electric cars if you don’t have place to plug in?

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I wouldn't get an EV in your situation right now, unless you know where your local fast chargers are located and can use them on a regular basis (i.e., your local Wawa has chargers and you can pick up your coffee/hoagies there or your grocery store has chargers and you can charge while you shop.)

I've had EVs and hybrids for years now, and I have a garage with dedicated charging. My current EV is a Tesla, which has the largest charging network BY FAR right now. And even so, I need to plan charging for certain road trips (particularly heading south or west).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I wouldn't get an EV in your situation right now, unless you know where your local fast chargers are located and can use them on a regular basis (i.e., your local Wawa has chargers and you can pick up your coffee/hoagies there or your grocery store has chargers and you can charge while you shop.)

I've had EVs and hybrids for years now, and I have a garage with dedicated charging. My current EV is a Tesla, which has the largest charging network BY FAR right now. And even so, I need to plan charging for certain road trips (particularly heading south or west).

NP. Again, the apps will take care of the planning for you. If OP doesn't take a lot of long trips, this isn't really a problem.

[Anonymous]

We live in Glover Park and the local Safeway has 10 Tesla Superchargers. Honestly, those chargers are always packed with rideshare drivers and other locals who don’t have a charger. It seems like a pain in the butt, there’s people always waiting for a spot to open up. I guess there’s a whole etiquette around charging?

What’s annoying is that the Tesla drivers are always smoking pot and stinking up the garage. A few months ago, there was an issue with the chargers and they were out of service. Three Teslas had to get towed out of the garage because they showed up to charged coasting on fumes and couldn’t get recharged due to the outage. It was a damn mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I wouldn't get an EV in your situation right now, unless you know where your local fast chargers are located and can use them on a regular basis (i.e., your local Wawa has chargers and you can pick up your coffee/hoagies there or your grocery store has chargers and you can charge while you shop.)

I've had EVs and hybrids for years now, and I have a garage with dedicated charging. My current EV is a Tesla, which has the largest charging network BY FAR right now. And even so, I need to plan charging for certain road trips (particularly heading south or west).

NP. Again, the apps will take care of the planning for you. If OP doesn't take a lot of long trips, this isn't really a problem.

But it is a problem for OP when they have no dedicated charging spot at work or home. Instead, every errand might involve also looking for a charger. This is not an issue just with taking a road trip, this would be an ongoing issue where to charge. The infrastructure is just not there yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I wouldn't get an EV in your situation right now, unless you know where your local fast chargers are located and can use them on a regular basis (i.e., your local Wawa has chargers and you can pick up your coffee/hoagies there or your grocery store has chargers and you can charge while you shop.)

I've had EVs and hybrids for years now, and I have a garage with dedicated charging. My current EV is a Tesla, which has the largest charging network BY FAR right now. And even so, I need to plan charging for certain road trips (particularly heading south or west).

NP. Again, the apps will take care of the planning for you. If OP doesn't take a lot of long trips, this isn't really a problem.

But it is a problem for OP when they have no dedicated charging spot at work or home. Instead, every errand might involve also looking for a charger. This is not an issue just with taking a road trip, this would be an ongoing issue where to charge. The infrastructure is just not there yet.

It wouldn't be every errand — if you're just driving around town or whatever, you'd need to charge about once a week. But I would still advise, if you don't have a way to be able to charge at home, not getting an EV right now. Within a few years, the incentives Congress adopted in the last couple years will mean significant new high-speed charging options will be available.

[Anonymous]

Another don’t recommend here. We have a pure EV and a PHEV and a fast(er) plug at home. Without that I definitely wouldn’t, it’s too stressful worrying and planning around charging points and we have encountered many that aren’t working or aren’t fast chargers. It’s ok for us as we can always top up a little if needed and then charge at home. In OP’s situation it would bring an unnecessary level of stress to life. Unfortunately the EV infrastructure is just not there yet

[Anonymous]

Well, given all the PPs advice, I think a pure EV isn’t for me (the OP). I’m not just riding around town but also drive to the beach, to pick up college kids in NYC and western PA and may move in the next year.

I’m a bit disappointed but hope to review in 3-5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, given all the PPs advice, I think a pure EV isn’t for me (the OP). I’m not just riding around town but also drive to the beach, to pick up college kids in NYC and western PA and may move in the next year.

I’m a bit disappointed but hope to review in 3-5 years.

OP, I was one of the PPs who has an EV now and recommended against getting one if you can't charge at home. If you're disappointed, I did feel like I should come back and say you definitely could make it work -- it will take some planning and thought, but it's not like there'd be no way you could manage it. Just seems like most people wouldn't want to spend any time every week strategizing about where and how they could charge.

Do you need a new car now? If you're moving in the next year, you could just wait and see what your charging options are when you move. (Maybe you have a lease that's ending, though, I don't know -- we tend to buy and keep cars forever, I'm not as up on how leasing works.)

[Anonymous]

We’ve had an EV without a home charger for a few months now. We’re starting a renovation on our house in two months so we waited to upgrade electric and install the station. Up to now it requires a bit of extra thought but there’s a charger that’s about a mile from our house. Once a week we’ll park it there, walk home to work from home and then go back to get it. We can sometimes top off at a charger near my brother’s house or at one at the rec center during swim practice. All depends on how much you drive. Our once a week charge to 90% has been fine. We could always go to the fast charger at Walmart but we haven’t had to yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I wouldn't get an EV in your situation right now, unless you know where your local fast chargers are located and can use them on a regular basis (i.e., your local Wawa has chargers and you can pick up your coffee/hoagies there or your grocery store has chargers and you can charge while you shop.)

I've had EVs and hybrids for years now, and I have a garage with dedicated charging. My current EV is a Tesla, which has the largest charging network BY FAR right now. And even so, I need to plan charging for certain road trips (particularly heading south or west).

NP. Again, the apps will take care of the planning for you. If OP doesn't take a lot of long trips, this isn't really a problem.

But it is a problem for OP when they have no dedicated charging spot at work or home. Instead, every errand might involve also looking for a charger. This is not an issue just with taking a road trip, this would be an ongoing issue where to charge. The infrastructure is just not there yet.

This is the DMV. There are three non-Tesla EV charging stations within 2 miles of me. One is 1/4 mile from me. Can’t speak for OP, but it seems unlikely this would be an “ongoing infrastructure issue” for her locally. Trust me, it’s pretty easy to keep these locations in my head even though I have a level 2 charger at home.

The big question is whether OP wants to hang out at the Walmart or wherever when she’s charging, and maybe doesn’t mind but maybe she does.