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Scheduled Departure Feature - Can You Change the Off-Peak Charging Hrs?

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I agree that feedback is good, in general... but in these cases many times these are new features that we did not even know we were getting, and rather than saying " this feature is cool but it would be better if...." what I read most times is "WTF were they thinking when they released this?!?!? it should do XXXX. Whoever designed this should be fired!"

There is likely some reason or other that we are not privy to that made tesla hard code in 6am as the stop charging time. There is likely some variable that we are unaware of. Even if thats so, I would rather them release these features rather than hold onto them until they think they are "perfect" so to speak.


I actually haven't seen too much all-caps belly-aching/screaming about this feature, and nobody so far is advocating for termination of anybody over it, but I do understand that in forums anybody can say what they want, so people tend to express themselves in perhaps less tactful ways than they (hopefully) would in-person. Doesn't seem to have happened that way for this feature, but sure we've all seen the rantings and ravings that can occur on the internets.

And of course, I'm simply not using this new feature because it particularly doesn't work for me (and not for all of Tesla's EV owners in Northern California, BTW - all on EV2-A now - including the Tesla Factory).

I'd rather we get nifty features, too, even if not "perfect," so long as they are still broadly useable (which this feature, by and large is not, in its current state, and certainly not in half of Tesla's home state.).

But . . . . now we're splitting hairs as to when is something truly minimally viable. It's a judgment call, and not a bright line.

I'd call that line somewhere *after* they figure out how to make the charging time variable (which, really, really, I doubt it's that tough to, software-wise. But again, we don't know for certain, so who knows.)
 
No, not late to the game, and no, sorry, you're not on EV-A - that's dead now.

Everybody who was on EV-A was switched to EV2-A in November of this year. I was on EV-A for five years (So . . . . not exactly late to the game), and was switched to EV2-A through no fault of my own (they just switched everybody). EV2-A has off-peak midnight to 3 pm, every day, rain or shine, including weekends (no separate peak/off-peak times for weekends any more).

Don't take my word for it. Check out PG&E's FAQ page, and scroll down and read the Q, "WHEN WILL EV-A CUSTOMERS BE TRANSITIONED TO EV2-A?" There you can read that, depending on when your meter is read, you (ie, anybody who is on EV-A) will be switched to EV2-A. FAQ Link Here:

Explore EV Fundamentals


So . . . If you're starting your charging at 11 pm . . . . . look out. That will not be off-peak for you (or me) any more.

Here's a graph of your new rates (Higher) and rate times (you're welcome):

View attachment 481237

This all begs the question - why did Tesla offer this feature with a 6 am cut-off when their factory is located in the EV2-A PG&E service area? Seems odd and a bit of an oversight.

Wait, you're paying $0.16 per kWh as your OFF peak rate? We get better than that here without using a TOU plan. My supply rate is around $0.045 per kWh off peak. The distribution charges are about that much as well, but they offer a reduced rate after the first few hundred kWh while the summer standard supply rate goes up after 800 kWh. Go figure. Is this only for the car with a separate meter?
 
Wait, you're paying $0.16 per kWh as your OFF peak rate? We get better than that here without using a TOU plan. My supply rate is around $0.045 per kWh off peak. The distribution charges are about that much as well, but they offer a reduced rate after the first few hundred kWh while the summer standard supply rate goes up after 800 kWh. Go figure. Is this only for the car with a separate meter?

California's electricity costs are pretty high. On peak rates for most californians are somewhere in the high 30 cents to mid 40 cents. Depends on plan and on whether you are on Southern California Edison, or San Diego Gas and Electric, or Pacific Gas an Electric, but all costs are pretty darn high compared to most of the country (I am aware there are places that have comparable charges, but most are much less).
 
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Wait, you're paying $0.16 per kWh as your OFF peak rate? We get better than that here without using a TOU plan. My supply rate is around $0.045 per kWh off peak. The distribution charges are about that much as well, but they offer a reduced rate after the first few hundred kWh while the summer standard supply rate goes up after 800 kWh. Go figure. Is this only for the car with a separate meter?

