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Anxiety about charging (thinking about cancelling p85d order)

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I put my deposit for the p85d a few days ago. I do not own a home so I travel a lot and rent houses etc. I'm moving to Boulder, CO shortly. I'm very concerned and thinking about cancelling my order for several reasons:

1) The nearest SC is 40-50 miles away. Meaning after making a round trip I'll be left with less very little range and bad performance.

2) I downloaded apps like PlugShare, ChargePoint etc, and see that most of these are very low voltage which means a full charge could take upwards of 60 hours!

3) As mentioned, I don't own a home and travel so I will have to rely on these low power charging stations which seems crazy. (Ie. For someone without a house charger and not living next to an SC seems really bad!)

4) I thought I would be saving a ton on gas, but as I research more it appears many of these EV stations want exhorbant prices like $0.40/kWh! Which means I may not be saving any money at all compared to my Corvette which gets 25 mpg.

I really had no idea about these things last week. Can you guys help me decide if a Tesla is right for my llifestyle?

Thanks!
 
I put my deposit for the p85d a few days ago. I do not own a home so I travel a lot and rent houses etc. I'm moving to Boulder, CO shortly. I'm very concerned and thinking about cancelling my order for several reasons:

1) The nearest SC is 40-50 miles away. Meaning after making a round trip I'll be left with less very little range and bad performance.

2) I downloaded apps like PlugShare, ChargePoint etc, and see that most of these are very low voltage which means a full charge could take upwards of 60 hours!

3) As mentioned, I don't own a home and travel so I will have to rely on these low power charging stations which seems crazy. (Ie. For someone without a house charger and not living next to an SC seems really bad!)

4) I thought I would be saving a ton on gas, but as I research more it appears many of these EV stations want exhorbant prices like $0.40/kWh! Which means I may not be saving any money at all compared to my Corvette which gets 25 mpg.

I really had no idea about these things last week. Can you guys help me decide if a Tesla is right for my llifestyle?

Thanks!

Some may take issue with this here, but I would say that with your lifestyle you may fall into the small group of people for whom the car won't work well.
Having said that, with a little effort, you may find you can rent houses with a sufficient 220/240V outlet (even a dryer outlet works great!) to meet your overnight charging needs. Once you can charge overnight, most things become really easy.
 
It really depends on how much daily travel you're doing.
Your Tesla "charger" can plug into almost any type of socket to get power, even a 110V will get you 4-5miles hour of charge.
I know several folks who just rely on 110V charging at home which gets them enough overnight to get to work and back. So they didn't bother getting a 220V feed home installed.

Also, if you are looking at plugshare.com, turn off the "Payment Required" setting in options to show you all your freebie choices.

Its all down to the miles you drive :)
 
Seems like the others covered it. What's your daily mileage and often are your road trips? For example, my ~35 mile commute can easily be covered overnight by a regular 110V outlet. Chances are you park within range of one of those, even in a rented home (as long as it's not street parking, I suppose). There's even a place that will modify your UMC to add a longer cable to support this type of usage.

Public chargers that assess fees are often quite expensive, as you found out. There are often many free ones about, but they may not be convenient. I'd seriously question if whether anyone who has to rely solely on a public charger away from their home would be happy with a Model S.

First you need to determine if you can recoup most of your daily use overnight at your home. If not, I'd suggest considering another vehicle.

Your Tesla "charger" can plug into almost any type of socket to get power, even a 110V will get you 4-5miles hour of charge.
Careful with rates down this low. A standard 5-15 110V usually gets 3mph. A 5-20 (one vertical prong and one horizontal prong plus ground) gets 5-6mph. The former are far more common than the latter, and he won't have a choice of which because he rents.
 
I put my deposit for the p85d a few days ago. I do not own a home so I travel a lot and rent houses etc. I'm moving to Boulder, CO shortly. I'm very concerned and thinking about cancelling my order for several reasons:

1) The nearest SC is 40-50 miles away. Meaning after making a round trip I'll be left with less very little range and bad performance.

2) I downloaded apps like PlugShare, ChargePoint etc, and see that most of these are very low voltage which means a full charge could take upwards of 60 hours!

