there are tons of CHAdeMO stations strewn all about So Cal. I have found them to be a good alternative to Tesla chargers in places where Tesla charging is not available. The bloody adapter is $450 but you may want to look into this.

And yes, were I unable to charge at home that would very much change my perspective on EV ownership.

 

[abasile]

Not sure the CHAdeMO adapter is out for the S but there are tons of CHAdeMO stations strewn all about So Cal. I have found them to be a good alternative to Tesla chargers in places where Tesla charging is not available. The bloody adapter is $450 but you may want to look into this.

The CHAdeMO adapter works with the S, 3, and X. But the downside of charging a Tesla on CHAdeMO is that the charge rate maxes out at 50 kW, assuming the CHAdeMO station is available and working. If you have something else to do, like grocery shopping or the gym, near a CHAdeMO then that could work well. Otherwise, if you'd just be stuck waiting, then going to a Supercharger in off hours might be a better use of your time.

 

[Cycle11111]

A few ideas: charge at home on 110V (10hrs will get you 40-60miles), get a dryer extension cord and plug into your dryer plug, add a simple 220V plug yourself and get 10-12mph per hour (easy to do or get an electrician to add)

 

[ajdelange]

The real disadvantage of CHAdeMO charging, IMO is the unconscionable prices charged by some of the operators. I have not found the 50 kW limit to be a problem when I use them in what has come to be my normal mode of charging: grab a few kW when handy. This may or may not work out for the poster. Just a suggestion for something to consider.

 

[camalaio]

Absolutely. In all the EV conversations that arise, I make sure to point out that unless you have some form of at-home charging (120V is fine for many people), EVs currently are a hassle or plainly make no sense to own for the reasons you mentioned. You've had quite the gamut of experiences in just a few weeks! Not to mention Level 3 charging is expensive as hell, sometimes as bad as gas vehicles per kilometre.

Around where I live, there are definitely some Level 2 options, but not enough for most people and certainly not enough for people to be using full-time. Level 3 stations are lacking, and those that exist are either free and very busy (single station, one city) or expensive but available (two stations, airport). These are also 50kW max, we don't have anything better except the v2 Supercharger in the city with the airport. And what if one of these Level 3 stations break?!

Many people I know are in apartments or otherwise on-street parking situations where charging is not at all available. When it gets cold in winter, this is especially detrimental. I'm very interested to see how this situation evolves in the coming decades. Are basic 120V plugs going to just line the streets one day in the future?

EDIT: Also notably, the nearby Supercharger is most utilised by a taxi company that only has Teslas. This is actually a violation of the Supercharger terms of use. At any given time, there is usually 1/8 stalls taken by them, and I've seen as much as 3/8 (where I was the only other one supercharging).

The real disadvantage of CHAdeMO charging, IMO is the unconscionable prices charged by some of the operators. I have not found the 50 kW limit to be a problem when I use them in what has come to be my normal mode of charging: grab a few kW when handy. This may or may not work out for the poster. Just a suggestion for something to consider.

Yes. Especially when some have either a minimum fee or an additional service fee. It's very, very expensive compared to Superchargers, which itself is expensive compared to charging at home.

 

[SmartElectric]

Couldn't agree more that good L2 (240V) charging at home makes life so much easier.

Had situation where we moved out for 1 year from our house during renovation to a rental with L1 (ie 10A 120V single phase) charging.
We have two EV's, so needed to manually manage which EV could charge.
We routinely tripped the 15A breaker in the beginning as we got used to the manual work to keep our cars on the juice.

Fortunately my Smart ED is used for my short 50 km round trip commute, is very efficient, so needed 7 hours on 120V.
Tesla S85 needed average of 10 hours per day of charging to keep up with it's much greater distance/usage.

The local supercharging situation in Toronto Ontario Canada area is outstanding since 2018, lots of locations, 12+ stalls, never full, never waited to charge.

When we got back in the home, I trenched in two new underground conduit to expand the garage wiring in the future to 100A 240V, just waiting for electrician to free up for the job.

 

[TW14 9LF]

Why is there no off street parking ?

2nd home is in Newport Beach. Closest spot to part is at least 100 yards from the house and the closest plug. And that spot is usually occupied by either a neighbor or visitor. I'm often parked down the block.

Wow, what combination of circumstances. So, there's no way to run an extension cord from 2nd home to car?

Often too far from the house for an extension cord to be run.

How about any other residences or businesses nearby? I personally can wire myself into just about anything with a meter base. Maybe make friends (or financially incentivize) someone to let you plug in on their property?

I noticed a few night ago that the people across the alley have a Model S. Hopefully this weekend I'll run into them, and maybe befriend them with a 6 pack or so to let me plug in once a week or so. Plus, I did find another public L2 charger at the city park about 4 blocks away, need to see if that is available at night. Seems pretty safe to leave my car there.

Go to work earlier. Most superchargers in SoCal has rooms to charge at 5am
My commute is 128 miles roundtrip, so I have to charge at home every night. One time I forgot to plug in... I had to charge at a supercharger near work in order to make it home. It was empty.... I left home at 4am every day.

I leave for work at 5:15. This morning I checked the status of the 3 Superchargers between the house and the train station, and all were indicating full (Downey, Westchester, Fountain Valley).

