Home charging points for EV's

[DT]

And from our experience with a M3 LR - we got home last night at 9pm - plugged in, and right now I'm sitting at +47 miles charged from a normal 15amp outlet. It'll stay connected all day at 5mi/hr. We do 105 miles every other day at best - and can charge 6mi/hr at the university. But yeah, if we didn't park next to an outlet, we'd have to look at other options. Nearest Tesla Supercharger is 15 mins away, but 2 mins away is a 3rd party Charge Point station - and tons of other 3rd party options in parking lots (their apps are low rated on the App Store but most of them take CC at the station from what I can see). DT is right - they're popping up all over. Looks like our university has added several level 2 chargers (but they're almost always taken).

Do you have reasonably convenient access to a dryer outlet? The older N10-30 or newer N14-30 are both 240v / 30amp, so you could charge at 24a (5.7kW) which is a pretty decent ~22 miles/hour.

You'd just need the proper adapter for the TMC, and possibly something to make it a little easier to use like a splitter (they even make "smart" 30a splitters/switches)

Like this is pretty cool:

https://www.amazon.com/Splitvolt-Splitter-Automatic-Switching-Between/dp/B08QBN98K1/ref=sr_1_24

 

[BigMcGuire]

Do you have reasonably convenient access to a dryer outlet? The older N10-30 or newer N14-30 are both 240v / 30amp, so you could charge at 24a (5.7kW) which is a pretty decent ~22 miles/hour.

You'd just need the proper adapter for the TMC, and possibly something to make it a little easier to use like a splitter (they even make "smart" 30a splitters/switches)

Like this is pretty cool:

https://www.amazon.com/Splitvolt-Splitter-Automatic-Switching-Between/dp/B08QBN98K1/ref=sr_1_24

I wish - our dryers/washers are on the second floor - garage? Only one 15amp outlet. The electricians were laughing at how bad it was. lol. (Built in 2015 too). So we lucked out on a place right before EV cars started becoming more popular. Wonder how long one can get a N14-30 cable ? LOL (up the stairs and around the corner).

 

[Apple fanboy]

The longer range was more to accommodate much less frequent charging, you know, for folks without a "destination charger". There was a Model 3 owner who posted about living in a condo that initially didn't have charging and they worked from home, and didn't drive a ton, so with their ~260 miles (i.e., 220-230 effective miles) range and less than 40 miles a week, they could just hit up the local SuC once a week

BTW, there's also a ton of "secret" destination chargers around and about. I was surprised to find a couple of resorts we frequent has L2 chargers, both J1772 and Tesla, in a nice, out of the way, covered garage area, free for guests! So our ~240 mile round trip costs about $4 for electricity

This is a terrific resource:

PlugShare - EV Charging Station Map - Find a place to charge

Find EV charging stations with PlugShare, the most complete map of electric vehicle charging stations in the world!Charging tips reviews and photos from the EV community.

www.plugshare.com

Thanks. I’ve installed zap map which gets good reviews.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I think I’ve settled on a zappi charger. They have really good integration with solar panels. We don’t have them at the moment, but it’s on a wish list. No time soon. Maybe when we finish the mortgage which isn’t that long really.

 

[kenoh]

So looking at the various options out there, you have so many choices! How on earth do you decide?
My criteria would be the following

• Tethered. I don't want to be going into the boot all the time.
• Smart. I don't want it to do loads, but I'd like some basic smart functionality. Especially if we move to a cheaper overnight rate.
• Cheap. I've spent considerably more on the car than I was planning. I'd rather not be spending a fortune on the charger (but stick with my I'd rather pay more than buy twice if you get the wrong one!)
• I'm a little concerned about the distance from my WIFI router, so a back up method of connectivity would be great.
• Aesthetics. Where as none of them would be described as attractive, I do need to attach this to my house! I don't want it to be pig ugly if possible!

So what would you recommend? Obviously this is for a UK installation, so might have different options etc. But thought it was worth an ask.

I use a tethered Rolec for my i3. Simple, relatively discreet and no boot rummaging needed. Only thing I would recommend is one you can turn off or restrict access to when not using it - so you dont come home and find a stranger charging on your driveway. Oh! two things... get a longer cable than you think. Mine has a 5m cable and on paper that is a long cable. In reality I could do with a 10m cable so I dont have to keep shuffling the cars round on the driveway to reach it.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I use a tethered Rolec for my i3. Simple, relatively discreet and no boot rummaging needed. Only thing I would recommend is one you can turn off or restrict access to when not using it - so you dont come home and find a stranger charging on your driveway.

Lol. Yes that would be annoying. Especially for them when I key every panel on their car!

 

[DT]

Our local power provider (FPL) is getting into the EV charging solutions, they've had an ad campaign running that suggested they'd be offering home as well as destination chargers, the former is starting to come through email, initially as a survey, but the product description is interesting. Probably not a good option for us, but should be a good way to motivate more EV transition:

 

[BigMcGuire]

I wish there would be more $ incentives. $2300 to install an EV charger in my garage is a bit expensive for me (I'm a renter so that's $ I won't get back if I install it, which owner said I could but only if I paid for it).

