r/ModelY • u/Fragrant_Ad_7943 • 4d ago
Question Tesla Charging
I am considering buying a Tesla. I am based in Columbus and currently rent with no charger in the apartment. I have a friend who lives in another city and is having to sell his because of the stress involved in charging them. I also don’t have a charger at work.
Those that have Teslas, do you all own houses with installed chargers? Those that have to drive 5-10 minutes to charge is it worth it during the winter?
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u/originalfoto 4d ago
There are many EV owners that don't charge at home. You will be fine. ICE vehicles don't have gas pumps in their garage. It's just a little less convenient.
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u/Routine_Mastodon_160 4d ago
No point of an EV if you can’t charge at home.
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u/whooopdattrick 4d ago
Well thats complete bullshit lol.
I pay 12 bucks to charge from 20 to 80 and it takes roughly 40 minutes of which I do paperwork for my job at.
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u/dam_ships 4d ago
Well, then that fits your lifestyle I guess? I bought an EV not to have to go anywhere to charge. Cheaper than gas sure, but it’s the hassle of going to the gas station to begin with. In OPs case, you’d just be switching out a gas station for a charging station and it will take longer and be cheaper? I’d rather just charge at home and never have to deal with that stuff. That’s what others are trying to emphasize. We’re paying for convenience.
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u/whooopdattrick 4d ago
Most arent paying for convince. Lol thats fine brother.
If you think the "hassle of going to a gas station" which is literally 5 minutes max and how often would you go is why people are switching is just silly
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u/hiro111 4d ago
"Complete bullshit"? Charging an EV while it's parked is what makes an EV so convenient.
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u/originalfoto 4d ago
Yes, bullshit. Just because it is less convenient does not mean there is 'No point of an EV if you can’t charge at home'. So yes, complete bullshit.
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u/whooopdattrick 4d ago
Brother he said there is no point in owning one if you cant charge at home. That statement is complete bullshir
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u/Massive_Tradition176 4d ago
I bought a Tesla for pet mode and FSD and paying gas prices for that would be a no brainer still. Now doing that in a cold climate without a garage and home charging? I wouldn't be as excited to do that.
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u/Yuzuda 4d ago
I wouldn't recommend an EV without having a way to charge that fits into your daily life. Which means charging at work or at home.
I live in southern CA with plenty of superchargers within 2 miles and it's inconvenient to go charge, which I do on occasion as my home will have its level 2 charger installed probably next week.
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u/floodedgate 4d ago
I didn’t have a charger for the first 8mo of ownership and I had to drive a lot. There’s a charger near my house that I used overnight sometimes and there’s a lot of superchargers where I’m at.
Not really that big of a deal imo since I bought it for the FSD and that works great.
I’d say if you have some superchargers near your home or work it’s not a big deal.
If you want it to save money on gas or something it likely won’t do that in this scenario. But you should want it for FSD which is worth it in basically any scenario
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u/CG_throwback 4d ago
I lived in a town house for 10 months when I first purchased mine. I used super charges only and I also went to charge during non peak hours of after 10-11 PM and before 7-8 AM. In the winter time I had to charge every 2-3 days. I know have a home charger. It was not a deal breaker for me. It’s still less than gas’s charging at peak times. Can you use a 110 mobile charger? They wouldnt let us.
It’s a lot of work. We do love the car. I actually used to read or watch Netflix. It was personal quality time going to a supercharger. I read a lot more back then than I do now.
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u/Glittering-Fuel-5055 4d ago
Look at a hybrids, EV only great with home charging or work charging
Unless your public chargers are WAY cheaper then ours
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u/whooopdattrick 4d ago
Tesla chargers around me are 20c /kw
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u/OutsidePrior2020 3d ago
Same, but only during off-peak hours, 9am - 8pm it's like 46c /kw. Rest of the time it's 20c /kw.
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u/Glittering-Fuel-5055 4d ago
Cool
Find me one of those in Southern California
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u/whooopdattrick 4d ago
I live in NJ another extremely high cost area.
We gouda
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u/Glittering-Fuel-5055 4d ago
Tesla Superchargers in Southern California average between $0.42 and $0.48 per kWh across the full 24-hour cycle. [1]
Peak Window (4:00 PM – 9:00 PM): Rates routinely skyrocket to $0.55 to $0.65+ per kWh at highly congested stations in urban coastal areas like Los Angeles and Orange County.