I’m not in CA, but what evidence is that the free S and X charging is the problem? I thought the overwhelming problem were 3s without home charging? Everybody I know always prefers home charging even when they have free available at SC.

More than 1/2 of the cars at the Supercharger are Model 3s, not S or X.

Why are the Chargepoint chargers at your work limited to only three hours? Is there a shortage of chargers? Perhaps it might make sense to try to work with your employer to modify that policy. I wonder if Chargepoint could enforce a three hour limit during peak usage hours, and have no time restrictions earlier in the morning and/or later in the evening. This could improve overall utilization of the chargers.

Where I work we have 24 Chargepoint L2 chargers, spread over 2 sites about a mile apart. When I get to the office at 6, they are almost always already full. They have a pretty neat system where you scan your card, then when a spot is available, you get a text and have 15 minutes to park your car and charge. I probably wouldn't be subject to the 3 hour maximum if I started charging later in the afternoon and then charged into the evening when most folks have gone home, but then I'm staying at work until 11 or so to do this. Again, not optimal. And, yes, multiple requests have gone out to add more chargers, since it's obvious people are using them. But, nothing has happened yet.

Just FYI, all you need to do to get around the 80% limit at busy stations is move the slider after you start charging.

Yes, I know I can do that, but I really don't want to be "that guy", if you know what I mean.

Keith

 

[andy92782]

You'll probably have to continue fighting crowds, but at least a new Supercharger location in Irvine will open soon (Park Place, Jamboree/Michelson).

 

[MSP2023]

First, a bit of background. 4½ years ago when I bought my first electric car, I knew that I had to have a way to charge it at home. With a 55 mile round-trip commute, and a range of 75 miles, charging every day was a necessity, and I didn’t want to have to bother with having to find a public charger. So, before I purchased my car, I updated the infrastructure in my home to allow me to charge in the garage at night. Returning home with <5 miles range remaining wasn’t an issue, because I knew that I could plug the car in and magically, in the morning, the “tank” was full again.

About a year ago, we replaced the Focus Electric with a Tesla LR. Now that I have >300 miles range, I still plug in every night. I only charge to 80% now, unless I’m going somewhere that requires the longer range. Having this capability has made owning an EV seamless. In fact, in the 11 months I’ve owned my Tesla, I had never charged it other than at home until recently.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago…..my wife and I decided to do a major remodel on our home. Fortunately we have a second home available to stay in while our primary home is being re-done. However, the second home does not have off-street parking, and there is no way to re-charge the car in the close proximity. Plus, my commute has increased from 55 to 64 miles round-trip (in the opposite direction). So, PlanA was to charge the car every third or fourth day at my destination, a Metro Train Station in Norwalk. Go to plug in, but those chargers don’t work; they haven’t worked for months, and no amount of complaining has resulted in anybody fixing them. So, Strike 1. No problem, I think…..we have two dozen or so Chargepoint chargers at work. So, every third or fourth day, I’ll bite the bullet and drive the entire way to work, rather than ride the train. Everything works great….for three hours, when I get a notification on my phone that I’ve exceeded my maximum charge time, and need to move my car or I’ll begin to incur parking charges. I’ve gained about 110 miles of range. Roundtrip to work is 95 miles. Not much net gain. Strike 2. So, Plan C….this is Southern California, and there are numerous Supercharger networks between my office, the train station, and where I’m saying. I’ll have my pick of stations. But, what I forget is that there are WAY more Teslas than Supercharger slots here in SoCal. Every station I look at is full. So, I pick one and drive over, with about 11% charge remaining. There are at least 10 cars waiting ahead of me. I wait patiently, and after about 40 minutes, it’s my turn. I plug in, then get a note that because I’m at a high volume station, I’m limited to 80% charge. So, instead of having >300 miles range, I’m only going to get 240 or so. About 40 minutes after starting the charge, I’m at 80%, and I leave. So, including the time to drive from the highway to the charger, waiting in line, charging, and driving back, I’ve added > 1½ hours to my already long commute. And I’ll have to do this every three days. Not quite Strike 3, but close.

Now, why am I complaining about this, and writing such a long message? I guess as a warning to anybody considering purchasing a Tesla (or any EV for that matter), and thinking they will be relying on public charging rather than having a dedicated place to “refuel”. You need to ask yourself these questions:

1) How many options do I have to charge my car?
2) How much time does it take to get from my normal commute route to the charging station?
3) How busy is the station? Will I have to wait to get a charger?
4) Once I’m at the station, will I be able to completely charge? Or will I be limited in the amount of time I can stay?
5) How often will I have to do this routine?

Sorry for the long-winded message, and for those that have made it this far, thanks for reading. Fortunately, I’ve only got to do this for another 6 weeks or so. And when I’m done, I’ll not only have my home charging station back to use, my house will be beautiful inside (thanks to my wife’s interior design skills, and my contractor’s contracting skills). And I won’t have to rely on public charging anymore, and won’t have anything to complain about with my Tesla.

Absolutely love the car, by the way!! Still the best car I’ve ever driven.

Thanks for reading….

Keith

No need to say "Sorry for the long-winded message".
This is a forum where people CHOOSE to go and find information.
Thank you for being "long-winded".
Your heads-up, I'm sure, will go a long way in helping people make the right decision.
Kudos to you Keith!!