3) As mentioned, I don't own a home and travel so I will have to rely on these low power charging stations which seems crazy. (Ie. For someone without a house charger and not living next to an SC seems really bad!)

4) I thought I would be saving a ton on gas, but as I research more it appears many of these EV stations want exhorbant prices like $0.40/kWh! Which means I may not be saving any money at all compared to my Corvette which gets 25 mpg.

I really had no idea about these things last week. Can you guys help me decide if a Tesla is right for my llifestyle?

Thanks!


The SuperCharger close to DIA is only about 34 miles from downtown Boulder. There are lots of chargers around Boulder but few Level 3 chargers at this time.

How many miles will you be driving a day around Boulder? If you are only driving a few miles per day then even a 120v outlet would allow you to recharge the battery overnight. If the house you'll be renting has a 240v outlet, you could potentially charge a lot faster at rates of 10 to 30 mph using the included UMC from Tesla.

If you don't have 120v or 240v outlets at the house that you will be renting, then it's probably not the best idea to buy an electric car. :wink:

Have you considered any of the plug-in hybrids that are available? They would let you drive using electricity or gas.
 
The biggest question is how many miles a day to your average on your commute. You will probably be home at least 8-10hrs each night (probably more). With a 110v outlet that will get you about 40-50 miles of range.

As someone mentioned, if you have laundry facilities that use electric you have your 220v charging already in place.

If you really want it there is a way but if it's just a thing you did on a whim then I would stick with your Vette.
 
Since I work from home and don't commute anywhere (and Boulder is small), I will most likely use the p85d to explore the Boulder/Denver area and outside of town. I expect around 50-60 miles per day since it will be fun to drive. This means I'm more oriented towards getting the best performance out of the p85d with fast acceleration. I've heard its best to get 70%+ charge for best results. So if I only have access to a house charger at 110v, I suppose technically I could survive. But would charging on only 110v lower performance at all?
 
I put my deposit for the p85d a few days ago. I do not own a home so I travel a lot and rent houses etc. I'm moving to Boulder, CO shortly. I'm very concerned and thinking about cancelling my order for several reasons:1) The nearest SC is 40-50 miles away. Meaning after making a round trip I'll be left with less very little range and bad performance.2) I downloaded apps like PlugShare, ChargePoint etc, and see that most of these are very low voltage which means a full charge could take upwards of 60 hours!3) As mentioned, I don't own a home and travel so I will have to rely on these low power charging stations which seems crazy. (Ie. For someone without a house charger and not living next to an SC seems really bad!)4) I thought I would be saving a ton on gas, but as I research more it appears many of these EV stations want exhorbant prices like $0.40/kWh! Which means I may not be saving any money at all compared to my Corvette which gets 25 mpg. I really had no idea about these things last week. Can you guys help me decide if a Tesla is right for my llifestyle?Thanks!
Your lifestyle will make it harder, but there are options. It may well come down to how much accommodation you are prepared to make for the car.In addition to the three suggestions I've seen already (110V charging, find a house with electric dryer in/near garage, and live off of supercharger,) I'll throw out one more suggestion: RV Parks. If there is a campground or RV park somewhat near where you'll be at home or work offering what they generally call "50 Amp Service" then you can charge the car from flat in about 8 hours there; pricing varies quite a bit, but many campgrounds are charging $5 or $10 for this from what I've read.

- - - Updated - - -

Since I work from home and don't commute anywhere (and Boulder is small), I will most likely use the p85d to explore the Boulder/Denver area and outside of town. I expect around 50-60 miles per day since it will be fun to drive. This means I'm more oriented towards getting the best performance out of the p85d with fast acceleration. I've heard its best to get 70%+ charge for best results. So if I only have access to a house charger at 110v, I suppose technically I could survive. But would charging on only 110v lower performance at all?
I can't see how. There is a small effect on performance from battery state of charge, but if the battery is at the same level, the car doesn't care where the charge came from. It'll just take a long time to charge - but if you aren't driving far that won't matter, and if you are, you can stop at the DIA supercharger on your way out of town...Walter
 
Since I work from home and don't commute anywhere (and Boulder is small), I will most likely use the p85d to explore the Boulder/Denver area and outside of town. I expect around 50-60 miles per day since it will be fun to drive. This means I'm more oriented towards getting the best performance out of the p85d with fast acceleration. I've heard its best to get 70%+ charge for best results. So if I only have access to a house charger at 110v, I suppose technically I could survive. But would charging on only 110v lower performance at all?
Charge rate has no impact whatsoever on performance. All that matters is the state of charge (that 70% number you quoted), not how you got there.

