Oahu Charging Strategy - No home charger?

[Bobhilt]

I've got a carport 110v plug, but no EV charger. What is your strategy for that situation?

I figure that I:
1. charge it at night to +/- keep up with commute demand, and
2. top it off from time to time at ??? when it falls behind or for extra driving, which I hope to do a fair bit.
3. Buying LR, so that I have a bigger buffer if I get behind on charging.

I live in Kailua. Excited Model-Y LR reservation holder.

 

[Akikiki]

I don't know what you mean by EV charger. The charger is mounted in the car. You simply need electricity - enough electricity.
120 volt is going to get you about 3 miles of range charge her hour.

I've been where you are. I wanted a permanent solution, not just get me by. I did a service upgrade to get sufficient power to use a 50 amp circuit.

You might more capability at home that you realize. Reading of different situations on TMC might be insightful.
There's plenty of information on TMC. You might use search to narrow your sources.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[gmtom1]

I've been using my 110v plug in my garage on my Model 3 (and Model X & S prior) and never had a problem, but my commute is only from East Oahu, and not over the pali. You'll get 4-5 miles/hour charging off of standard household 110v. Assuming you're home 10-12 hours a night, you can recover 40-50 miles for your daily commute on the weekdays. More on the weekends, assuming you have a more leisurely departure time on weekend mornings. Keep in mind that you have a ~270-mile range, so if you're short 5-10 miles on your daily overnight charge, you'd still have about 10-15 days of use before you start getting below 100 miles (which is still pretty far for driving on Oahu).

The only unknown is your efficiency going over the koolau every day. I'll defer to others here to comment, but I would guess that the energy recovery from going downhill over the Pali helps offset a portion of the energy loss from the uphill climb.

Another option if you have your laundry in your garage is to use the dryer outlet periodically when you need to recover more than 50-miles. If you have an older dryer outlet (NEMA 10-30), you can recover ~20 miles/hour charging at home, which will get you 180-200 miles from an overnight charge.

The only "problem" with regularly charging off 110v that I've found in 6+ years of Teslas is the 12A steady draw for 8-10 hours on an almost daily basis wears out the GFCI plug breaker in my garage. I've had to replace it twice in 6 years.

 

[Bobhilt]

Thanks. We're renting, so can't install a new plug. The current service would do the trick, but not through the current panel (as I understand it).

I've approached the property manager to discuss a solar project with the owner, as I think that could be VERY win/win. If that happens, we'll fold the wall connector into it. Not counting on it, though.

I am curious how the Pali will affect my efficiency. I know it's been hell on brakes and one Odyssey transmission. I assume it will be quite a bit worse than flat driving, but so be it.

I factored the long-range buy into this (now 315 miles mostly to have a bigger buffer / more days to find a long or fast charge. It feels inefficient to be always charging at 3-4mrph. I didn't know an outlet could wear out from overuse, but I guess if it comes down to it, pretty simple to replace that.

Now that I'm looking around, it seems like chargers are very much in use, i.e., not enough capacity. How do you plan around this if you use a public charging stations as part of your regular strategy? Which ones tend to be the better options?

 

[InParadise]

I ran a 40 ft 40A extension cord at work to charge my car from a 240V outlet.

 

[A Westpfal]

Thanks. We're renting, so can't install a new plug. The current service would do the trick, but not through the current panel (as I understand it).

I've approached the property manager to discuss a solar project with the owner, as I think that could be VERY win/win. If that happens, we'll fold the wall connector into it. Not counting on it, though.

I am curious how the Pali will affect my efficiency. I know it's been hell on brakes and one Odyssey transmission. I assume it will be quite a bit worse than flat driving, but so be it.

I factored the long-range buy into this (now 315 miles mostly to have a bigger buffer / more days to find a long or fast charge. It feels inefficient to be always charging at 3-4mrph. I didn't know an outlet could wear out from overuse, but I guess if it comes down to it, pretty simple to replace that.

Now that I'm looking around, it seems like chargers are very much in use, i.e., not enough capacity. How do you plan around this if you use a public charging stations as part of your regular strategy? Which ones tend to be the better options?

I moved my M3 Mid-range here from the mainland and did not have any charging options except public charging.
The L2 chargers with J1772 adapter are awful and take hours. Most are very expensive (compared to Chademo) and the free ones are always occupied.
I bought the Chademo adapter and would charge at a HECO site on my lunch break twice a week. If you go during the day you get the cheapest rate.

I have since moved to a house that has a dryer outlet in the garage and I use that with a Neo Charge smart plug so I can have both the dryer and the charger plugged in simultaneously.

 

[Bobhilt]

What about charging networks to join? Is there any downside to joining charging networks?

 

[A Westpfal]

Bobhilt,
The HECO Fast chargers are on the OpConnect or Greenlots networks. They all take credit cards or RFID card 'swipes' (one had been broken and worked with App only). The only advantage I can think of is seeing if the station is occupied. I have used ChargePoint network to unlock the free L2 chargers at Target and Polynesian Cultural Center. Of course each network wants to keep a credit card on file but I have not had any problems with that.
--Al

 

[Bobhilt]

I have been reading about "coming" Supercharger for I think 2 years now. I'm sure we'll have some on Oahu some time this decade. Anyone have any credible update on that?

Is there any option to charge at Tesla showroom at Ala Moana?

 

[nanimac]

I have been reading about "coming" Supercharger for I think 2 years now. I'm sure we'll have some on Oahu some time this decade. Anyone have any credible update on that?

Is there any option to charge at Tesla showroom at Ala Moana?

Supercharger team is supposedly working on some sites so I think this decade we will get some! lol

Chargers there are supposed to be for showroom cars only, but if you're running on "fumes", they'll probably let you charge. Destination chargers at International Market Place are open to use if you can find an empty stall but you have to pay for parking if you don't have a validation.

 

[Dake]

I will be in the same situation. I'm moving to Oahu and will be relying on Level 3 public charging. Do I need to buy the $450 CHAdeMO adapter then? Thanks for your advice.

 

[Kianaf808]

I will be in the same situation. I'm moving to Oahu and will be relying on Level 3 public charging. Do I need to buy the $450 CHAdeMO adapter then? Thanks for your advice.

Yes. You need a CHAdeMO adapter. So expensive!!!!

 

[Patrick66]

I got by with a 5-15 charger commuting between Pupukea and town in my Y for a month or so before my wall connector was installed. I used about 80-100 miles of range each day, and could net-out pretty well each night, and recover on the weekends or WFH days easily. It isn’t ideal by any means, but it beats the Volta dance when I was living in town.

If you drive less than 50 miles a day then 120V, 15A outlets for 12 hours a day is fine, or at least functional. If you are under 150 miles per week, public chargers are a reasonable solution. If I had a 240V, 20A outlet (6-20) available I wouldn’t have bothered with the wall connector unless I expected to drive more than 120 miles per day.