Yep. You heard right. Thems are the rates 'round these parts. PG&E is expensive here. And no, I don't have a separate meter for the car.

4.5 cents/kWh is pretty low, even for Pennsylvania. Or so I have read. The Payless Power web site tracks average electricity costs (up to date through 2019), and it shows your state's rates at an average of 12.5 cents/kWh. So you're gettin' a deal at 4.5 cents. That same chart has California at 18.34 cents/kWh, so my 16 cents rate is just barely under the overall average. Bummer for me. Here's the page:

2019 Electricity Rates By State (Updated Aug 2019) | Payless Power

Note, even at 16 cents, versus your 4.5 cents, it's cheaper than gas (well . . . cheaper than California gas).
 
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Yep. You heard right. Thems are the rates 'round these parts. PG&E is expensive here. And no, I don't have a separate meter for the car.

4.5 cents/kWh is pretty low, even for Pennsylvania. Or so I have read. The Payless Power web site tracks average electricity costs (up to date through 2019), and it shows your state's rates at an average of 12.5 cents/kWh. So you're gettin' a deal at 4.5 cents. That same chart has California at 18.34 cents/kWh, so my 16 cents rate is just barely under the overall average. Bummer for me. Here's the page:

2019 Electricity Rates By State (Updated Aug 2019) | Payless Power

Note, even at 16 cents, versus your 4.5 cents, it's cheaper than gas.

Yeah cause our gas is just as exponentially expensive, lol. Premium unleaded is between 4.05 and 4.30 or so depending on where you go, for example. I always use super as a comp because thats what I put in my BMW when I had it, and what I put in my wifes current BMW.
 
Yeah cause our gas is just as exponentially expensive, lol. Premium unleaded is between 4.05 and 4.30 or so depending on where you go, for example. I always use super as a comp because thats what I put in my BMW when I had it, and what I put in my wifes current BMW.

Word - true dat. As you posted this, I was editing my reply above to add this at the end: "(Well . . . . cheaper than California gas)"!!

Still, you gotta pay to play in the Golden Bear state. I grew up here, managed to acquire a little bit of property here. When I retire, I can cash all that in and move to a cheaper state and buy something full cash and live out my golden years low cost with my beautiful wife, my original TM3 still going strong, and 4.5 cent utility rates. Life is good, eventually!
 
I don't really understand why they bothered to have this tied to peak charging times at all. Why not just make it like a cheapo thermostat, and allow the owner to set a "charge by x" time for each day of the week (or two per day if they want to get real fancy). One step further would be to also allow setting the next "charge by time" from the app for people who need more flexibility. As a software engineer this doesn't seem like it would have been any significant difference in work to implement. My only hope is that this was done as a stop gap to a much more powerful feature.
 
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No, not late to the game, and no, sorry, you're not on EV-A - that's dead now.

Everybody who was on EV-A was switched to EV2-A in November of this year. I was on EV-A for five years (So . . . . not exactly late to the game), and was switched to EV2-A through no fault of my own (they just switched everybody). EV2-A has off-peak midnight to 3 pm, every day, rain or shine, including weekends (no separate peak/off-peak times for weekends any more).

Don't take my word for it. Check out PG&E's FAQ page, and scroll down and read the Q, "WHEN WILL EV-A CUSTOMERS BE TRANSITIONED TO EV2-A?" There you can read that, depending on when your meter is read, you (ie, anybody who is on EV-A) will be switched to EV2-A. FAQ Link Here:

Explore EV Fundamentals


So . . . If you're starting your charging at 11 pm . . . . . look out. That will not be off-peak for you (or me) any more.

Here's a graph of your new rates (Higher) and rate times (you're welcome):

View attachment 481237

This all begs the question - why did Tesla offer this feature with a 6 am cut-off when their factory is located in the EV2-A PG&E service area? Seems odd and a bit of an oversight.
Bummer for you - I'm still grandfathered on EV-A. See attached.
 

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