Usecase - analysis - no charger at home

[kerch2007]

Good morning,
I'm trying to understand whether I could get away with owing Model S without home charger.
I'm planning to get a car with free supercharger. My daily commute is 44 miles. I have about 35 superchargers nearby (within 2 miles) - I checked - about half of the stalls are available.
Thank you!
Would appreciate feedback!

 

[Ludalicious]

Great. What about tomorrow. How many chargers will be available then?

 

[N..8]

Can you do it "Yes" should you depend on it maybe not. I drive about the same as you do and I don't think I would want to spend 45 mins a day at a supercharger. I normally super charge once or twice a week if I'm going to eat lunch by one of them. I do all my other charging at home, it cost me about 20 dollars a month doing this.

 

[jaguar36]

Short Answer: No

Longer Answer: Not having charging at your home or work is going to be a giant pain in the ass. Supercharging might be 'free' but your time is not. Once a week you're going to have to be spending an hour or two at the mall waiting for your car. The superchargers that are near you are the Urban type, which take longer to charge than the regular ones.

 

[ewoodrick]

If you have the option, a home or work charger would make your life a lot easier. On just a 120V circuit, you should get about 7 mph, which means that you should be able to recharge overnight. If you can install a higher speed charger, that's even better, even if you have to pay $500.
It is generally SOOO much easier to plug in when you get home than to go up to the mall and charge every few days. For my Model 3 and 2018 Leaf, we just plug in as needed at home and don't really worry about it.

 

[P85_DA]

Good morning,
I'm trying to understand whether I could get away with owing Model S without home charger.
I'm planning to get a car with free supercharger. My daily commute is 44 miles. I have about 35 superchargers nearby (within 2 miles) - I checked - about half of the stalls are available.
Thank you!
Would appreciate feedback!

Any particular reason why u don’t want one ? You live in apartment , condo ? Older home ? ...typically I see apartment or condo dwellers having issues setting up home charging however if u own single family home and panel is reasonably close I would opt for spending the <1k for doing either a 14-50 or wall connector you can claim a fed credit ..

 

[SSedan]

If you have the option, a home or work charger would make your life a lot easier. On just a 120V circuit, you should get about 7 mph, which means that you should be able to recharge overnight. If you can install a higher speed charger, that's even better, even if you have to pay $500.
It is generally SOOO much easier to plug in when you get home than to go up to the mall and charge every few days. For my Model 3 and 2018 Leaf, we just plug in as needed at home and don't really worry about it.

A model S on a regular 15amp 120volt circuit only get about 3miles of range per hour.

Even a 30amp travel trailer 120volt plug only gives an S about 6-7mph

FL heat will need cabin overheat protection or even just the heavy cool down when you start driving are going to consume extra miles whenever you park outdoors.

Far as the OP, I have to agree with the others that you need some plan other than supercharging, if parked outdoors in summer I would expect meaningful miles use towards cooling. I haven't paid that much attention to mine but on hot sunny days 10miles wouldn't surprise me unless you can get the car out of the heat. Even up here in Wisconsin where I can leave the windows open an inch cabin overtemp will still run some on warm days and the cool down once I get in raises energy per mile noticeably.

In FL I would not leave windows open with the homeless/petty theft issues(Had an issue myself on a trip there), the popup rain showers and the sun is a LOT stronger there so cabin cooling is going to be a big energy user. I think cabin overtemp is important for center screen protection in hot climates. I haven't seen Tesla say this nothing to back it up, just a suspicion of mine, can't imagine the screen being truly happy from the -20f mine has seen to the 140+ a parked car with closed windows can see. I have seen some suggestions temps in "cars" generically speaking can top 170 under the worst conditions. Gel sealed inside the screen has no room to expand with a glass screen, have been reports of it leaking out the sides

IMO you need L2 at work or a substantial amount of time plugged into 120volt at home supplementing with supercharging.

 

[BoerumHill]

Suboptimal to not have home charging, but imminently doable.

Here in Williamsburg (Brooklyn) there are at least ten Tesla’s parked in the street on a regular basis. They make it work. Public charging is scarce but a few stores (Whole Foods, Walgreens) have type 2. There are DC chargers in garages (urban superchargers) but that gets expensive quick.

But it’s like a lot of lifestyle choices living in NYC. Things that are taken for granted in the burbs are more difficult in the City. By no means does that mean impossible. I’ve raised two children here, so pretty much anything seems like an option.

 

[SSedan]

Suboptimal to not have home charging, but imminently doable.

Here in Williamsburg (Brooklyn) there are at least ten Tesla’s parked in the street on a regular basis. They make it work. Public charging is scarce but a few stores (Whole Foods, Walgreens) have type 2. There are DC chargers in garages (urban superchargers) but that gets expensive quick.

But it’s like a lot of lifestyle choices living in NYC. Things that are taken for granted in the burbs are more difficult in the City. By no means does that mean impossible. I’ve raised two children here, so pretty much anything seems like an option.

Winter energy use definitely spikes in a climate like NYC, but do you think they are driving 44mile a day too?

 

[Chrisizzle]

I’ve been driving a Tesla since 2014 without a home charger. The reason I was initially able to take that chance was because I live within 5 minutes of a supercharger.

I found the 8 or so hours overnight charging would take care of most of my daily driving. Once a week or so, I’d stop at the Supercharger just to top up and start the weekly cycle again.

