Are you sure? I’m in North Carolina. I thought it was pretty common everywhere.
We don’t have that here in CT either.
We also have a PHEV, which I have just started charging recently. I know there were at least a few folks on this thread who castigated me for not charging the PHEV.
Guess what? You were right! I am now charging at night at 110v, and it gets me around 20 miles all-electric. What I had forgotten to consider was how regenerative braking gets me more mileage, so, as far as I can see, I’m getting far more than 20 miles on a single charge. As those of you know the Bay Area, it can be quite hilly, and I seem to essentially be able to keep the full charge on the downhills (losing a lot, though, on the steep uphills).
In any event, I am super-impressed. A single overnight charge is ALMOST enough for my daily (pandemic-limited) drives these days.
I guess you’re never too old to learn something very basic. To those who chided me, wow, were you ever spot on! Thank you for putting some wisdom in me.
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My Electric EMC offers an EV rate, where I get 400 KW free for use between midnight and 6 pm. (“super off-peak”). No problem. Great. But, the peak use rate was higher with this plan than their regular plan, and since (a) we’ve been working from home, (b) not driving/charging all that much and (c) use the A/C a lot for many months here since it’s HOT, I cancelled the EV discount and rate and went back to the regular rate. Now that we are heading into the cooler months I may play around with the utility rate again, since I do charge the car (when I do) after midnight. But not sure its worth the aggravation. I can compare the usage across years, but it might not be worth fooling with. Thoughts?
How about getting a rack of solar panels to (a) generate electricity to offset that used by your air conditioning, and (b) shade at least part of your house roof from being heated up during the daytime, reducing the air conditioning load?
Whether time-of-use metering is a good deal for you depends on what your electricity use is. If it is mostly charging an electric vehicle, then you can program the electric vehicle and/or charging equipment to avoid the expensive hours. But if it is mostly air conditioning, then that almost inherently gets used the most during the expensive hours.
Don’t think our roof faces the correct way to get the maximum sun, and it would take years to be cost effective. As I said above, @ucbalumnus , the car is hardly used and not charged all that often, compared to the use of the A/C 8 mos out of the year and the use of the utilities since we are both home most of the time (I don’t want to run my washer/dryer or dishwasher in the middle of the night, though I could program them to. Meh.)
just make sure you can go back to the traditional plan if you change your mind later.
Yup- already checked and already did it once (only bummer was I’d been grandfathered into a lower “customer service” monthly junk fee which I lost when I took the EV discount rate, and didn’t get back when I went back to the regular rate structure.) I had the ev nit discount rate for about a year or maybe 18 mos (I forget) but switched back when it became clear in COVID we werent going back to our offices.
Dear CC Friends:
Thanks so much to all you for all the comments. We’ve now had our Tesla Model Y for a bit and are VERY happy with it. Absolutely no complaints thus far.
Also, we’re really happy with the charging situation. Based on our routine daily driving habits, an overnight charge on 110v is more than enough to recharge the car to where it was the day before. That’s about all I can ask. I’ve since learned that supercharging the Tesla is really not meant as a day-to-day solution, and we have so many charging stations throughout the area that I don’t think we’ll ever have an issue.
Again, I really appreciate the collective wisdom of the CC family. It made what would have been a daunting transaction something that was enjoyable for us.
MNIW
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I’m coming back to revive this thread, particularly on the charging situation. We have the Model Y and are very happy with it, and I just got a new PHEV.
So, thanks to folks here, we need to charge two cars (I had never charged my PHEV, until some of the helpful suggestions on this thread made me realize how silly that was). We are on a PG&E “time of use” plan, where our lowest cost for electricity is from midnight to 3 pm, 7 days per week. That’s great, since we almost never drive our cars between midnight and 6 am.
I just had an electrician come over to look things over, and they are going to give us an estimate over the weekend. Our main panel is very old and needs to be replaced. And, because of the configuration of our parking areas, we can keep one car in our driveway (and another in the garage, but that will have to be cleaned up, which is not realistic in the short term since it’s a principal storage area for us). So, the Model Y will be in the driveway, where we can easily put a 240-volt charging station. My PHEV would be parked near the house, but in a public area, and I want to be able to charge this car, in addition to the Model Y, at the same time.
I have a few questions for the CC family that has provided so much great advice to date:
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is a 200 amp panel upgrade enough? I noted that @BunsenBurner, and perhaps others, have a significantly higher amp panel, and I want to make sure that we have enough to power us over the years if we are going to do the panel upgrade. So, the question is whether 200 amps is enough? Should we go for more?
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I don’t really want to buy the Tesla charging equipment. We have a 3-year lease on the Model Y, and who knows what we will get after the lease is over. I want this “charging station” to be able to handle any car for at least the next several years but to be able to handle the Model Y now and for the next few years. So, the question here is what kind of outdoor charging station would be best for the Tesla or another pure EV, based on NEMA-rated equipment?
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What kind of “charging station” should I put in for my PHEV? The electrician who came by to give us an estimate suggested a 220V/30amp outlet. I can plug the charging cable into an outlet installed by the electrician on our property, but the cord will be on public property when it connects to our PHEV.
