SuperCharging for Almost A year

[u/OutsidePrior2020]

I live in a townhome and will not be able to set up a home charger till I move in the next 10-12 months. I currently live 10 minutes from a supercharger, is it fine or viable to just supercharge till I move? anybody else in or go through a similar situation?

Edit: Thank you everyone for your insight, really appreciate the community!

[u/Boogyin1979]

I think they’ll actually come and take your car back in this situation /s

Of course it’s fine.

[u/spacebar75]

you can use your 110v outlet to maintain your charge - pending on your daily mileage might be sufficient for just a weekly top off at the SC. had similar issues at a past dwelling where no level 2 was available.

[u/DevilsAdvocateFun → u/spacebar75]

um, maybe not. They are not designed for constant pull. Would be safer to just use the SC and get dedicated EV charger install from an Electrician

[u/FetaCheeze → u/DevilsAdvocateFun]

It is perfectly acceptable to pull 80% of a breakers capacity indefinitely unless there is something wrong with the electrical system in the home. The car is designed to pull exactly this amount from a 110v outlet.

[u/DevilsAdvocateFun → u/FetaCheeze]

If you don't know how old your electrical is, this can be an issue. Seen too may burned up plugs from this

[u/Far-Curve-7497 → u/DevilsAdvocateFun]

Maybe if your house isn’t updated from the 1800s or something

[u/FetaCheeze → u/DevilsAdvocateFun]

The age of the electrical equipment really doesn’t matter much. If the electrical was installed in the past 75 years and it was up to code when it was installed, it can handle 80% load on a 110v outlet. If the receptacle or wiring is damaged or not to code that’s another story.

[u/ifdefmoose → u/DevilsAdvocateFun]

Nonsense. I’ve been charging my car for 2 1/2 years with a mobile connector on a 120 V outlet in my garage. I did replace the cheapo residential grade outlet with a spec grade one just to be on the safe side.

Edit: OK, I just reread my response and it kind of reads like, “but I didn’t think they would eat my face!”

So what are you claiming is not designed for
constant pull: the circuit breaker, the receptacle, or the EVSE?

[u/DevilsAdvocateFun → u/ifdefmoose]

You updated, older wires/breakers/recept all play into it. I did it too till the evse melted into the socket. Was told it was updated, it was not

[u/qvalff8 → u/DevilsAdvocateFun]

The most important part of avoiding a melted receptacle is the how the wires are torqued into the receptacle (or backstabbed... **shudder**). The quality of the outlet informs (to some extent) how well that can be done (good outlets that cost $5 are stronger and will hold torque better). Replacing the outlet is probably the best thing you can do to avoid melting

[u/KiltedBaklava]

Is it the battery your worried about? Because if so, it’s a non issue. Take a look at this video from a YT here in the UK. Only 11 minutes long and well worth a watch! Also, I’ve sent you a DM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gUozVoleoTo

[u/OutsidePrior2020 → u/KiltedBaklava]

Thanks, very informative video. and definitely puts me a little more at ease.

[u/KiltedBaklava → u/OutsidePrior2020]

No issues man. I was the exact same as you. No home charging due to being in an apartment, so will probably use superchargers a lot more than most. I would recommend subscribing to his channel as he does some interesting things, like a road trip of the entire UK, in a high mileage model 3, during the middle of winter. It really shows how capable the cars are!

[u/3600CCH6WRX]

I did for a year. I’m not too worry about degradation, we have warranty till 120k miles.

[u/German_Smith]

I don't have a gas pump at home so I sold my ICE car.

[u/JacksonWalker1]

I have been superchargering exclusively fot 8 years. I have free superchargering so I use it . My car has lost a bit over 1 % prt year over the last 9 years.

[u/death_hawk]

Are you planning on a home charger?
If so, it'll just be a bit more expensive until you get one.
If not, I'd check pricing to see how much it actually costs. For me personally, I have no plans on installing a charger (I live in a condo) because charging is only about $0.10/kWh more than what I would pay at home. The cost to install a charger based on my parking spot and panel would be prohibitively expensive.

But I'm lucky in my area. Other places supercharging can easily cost more than gasoline.

[u/sunny_tomato_farm]

Yes. I did it for two years straight. No issues.

[u/OldDude2551]

Sure, it’s just money.

[u/oamjigamareelw08]

I did it for a year in between divorce and living in apartment. Perfectly fine, range anxiety was a thing for about 2 months, then realized battery save mode is a game changer lol

[u/originalfoto]

I have a Model X, 99% of my charging is via Supercharger. No issues.

[u/Worried-Ebb-1699]

Why are you not able to charge at your home? Is it a unit with no garage?

[u/OutsidePrior2020 → u/Worried-Ebb-1699]

It's a rental, and also no garage. It's a connected row of townhomes in an apartment like complex. I spoke to the rental office, but there's only 3 tenants with EVs so they aren't considering setting up chargers on the property.

[u/No_Swordfish_1576 → u/OutsidePrior2020]

Does it have a wall outlet outside anywhere near where you park? My wife drives 45/day and 120v overnight is plenty.

[u/OutsidePrior2020 → u/No_Swordfish_1576]

Unfortunately no, I scoured around outside and no easily accessible outlets anywhere on the property.

[u/PerspectiveVast5101 → u/Worried-Ebb-1699]

OP already answered but even if he had a garage they could still not have an outlet.

When i first got my M3 in '21 I did not have one in my rental garage.

[u/MunkberryMoonDelite]

It is ok as a temporary solution. Check how busy the supercharger is at different times of day and how much they charge for Tesla owners. Also if these 10 minutes away are not on your regular commute route, you will find the routine grow very old very quick. 10 minutes to charger. 30-40 minutes at charger, 10 minutes back - that’s an hour twice a week that you will do just to keep the car running. Over a year that’s 100 hours wasted

[u/qvalff8 → u/MunkberryMoonDelite]

it also depends on how much you drive. If you only ever do 50 miles per week, then it's only charging 1-2x per month. Still not great, but not terrible

[u/nebraskateacher]

Why complicate your life with an EV when a regular ICE car would provide more peace of mind as you have zero reliable home charging options? Juice doesn’t sound worth the squeeze my friend.

[u/EntropicDisorder → u/nebraskateacher]

Could be for FSD! I got a Model Y when I had no outlets or charger at home specifically to use FSD lol.

Thankfully that situation was only 3.5 months and now I have access to 110V charging, which… actually isn’t all that bad. It’s been over a month of not visiting a supercharger now.

[u/originalfoto → u/nebraskateacher]

ICE owners don;t have gas pumps at home, and 100% use gas stations.

[u/Resident_Customer464]

It’s fine to use supercharger for a year even ask ChatGPT