Over the last two years, public chargers have popped up all over (Toronto area for me). Between office buildings and malls, Supercharging is down to long distance trips for me.

So, it’s certainly doable if you have at least a wall plug.

 

[BoerumHill]

Winter energy use definitely spikes in a climate like NYC, but do you think they are driving 44mile a day too?

My guess would be no.

I’m friends with a Model X owner (a rare 60) who uses it for his business everyday, but most of the others I notice around the neighborhood are in the same spot for several days at a time. Few people commute by car, unless it’s a reverse commute to another location.

I have another friend who parks his MS85 on the street in south Brooklyn, does not have a home charger & relies exclusively on SC. In his work he never goes into the City - the road warrior life works to his advantage, as he is often traveling interstates around the tri-State which are littered with SC locations.

 

[kerch2007]

Thanks for feedback everyone! The supercharger station is actually about 2-3 min drive from my place. I have a townhome/condo situaiton, where I'd need to figure something out with HOA to make a charging station. Too much hussle - so I really think that by using the Tesla supercharging I could make it work. I didn't think about heat - my spots are not covered - is it an issue to keep the model S under sun? It's mostly going to be parked in underground garage during the week though. Anyway, I appreciate the input.

 

[SSedan]

You can park in full blazing sun, it just increases energy use.

Are there things for you to do by the supercharger, place you like to eat regularly, grocery store something?

If you are going to sit in the car on the phone for 45minutes a few times a week it might push your data limit.

I don't mean to be a pessimist, just I would rather leave you prepared for the worst. IMO too many folks presume everyone lives in SoCal with mild weather and no heavy heating or cooling use. I have a short 7 mile each way commute in Wisconsin, the short commute magnifies HVAC use since it works hard for the first few minutes. In spring/fall I might seem 270wh/m but on hot weeks even here with weaker sun than you have I see 320wh/m , winter is another beast I can see over 500wh/m.

Your longer commute will dilute the heavy energy use at startup but still be a factor, though the undergound parking will help a lot, but still going to cause energy use to likely be more than 1mile per mile.

 

[AndrewTX]

Thanks for feedback everyone! The supercharger station is actually about 2-3 min drive from my place. I have a townhome/condo situaiton, where I'd need to figure something out with HOA to make a charging station. Too much hussle - so I really think that by using the Tesla supercharging I could make it work. I didn't think about heat - my spots are not covered - is it an issue to keep the model S under sun? It's mostly going to be parked in underground garage during the week though. Anyway, I appreciate the input.

It sounds like you really don't have much choice in the short term but the other posters are correct that you'll get tired of going somewhere else to charge all time. If you decide to buy a Model S I'd strongly suggest working with the HOA to come up with a solution for even a 110V plug that you can access. Even with such a slow charge rate you can compensate for the cabin overheating system using up your capacity. You could also reduce the number of times that you need to go to the SC by charging overnight and adding in 30 miles (10 hours x 3mph).

If you park in a garage while at work, suggest talking to that garage owner about plug access as well. One of the major benefits of driving an EV is never taking time to refuel your car; relying on a supercharger exclusively destroys that benefit.

 

[SSedan]

And as fast as Superchargers are they are still agonizingly slow compared to a gas station.

They really slow down towards to top of fill too.

 

[roblab]

And... just wait! The Model 3s are coming, eventually in droves. Sure, Tesla will put in more chargers, but me, personally, I'd figure out a way to put in a 14-50. But, then again, I know how to do that already. It's sooooooo easy to get home, walk around the car towards the house, reach out, grab the plug, plug in, and head on in. Ten seconds or LESS. In six years, I've used supercharging maybe a couple dozen times.

And I've seen those poor jokers who think they're saving money, sitting in their car, reading a magazine, waiting for the car to charge. I'd rather be home. But maybe their wifey isn't as nice as mine.

 

[xilex]

And... just wait! The Model 3s are coming, eventually in droves. Sure, Tesla will put in more chargers, but me, personally, I'd figure out a way to put in a 14-50. But, then again, I know how to do that already. It's sooooooo easy to get home, walk around the car towards the house, reach out, grab the plug, plug in, and head on in. Ten seconds or LESS. In six years, I've used supercharging maybe a couple dozen times.

And I've seen those poor jokers who think they're saving money, sitting in their car, reading a magazine, waiting for the car to charge. I'd rather be home. But maybe their wifey isn't as nice as mine.

You raise a good point. I'm feeling the pressure to order a Tesla before the September deadline for supercharging, just to have unlimited supercharging. One of the things I hate most is sitting and waiting, so realistically, I doubt I will be excited to drive 15 minutes and hope there is a spot available. Maybe I'll just pay for electricity on one of those rare roadtrips.

 

[AndrewTX]

You raise a good point. I'm feeling the pressure to order a Tesla before the September deadline for supercharging, just to have unlimited supercharging. One of the things I hate most is sitting and waiting, so realistically, I doubt I will be excited to drive 15 minutes and hope there is a spot available. Maybe I'll just pay for electricity on one of those rare roadtrips.

I really wouldn't rush your decision solely because of a 'limited time offer' on supercharging. Tesla has a history of taking that away and then offering it again.

 

[kerch2007]

Just wanted to thank everyone again. Just picked up my used/cpo model s with unlimited supercharging, working on establishing 14-50 - but it will take some time. No issue at all with using supercharger at Aventura Mall..there're 35 stalls and not close to highway - so I figured most people charging are locals just like me - from condos/townhomes without chargers available. Thanks!