I wasn’t exactly the best physics student around, so the electrical stuff is way beyond my limited intelligence. Thus, I’m looking for advice on the above points when I get the estimate to make sure we get a solution that will work for us now and several years into the future. As mentioned, if we are going to the effort and expense to do the main panel upgrade, I want this to be something that will work now and for years to come.
TIA for your very welcome suggestions!
MNIW
Teslas come with a basic EVSE that is capable of up to 32A charging – you just need to buy the appropriate adapter for the outlet that you will plug it into. See Gen 2 NEMA Adapters for available adapters. To get 32A charging, you need to have an electrician install a 40A or 50A circuit with a NEMA 14-50 or 6-50 outlet. So if the Tesla EVSE that comes with the car can reach from inside the garage to the charge port of your Tesla where it is parked, you only need to have the outlet installed and do not need to buy an EVSE for it.
A 30A circuit and outlet can be used for at most 24A continuous load like EV charging. Most non-Tesla EVs and PHEVs have J1772 ports, but some have CHAdeMO ports. Assuming J1772, there are many EVSEs available. Oddly, a Tesla mobile connector (like the one that comes with your Tesla) plus a Tesla → J1772 adapter can be price competitive to dedicated J1772 EVSEs. Note that Teslas come with a J1772 → Tesla adapter to be able to charge from J1772 EVSEs.
It may be a good idea to have a 40A circuit with a NEMA 14-50 or 6-50 outlet so that you can use up to 32A charging. Also, consider weatherproofing and lockability of the outside location for the EVSE. Perhaps have the outlet in a lockable enclosure that is big enough to put the EVSE in, with a hole in the door so that the cord can come out to plug into an EV. Also, be careful if the cord would have to cross a pedestrian walkway or some such, so you may need a cord protector over it.
Between NEMA 14-50 and 6-50 outlets for 40A (or 50A) circuits, 14-50 appears to be somewhat more common than 6-50 for EVSEs.
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Thanks so much, @ucbalumnus ! You’re truly a font of all knowledge!
You can also try asking on EV forums (or forums for your particular make/model of vehicles) about recommended and not recommended EVSEs (some seem to have trouble with some vehicles that they are supposed to work with).
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You don’t need to charge your PHEV simultaneously when charge your Tesla — that is you don’t need to plug both vehicles in at the same time. How many miles can your PHEV go on a charge? Most Level 2 chargers can deliver around 20ish miles in an hour. Depending on the EV range of your PHEV that might be plenty. Just plug it in for an hour and then plug in the Tesla.
I would get the charger installed in the garage and clean out the garage. You can swap around which car you charge first. The Level 2 chargers are fantastic for home charging.
I’d future-proof and go big (60 amp), at least on the cable and circuit. The bulk of the work is labor, so installing a 60 amp cable is not much more. And you can still put in a NEMA 14-50 outlet and a 50 amp breaker. (Ask your electrician if you need a sub-panel.)
By installing the heavier cable now, you could upgrade to a higher amp charger later, if you purchase the current car or another EV with higher charging capability. Do you need 60 amp? No. But again, since the labor is already out there, and you never know what the future will bring.
I would not be comfortable running a cable across public access space. Our neighbor down the street runs the EV cable across the sidewalk and no one seems to complain, but not something I can support.
This is a simple job for any licensed, bonded electrician.
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I think that’s right. Since the labor is likely the most costly part of the estimate, I want to make sure the equipment (e.g., outlet and cable) are keep up with future upgrades within reason.
Haha! Cleaning out the garage would take more effort than two separate outlets.
On a full charge, the PHEV allegedly gets in the mid-20s in all-electric.
I hear what you’re saying, but we’re in the heart of the Bay Area, with space being a premium. Given the configuration of our driveway and garage, it would be a chore to swap cars in and out, putting aside the clean-up. The cars would be right behind each other (one in the garage, and one in the driveway). But, you raise a good point for a lazy dad to reconsider.
Be a lot safer in the garage, too. Really it only takes 1 hr to get to 20 miles of charge on Level 2. Just take turns with it. I would not install it outside given the choice. Or just continue to trickle charge the PHEV. It charges overnight I assume?
Perhaps you and @bluebayou are right. I’m not comfortable in having a cable cross a public place.
The trickle charge on the PHEV would take about 7 hours. On a 220 v outlet, I think it’s about 2.5 hours.
Heavens! It means I need to spend days cleaning out the garage. But it’s probably the right thing to do.
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If you only need one EVSE, then you can get a 40A (or 50A or 60A if you really want more “just in case”) NEMA 14-50 outlet installed by an electrician in the garage (place it strategically so that an EVSE’s cord can reach an EV in the garage or the driveway) and then use the EVSE included with your Tesla with the NEMA 14-50 adapter. For the non-Tesla vehicle (assuming it uses J1772), you can use one of these with the EVSE included in your Tesla: 5 Best Tesla to J1772 Adapters that easily charge non-Tesla EVs • Expert Guide .
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Thanks to all of you for your advice.
Rather than having an outlet near a public space and having a charging cable becoming a trip and fall possibility, I’ve decided that’s nuts. Instead, I have asked the electrician to put two 50amp outlets, one inside the garage, and one in our driveway. As @sweetgum pointed out, going up to 220v greatly reduces the charging time, so we really could just go with one outlet. On that miraculous day when we finally clean out the garage so that we can actually park a car there, having the inside outlet will be required.
Thanks again for all the wisdom.