Purchasing an EV with street parking?

[Anonymous]

We're planning to buy a car with our first baby coming soon. We live in DC in an apartment with garage parking that includes EV charging stations, but plan to move within DC within the next two years and will probably buy in the district. Very possible we'd consider purchasing a condo and that we will have to rely on street parking.

Would you buy an EV given the possibility of using street parking within two years? I know there are some charging stations in the and it takes about 50 minutes to charge that way--total pain in the butt or reasonable even with a young child?

[Anonymous]

This sounds like a huge pain in the ass. I would not do it.

[Anonymous]

I would do this ONLY if you commute by car to a job that has EV charging available. Otherwise, no. Get a plug-in hybrid.

I am a happy EV owner, but I have always had a home charger. I just moved to a new house and don't have my home charger wired yet. I am reduced to having to charge with a cord out the window, and even THAT is a huge PITA and too slow to be practical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're planning to buy a car with our first baby coming soon. We live in DC in an apartment with garage parking that includes EV charging stations, but plan to move within DC within the next two years and will probably buy in the district. Very possible we'd consider purchasing a condo and that we will have to rely on street parking.

Would you buy an EV given the possibility of using street parking within two years? I know there are some charging stations in the and it takes about 50 minutes to charge that way--total pain in the butt or reasonable even with a young child?

I just posted and then reread your post. Right now you have garage parking, correct? Realistically, once you have a baby you are not going to buy a condo that only has street parking. THAT, my friend, will be an immense PITA. Just buy the car that makes sense for you now.

[Anonymous]

Got it! Yes, will have garage parking for at least the next year.

[Anonymous]

And no, we won't use the car for commuting--doctor's appointments, visiting grandparents, visiting friends we now Uber to see, groceries, etc.

[Anonymous]

There are a couple of households in my neighborhood (in DC) where people have run cable out to the sidewalk to charge their EVs in street parking spaces, one in a rowhouse and one in a standalone house. But that depends on a neighborhood where parking is not scarce and there's a general understanding that everybody gets dibs on the space in front of their own house. It's not a situation I would count on being able to replicate in most neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

It would be somewhat of a pain if you end up without garage parking but I expect it would be very manageable.

Your car will probably have 200-250 mile range, which means for the kind of thing you are talking about you'd probably only be charging once every 3-4 weeks? And you can probably put 175-200 miles in the car in about 20 minutes-- so you get some coffee or shop at target or worst case hang out on your phone.

I agree I'd get what you want to get and it should work out fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be somewhat of a pain if you end up without garage parking but I expect it would be very manageable.

Your car will probably have 200-250 mile range, which means for the kind of thing you are talking about you'd probably only be charging once every 3-4 weeks? And you can probably put 175-200 miles in the car in about 20 minutes-- so you get some coffee or shop at target or worst case hang out on your phone.

I agree I'd get what you want to get and it should work out fine.

yeah it would work if OP doesn't drive it a lot. 250 miles is a lot of driving if you're in the city. A lot of grocery stores have EV chargers, so they could just charge it up during their weekly shopping trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be somewhat of a pain if you end up without garage parking but I expect it would be very manageable.

Your car will probably have 200-250 mile range, which means for the kind of thing you are talking about you'd probably only be charging once every 3-4 weeks? And you can probably put 175-200 miles in the car in about 20 minutes-- so you get some coffee or shop at target or worst case hang out on your phone.

I agree I'd get what you want to get and it should work out fine.

yeah it would work if OP doesn't drive it a lot. 250 miles is a lot of driving if you're in the city. A lot of grocery stores have EV chargers, so they could just charge it up during their weekly shopping trip.

I've been trying to do this (charge while grocery shopping) and I think it's worked 1/10 times. Just so many problems with blocked chargers and non-functioning chargers. I think Whole Foods likes the image of having EV chargers but doesn't actually care if they are accessible or operational.

[Anonymous]

Check out Plugshare and see if there are any EV chargers near the areas that you regularly visit. There are free EV chargers out there, but you won't get a meaningful charge in the time it takes to go grocery shopping. The fast chargers cost money, but it's kinda expensive.

The absolute best feature of EVs is the ability to charge at home while you sleep, work, or whatever. With your car usage, even a regular wall plug would be enough if you plugged in every night.

Once you spend some time driving an EV, you'll never want another gas car.

[Anonymous]

I have an EV that I commute with. I will say I only have to charge my car 1-2 times a week.

[Anonymous]

We don’t have a charger and it’s not a pain at all. We are close to the electrify America station at Walmart. My husband takes calls and charges the car. Piece of cake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be somewhat of a pain if you end up without garage parking but I expect it would be very manageable.

Your car will probably have 200-250 mile range, which means for the kind of thing you are talking about you'd probably only be charging once every 3-4 weeks? And you can probably put 175-200 miles in the car in about 20 minutes-- so you get some coffee or shop at target or worst case hang out on your phone.

I agree I'd get what you want to get and it should work out fine.

yeah it would work if OP doesn't drive it a lot. 250 miles is a lot of driving if you're in the city. A lot of grocery stores have EV chargers, so they could just charge it up during their weekly shopping trip.

I've been trying to do this (charge while grocery shopping) and I think it's worked 1/10 times. Just so many problems with blocked chargers and non-functioning chargers. I think Whole Foods likes the image of having EV chargers but doesn't actually care if they are accessible or operational.

Grocery store chargers aren't really all that useful as a substitute for home charging, anyway -- they're almost all level 2 chargers, so even if they aren't blocked, you'll only get a few miles added to your battery by the time you're done in the store. If you can get to a DC fast charging station, you can probably charge to 80 percent in 20 or 30 minutes, though, no matter what state of charge you're starting with. As long as you're OK with making time to do that once or twice a week, OP, you should be fine if and when you wind up without garage parking and home charging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a couple of households in my neighborhood (in DC) where people have run cable out to the sidewalk to charge their EVs in street parking spaces, one in a rowhouse and one in a standalone house. But that depends on a neighborhood where parking is not scarce and there's a general understanding that everybody gets dibs on the space in front of their own house. It's not a situation I would count on being able to replicate in most neighborhoods.

This is not legal and (if they ever get their stuff together) DDOT will heavily fine these drivers.