I appreciate any help so I can determine the usage and charging patterns for Model S owners. If it falls within a two of those time frames, pick the one in which most charging occurs If you charge multiple times a day, pick the one in which most of your charging occurs.
I plug the car in whenever I pull into the garage and leave it plugged in until I drive it again. No schedule. What should I answer?
I charge it whenever I can, wherever I go because I do not have a home charger. That's why I want an 85!
I have my car finish charging around 7am (when peak rates start in the morning here). That means I set the manually set the charge timer to begin between 4 and 6am.
My car starts charging at 11:15pm. A comfortable buffer for when my ToU goes to near zero. If I have need to charge my car, or run it below 1/3rd level I will start the charge immediately and charge to 50%.
My car charges nightly at 10pm, when the electricity is at the lowest rate. California PGE solar rates.
My rates are lowest between 12am and 6am. Since I have a MS60 it takes 2 to 4 hours to charge on a NEMA 14-50 (I don't ever get it below 70 miles of rated range). So I start my charge at 2am so that the car doesn't suffer too much vampire loss by the time I get up for work.
If I am at work, I plug in at 0700. If I am not at work and need a charge, I schedule for 0100 (PG&E TOU).
I plug in the car when I get home from work (5:30) and let it charge until its done. We don't have different rates for electricity in Seattle so I don't have to schedule the time.
I have charging set to start at 2:00am. It usually needs to add ~70 miles, so takes just over 2 hours. Our TOU plan has off-peak from 9pm to 9am plus all day on weekends. I typically leave for work any time between 5:30 and 7:00 -- so starting at 2am allows charging to finish before then, plus leave a little extra time for charging on the few days that I drive ~100 miles and it needs another hour or so to complete... Edit: I use the NEMA 14-50...
Start at 1:30AM for me, 30 mins after the start of super off-peak rates. I'm usually done charging by 4:30 AM (90 mi commute, 240V 40A).
Thank you everyone. This is very helpful and actually shows that baseload, the more efficient energy generation is used to charge the EVs, and if this trend continues it is foreseeable that our energy consumption could get rid of peaker energy (less energy efficient)
I start charging at 02:30 unless I need a range charge. That way it's just finishing shortly before I leave. If it finishes early, then I use the app to make it charge a bit more so I have a nice warm battery to start out with.
I have a stepped meter so 1-6 AM is 6 cents kWh I then turn down the amps depending on how much mileage I have so that charging ends near when I drive out and the battery is warm. This removes the yellow bar reducing regen in colder temps. And the lower amps might help increase battery life.
I used to have the car plugged in all the time and so charged throughout the day. Moved to a EV ToU rate/meter, so now kick off charging at 12:15am. I have an HPWC and can charge at 80A, so I can range change even if I need to leave early in the morning. O
Just switched to TOU plan. 0.4 cents/kWh between 11pm and 6am. I usually only need about 2.5 hours of charging, so I start at 3:30, to finish by 6am. Leave for work at 8am.
Off peak rates in my area are from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM and all day weekends/holidays. I charge in this window and usually at a lower amperage so as not to overload my service panel.