 

[DT]

I wish there would be more $ incentives. $2300 to install an EV charger in my garage is a bit expensive for me (I'm a renter so that's $ I won't get back if I install it, which owner said I could but only if I paid for it).

What kind of setup is that? Is that the EVSE too? Hardwired?

 

[BigMcGuire]

What kind of setup is that? Is that the EVSE too? Hardwired?

My circuit breaker is on the second floor up the stairs. There's only 1 15amp outlet in the garage (on a 20amp circuit). So they were going to string a dedicated line down to the garage and put in a nema 14-50. They estimated $2300 not counting drywall repair costs. It was going to be a post in the garage, not on the wall as well. <shrug>. We were hoping the owner would pay part of it but they weren't interested.

 

[DT]

Oh yeah, so just the outlet install, yeah, that's pricy, but that's a reasonably complicated install (though I don't have my head totally around the layout/logistics), and you don't have a 30a dryer outlet close enough (even in the 30 or so foot range ...) you can use?

 

[BigMcGuire]

Oh yeah, so just the outlet install, yeah, that's pricy, but that's a reasonably complicated install (though I don't have my head totally around the layout/logistics), and you don't have a 30a dryer outlet close enough (even in the 30 or so foot range ...) you can use?

Dryer/Washer are on a 20amp outlet on the 1st floor in a laundry room. (Single unit, plugged into a single 20amp outlet (with the -| | plug). And the garage is probably 250+ feet down the stairs and around the corner - and only has a single 15 amp outlet (on a 20 amp circuit). They estimate 20+ drywall holes to repair to get a dedicated line down there. <sigh>.

So we've been charging our Tesla Model 3 from a 15amp outlet (12 amps) - but it's working with our mileage, LOL. Doesn't mean we don't wanna pay that $2300 lol - tho we're not sure if we'll be here more than a year.

Place was built in 2015 so the electrician says we just lucked out because a lot of places built after this have EV in mind.

 

[DT]

I'm pretty MacGyver-y (to the point of probably getting a little to close to safety margins ) but that does sound like a difficult situation with the location/distance of outlets, layout, etc.

Did you talk to a few contractors? I've seen really wide ranges of quotes mentioned on some Tesla sites, though I know being in CA means it's going to be on the higher side.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'm pretty MacGyver-y (to the point of probably getting a little to close to safety margins ) but that does sound like a difficult situation with the location/distance of outlets, layout, etc.

Did you talk to a few contractors? I've seen really wide ranges of quotes mentioned on some Tesla sites, though I know being in CA means it's going to be on the higher side.

Just one so far, but yeah I think the next step would be to get a few different quotes. That said, not sure if we're willing to blow $2000+ on a rental. lol.

 

[Clix Pix]

If I were in your situation, a tenant rather than an owner, I would definitely NOT plunk out $2300 or more to improve someone else's property! If the owner is not invested enough in the idea to accept your suggestion of splitting the costs, then too bad. After you move out, their loss in the end as eventually more and more people will be purchasing EVs and will expect to find connectivity at their dwelling, so the owner may well lose out on future tenants for that reason....

 

[DT]

Yeah, I'm not sure what price I'd be willing to pay, I agree anything over $2K is non-starter, probably even at half that, but that would also be very dependent on how quickly I recovered that cost. Like if I had to use a Tesla SuC 5 days a week, where I was spending $100 a month, then maybe something that would save money in a 6 months (and the extra perk of convenience) might be worth considering, but it sounds like @BigMcGuire is doing well enough with the L1 charging.

 

[kenoh]

I have a home EV charge point with a tethered 5m cable. Tip for anyone looking to charge a car on a driveway with multiple cars, get a longer cable. 5m sounds good on paper. In reality, 10m is more practical because I guarantee the EV will always be in the furthest area away from the charge whenever it needs charged.

 

[DT]

I have a home EV charge point with a tethered 5m cable. Tip for anyone looking to charge a car on a driveway with multiple cars, get a longer cable. 5m sounds good on paper. In reality, 10m is more practical because I guarantee the EV will always be in the furthest area away from the charge whenever it needs charged.

So true. We started with a 32a EVSE with a 18 foot cable (~5.4m), when I decided I wanted to max out the circuit, but also that the cable was a bit short. I returned that, got a 40a with a 24' cable (~7.3m), but even so, I could still do a longer 10m, so that I could charge without having to pull either car in the garage (the 24' comes right to the opening).

 

[Apple fanboy]

I have a home EV charge point with a tethered 5m cable. Tip for anyone looking to charge a car on a driveway with multiple cars, get a longer cable. 5m sounds good on paper. In reality, 10m is more practical because I guarantee the EV will always be in the furthest area away from the charge whenever it needs charged.

You got an EV? Which ones(s).

 

[quagmire]

Tesla has now decided to no longer include the mobile connector with the car citing " low usage".........

Total BS........

They originally upped the price to $400( might as well get the wall connector for $95 more....), but due to outrage lowered it to $200......