If you theoretically, then, have say 20 hours a day on your 110V 15A outlet, you'd recoup 60 rated miles. It's worth noting that if you're out enjoying the performance, you won't get anywhere near 60 actual miles from those 60 rated miles. Even if you did, that would only just meet your 50-60 mile daily use, and would require you spend no more than 4 hours away from home on average. Based on the numbers you've provided, you'd be right on the edge of feasibility with no attractive backup plan for faster charging. You'll either be spending a lot of time (and money) on public chargers, or making frequent trips out to the SC.

Unless you've substantially overestimated your daily use, or suddenly become confident you can get a 240V outlet at home, I'd suggest it might not be the car for you.
 
Even if you are renting you can have a 220v circuit installed for $100-300 by a good electrician. Its not hard, I did one myself, TO CODE, for $100 in parts(40amp circuit, 50 feet of heavy duty electrical wire (properly rated) and the wall plug). AND as a selling point to your landlord, make it a "dryer" plug in the garage that can be used for other 220v items like an air compressor, big tools etc... Also being from Boulder myself and the Upscale Hippy granola city that it is, i would not be surprised that a TESLA SC wouldn't be far down the line from being installed. If you are living in the DORMS at CU that might be a different story.
 
Everyone has covered this question pretty well, but I just wanted to add my personal take...

I bought my P85D without knowing much or having any experience with electric vehicles and charging. I did lots of research, but that only goes so far. With the experience I have now after almost 5 months of ownership (that's not much, but it's such a big difference than no experience), I can say I was very naive to charging and it's importance. IMHO, if you don't have a reliable, dedicated charging source at home so that you can have a "full tank" in the morning, then I probably wouldn't recommend this vehicle in your situation. Without that, I would certainly have range anxiety and the P85D, in particular, is no fun with range anxiety. You can't enjoy it like you should!

Best of luck!
 
I think most of the public chargers you're seeing on plugshare are 220v meaning 20 miles per hour. You could use a CHAdeMO adapter. There's a museum by there that is $3 per session CHAdeMO according to plugshare. Still, it's not as good as home charging, one of the best things about EV's is having a full charge every morning.
 
If you have approval to use a reliable 120 V (dedicated circuit) and a garage at you rental, then go ahead and get it. One big problem will be making sure that you have a good, reliable 120 V plug (no loose prongs). Over at MyNissanLeaf.com, we've seen reports of melting plugs, wires, and even a minor fire when pulling 12 amps continuously for more than a few hours. If you are unsure of you situation, get the landlord and/or electrician to check. That said, I've been charging at 12 amp, 120V for several years now with my Leaf with no problems (I've checked my plug carefully and mounted the EVSE so that the cord weight doesn't hang on the plug).

You will just need to "limit" your spirited driving to every other day or every third day, to allow 60+ hrs of charging to refill the battery. Yes, you won't be able to drive 200 mi per day, but you should still be able to get 300-400 mi per week, just not back-to-back driving days. However, if you are heading to Denver, it's down hill and there are two superchargers, so you won't need a full charge to get there. Charge up a bit and then zoom around the south Denver area, maybe up to Breckenridge and charge again before heading home. Heading west from home will probably require a full battery, so additional planning/waiting until full before leaving may be required. Currently you can travel East, West, and North. By the end of this year, the map shows SCs for southerly travel, and next year to the NE. For local driving you will be fine.
 
Sounds like this would be better suited for you


2016-cadillac-elr-red.jpg
 
I you work at home and sleep at home, you should have ample time to charge your car, even at 110. Just set it to charge and plug it in, whenever you are home. All you have to do is want to.