I just tried free EV charging for the first time — here's what happened

[admin]

I thought free EV chargeing didn't exist anymore, but I finally got the chance to experience it for the first time.

I just tried free EV charging for the first time — here's what happened : Read more

 

[Deftjef]

Luckily I live in a city that offers free level 2 EV charging nearby and I charge my Model S Plaid for free 75% of the time. I also have an ICE vehicle and park it nearby to where the free EV chargers are located. On days I charge my EV I drop it off at the charging station and pick up my ICE. So far they are very liberal with the charging times and I often leave my EV to charge to 80-90%. You get a txt message to pickup your car after 3 hours but it’s never enforced in any manner. It’s abused (staying >3 hrs) by most of us that use it but only rarely are all 4 bays occupied. If they are I just come back later or overnight. It’s been going on about 2 years now and I’ve saved considerably as compared to the Porsche Panamera I previously owned considering fuel and maintenance costs.

 

[bobmeyerweb]

But it's not really free. There was an opportunity cost of an hour and 20 minutes that you could have been doing something else. Unless the "free" charger is a short walk from your work, that cost is real. Sure, maybe once in a while you can spend the time shopping, but most of the time it's going to be a real time sink. The time required to charge is still a significant disadvantage of EVs. And rarely are half the pumps at a gas station not working, and if that happens there's likely to be another station a couple of miles away.

As for the "free" city provided charging mentioned in the first comment. That's not really free, either. Taxpayers are paying for it. You and your neighbors are paying for it. Now, with relatively few EVs on the road the cost per person may be small, but imagine the city was paying for everyone's gasoline and taxing you for it. Would be a great deal for those who drive a lot, but a real screwing for those who drive very little. Why should your neighbors pay for your recharging?

 

[Deftjef]

In my area most town halls, police and fire stations, and other municipal buildings in the region pay nothing for gas or electric service. That’s because of an unusual provision in their utility franchise agreements that offers local governments “free” energy in exchange for the use of public rights of way.

 

[COLGeek]

In my area most town halls, police and fire stations, and other municipal buildings in the region pay nothing for gas or electric service. That’s because of an unusual provision in their utility franchise agreements that offers local governments “free” energy in exchange for the use of public rights of way.

I understand your perspective, just keep in mind that someone does indeed pay. Usually other customers of said services.

 

[Bone61]

Level 1 AND level 2 you can do at home, level 1 is 110v and painfully slow, level 2 I 220 volt and much faster if you aren't in a big hurry, level 3 is what you aren't doing at home, it's a nominal 400vdc, and in some cases 800vdc. Any free level 3 charging in generally has a limited period of time depending on what was negotiated by the manufacturer with the provider...I haven't found any actually free level 2 chargers near me, the ones I did find charged almost as much as the level 3 places and were slower than my home charger.

3 year long owner of a Polestar 2.

 

[Fruban]

But it's not really free. There was an opportunity cost of an hour and 20 minutes that you could have been doing something else. Unless the "free" charger is a short walk from your work, that cost is real. Sure, maybe once in a while you can spend the time shopping, but most of the time it's going to be a real time sink. The time required to charge is still a significant disadvantage of EVs. And rarely are half the pumps at a gas station not working, and if that happens there's likely to be another station a couple of miles away.

As for the "free" city provided charging mentioned in the first comment. That's not really free, either. Taxpayers are paying for it. You and your neighbors are paying for it. Now, with relatively few EVs on the road the cost per person may be small, but imagine the city was paying for everyone's gasoline and taxing you for it. Would be a great deal for those who drive a lot, but a real screwing for those who drive very little. Why should your neighbors pay for your recharging?

Most people do find something to do during charging and aren't waiting there doing nothing. Also, the benefit of taxes going towards anything that's good for the environment like EV charging is that it means less air pollution for everyone and less CO2 which is driving the climate crisis which affects us all.

 

[Johnr_Roberts]

thought free EV chargeing didn't exist anymore, but I finally got the chance to experience it for the first time.

I just tried free EV charging for the first time — here's what happened : Read more

I agree. 1hr 10min out of my life for a measly 46 miles - that some other poor bunny pays for? Electric cars shouldn't have been brought in until the entire bodywork was created as efficient solar panels. I thought modern cars were supposed to be MORE convenient, not less.

 

[nyankana]

Free charging is not a reason to own an EV. It is extremely slow and you are going to have to wait for hours to charge it, if you need to be somewhere else then you gotta spend money for Uber to and back which defeats the whole point of saving money. You would be better off just leaving it at home and charge it up. No one has the time to wait for a whole day. And it's the number one reason that turns most people away from owning an EV, even with fast charging it can only go up to 80 percent then it slows down to a crawl.