Don’t do it to yourself it’s not worth it. I regret this decision daily. At first I lived in a small town and I thought well maybe the charging network just hasn’t reached out here yet. Now I live in a big city and there’s still barely any good options to charge reliably. Unless your apartment complex offers a good charging option just don’t do it.
It’s not worth the hassle. I’m constantly waiting in a line just to charge, then I wait while I charge, so for me charging at a fast charger ends up being like a 2 hour affair I have to plan for at least two times a week. This brings up the next set of advice: if you’re still dead set on public charging, opt for the long-range version of whatever EV you want to buy so you charge less often.
TLDR: Don’t buy an EV if you plan on public charging only.
I don’t know where OP lives but our 700,000 pop El Paso Texas city has a dozen L2 and L3 charge points within 4 miles of our home.
My very first charge was at Wagon Mound, New Mexico pop 250 where I found (2) 150 kw and (1) 350 kw EA chargers. This was stop #1 on a 650-mile drive through mostly desert. Found #2 Albuquerque pop 600,000 and #3 Elephant Butte pop 2500 along the way.
So, before deciding on an EV go to ABRP to look for various brands and locations of chargers around home.
@Mark
I would not take OP’s advice blindly. Like you alluded to, every individual’s needs and geography vary, so instead of taking this small data point, research what is around you and evaluate the routine and consider things like car range, charge speed, and plug type.
@emma
Also cost, if you are only charging at EA without a plan, this will be more expensive than gas per mile. I think a lot of people think EVs are much cheaper to run than gas, but that may not be the case on only public chargers.
Yeah, charging at home is where EVs become an amazing quality-of-life improvement. I hope cities can push on changes that make it the norm for renters to be able to charge at home.
Kenneth said:
Yeah, charging at home is where EVs become an amazing quality-of-life improvement. I hope cities can push on changes that make it the norm for renters to be able to charge at home.
It’s not just renters, it’s anyone who lives in a multifamily building where adding a charger to their parking space would be cost prohibitive, or lives somewhere without dedicated off-street parking. Cities need to add L2 chargers along streets where people are already parking, so people can leave their cars where they already park overnight and wake up to a full charge in the morning. And we need subsidies for multifamily buildings to offset the installation costs.
@zendaya
I lived in a heavily street-parking apartment neighborhood in a relatively safe/boring suburb in LA County & I can’t imagine street charging going down well just 'cuz of vandalism & theft, even if it’s a BYOC arrangement (bring your own cable, à la Europe).
The “govt” would have to fix way too many societal issues before this becomes remotely feasible & sustainable.
Thomas said:
This is completely dependent on where you live and the charging infrastructure around you.
Yup. I know someone in SF who has an EV they can’t charge at home and hasn’t had any issue with rolling up to a charger outside of peak hours and getting a charge.
If I were going to buy an EV and couldn’t charge it at home, I’d absolutely be doing some trial runs ahead of time to see if it works for me. Drive out to the nearest charger once a week for a few months, see if it’s functioning and available or what the wait time is, hang out for the 20-30 minutes I’d have to charge and then go home.
If it feels like a huge pain in the ass, then I probably shouldn’t buy the EV. If I find it’s nice to get some alone time to read a book or listen to a podcast without the family disturbing me, then maybe I’m onto something.
I spent 11 months depending on public charging. It’s a challenge, but I quickly learned to use non-peak hours. Charging at 6 AM instead of 7 AM eliminated wait times for me.
Everyone’s circumstances are different, but it’s also true that there are multiple solutions to most problems.
@diallo
I will say that if you have to meaningfully modify some life habits just to own a car, the car owns you more than you own it. I love EVs and PHEVs… but their single biggest benefit, outside of environmental considerations, is charging at home. It is such an incredible experience.
This is true but I’ve lived in 3 different places now along the east coast of the US and the network has been a pain in all 3 places. Also, I will say even if the network was better it’s still a hassle to go out somewhere and sit in your car for 45 minutes while your car charges.
@olivia
Of course it is. It’s only not a hassle to charge an EV if you can charge it somewhere that you’re going to be anyway. So if you can charge at home when you are home, or at work when you are at work, it’s easy. If you can charge at the grocery store and pick up a load of range while you do your weekly grocery shop, it’s easy.