Second thoughts on Telsa charger installation

[greatauror28]

The quote was for disconnecting the detached garage electric from the house, bringing in new 200 amp service, and wiring the charger.

Wow that’s super cheap then.

 

[hellobye]

And I'm totally cool with that. Because, honestly, between the trickle charge at home now, and the 220v charger free at the monthly garage (where the car is parked for 10 hours at a time while I'm commuting and working), and the free level twos around town, I haven't been below 60% charge all week.

There is also a Supercharger ten miles away, which I'll use when needed. So I think I may easily get by without the charger. Does anyone else have a similar situation?

Nobody has really addressed how often you drive each day, this should tell you what you need. Honestly your situation is like ours. We have a Chevy Bolt. It gets driven daily and hovers around 60-70% with a 12A charge rate. I very rarely bother to charge it up with the Tesla EVSE because it's a trip hazard and simply doesn't need it.

As local chargers become more congested, you may consider repurposing an existing circuit during night time use (Dryer, Stove) so that two can never be on simultaneously. This may be more important I'm the winter months as your driving efficiency drops appreciably and preconditioning will be more common.

Wow that’s super cheap then.

In our area, some houses still have power coming from overhead, too! Seems like it may be significantly cheaper to upgrade service.

 

[jerome8283]

HK, are you in NYC? I commute to NYC and have seen chargers in some parking garages there. I think that you should still pursue installing a level 2 charger at your home. You're not in a hurry since you have alternatives, but I think in the long run you will be glad you did. Also, many of the utilities, including PSE&G in NJ were I live, are subsidizing the cost of installation of Level 2 chargers so a chunck of that $2,300 could be covered by your utility. My Brother in Law has a detached garage at his home which made installation a bit more cumbersome also. It sounds like you should upgrade your electrical service anyway. Just my thoughts. Good luck.

Isn’t the PSE&G subsidizing cost only for specific EV chargers, not the Tesla brand?

 

[HellsKitchen]

HK, are you in NYC? I commute to NYC and have seen chargers in some parking garages there. I think that you should still pursue installing a level 2 charger at your home. You're not in a hurry since you have alternatives, but I think in the long run you will be glad you did. Also, many of the utilities, including PSE&G in NJ were I live, are subsidizing the cost of installation of Level 2 chargers so a chunck of that $2,300 could be covered by your utility. My Brother in Law has a detached garage at his home which made installation a bit more cumbersome also. It sounds like you should upgrade your electrical service anyway. Just my thoughts. Good luck.

I moved out of the city to Bucks County, PA. Although I still commute about 4 days a week.

 

[HellsKitchen]

Nobody has really addressed how often you drive each day, this should tell you what you need.

In our area, some houses still have power coming from overhead, too! Seems like it may be significantly cheaper to upgrade service.

So as an update:

I'm a couple of weeks in and it looks like I'll be ok with the trickle charge at home and the free 220V free charger at my parking garage, where I'll be parked 10-12 hours a day during the week.

I chose the electrician and let him know I'm accepting his quote to upgrade the garage. He is really chill and understands the situation. As a matter of fact, he has had trouble getting meters and is just as happy dragging his feet as I am. All good.