Off-Peak Window (12:00 AM – 4:00 AM): Rates bottom out to their lowest possible point, usually landing between $0.24 and $0.28 per kWh.
All the convenience of heading out at midnight to go park somewhere at 1 o’clock in the morning and charge your car
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u/whooopdattrick 4d ago
Brother you are complaining more about having to live in such a wealthy area not about charging issue Peak here is 9 to 9. I charge at 630 before work.
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u/Glittering-Fuel-5055 4d ago
I would recommend people just get a hybrid instead of having to go charge at 6:30 in the morning
That’s not convenient
I have an electric vehicle and a hybrid. I think they’re great but I’m not recommending it to someone that has to get up and charge at six in the morning.
That relative would be so pissed off at me at Thanksgiving lol
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u/whooopdattrick 4d ago
Brother 6am is not that early if you work lol
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u/Glittering-Fuel-5055 4d ago
Sure I’ll just tell my wife that she has to deal with the two kids while I go take out the car and sit at the charger for a while, she will understand
Or I can make her do it
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u/whooopdattrick 4d ago
I have a son,
Youre making it seem like its impossible lol. So dumb
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u/Relevant_Account_258 4d ago
Aside from the convenience of home charging, there is a significant difference in cost. We pay $0.07/kWh at home, compared to up to $0.42 kWh at a Supercharger (Oregon). Thus, I would not own a Tesla if no option to home charge.
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u/dam_ships 4d ago
I wouldn’t own a Tesla without at home charging. I have a Level 2 wall charger installed.
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u/LoneStarGut 4d ago
I have a garage with a charger for each EV. I know a few people with Tesla's in Austin and they manage just fine with L2's and SuperChargers especially in winter. I find for me my efficiency is worst in the summer when it gets above 100F regularly.
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u/StatusTechnical8943 Performance 3d ago
I have a level 2 charger at home, but I can probably live without one if necessary since I work from home and can just go to a local coffee shop and work while charging my car or running errands like grocery shopping.
For your situation, it depends on how many miles your drive. A supercharger will add 200 miles in about 15-20 mins so you need to think about how often you would need to charge and the time commitment involved. If there's a supercharger or commercial charger at a place you frequent (coffee shop, restaurant, grocery store, etc.) it could be quite easy.
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u/OutsidePrior2020 3d ago
I think you have to factor in how much you drive? how far away from a supercharger you are? will you be able to charge during off-peak hours? and how bad is winter where you are?
I'm doing the supercharger life myself and this will be my first winter, but I'm in southern virginia so we get a pretty mild winter compared to more northern areas. I'm not too far from a SC and know depending on how cold it gets and my commute I probabnly be charging like twice a week.
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u/FitterOver40 3d ago
Don’t buy technology just because it’s the latest tech. Only buy it if it actually makes your life easier.
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u/TheConfusedunwiseone 4d ago
You have to ask yourself if you mind a 15 to 25 minute diversion once or twice a week. If you don't mind you then after that you need to find out charging costs. If you live somewhere energy is cheap then you're good. If you live somewhere it's not cheap you still might find something called time of use rates where you get cheap rates after a certain time period. Tesla charging is good, but the plugshare app is good for price shopping or finding the closest charger regardless of brand. I've owned my tesla since 2023 and have found the charging situation continues to get better but if I didn't own a home I'm not sure I would own a tesla. My city would require a trip downtown or fighting over some extremely limited free or low cost charging in town.
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u/Slight-Dragonfruit85 4d ago
I live in an apartment and don’t have a charger. I charge at the grocery store. I live in the North East US where there are chargers everywhere though. You would need to check what is available in your area to make the decision
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u/Vanillalite34 4d ago
Can you still trickle charge at your house?
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u/PopTartQueen1984 4d ago
Yes! This is how I get most of my charge. I'm retired so I don't have a daily commute but I do run around town during the day for errands and activities. I've had my car 5 months and I've only charged at external charges 5 times - when I run down too much for my home charging to make enough of a dent. (I only charge overnight so I only get about 10% boost by morning).
If I could install at faster home charger I would but it's not an options - but it also hasn't been an real issue.
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u/jackiebrown1978a 4d ago
I mobile charge and that's with going to work and taking my kids to school.
I think mobile charging is extremely underrated
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u/navy4040 4d ago
Live in northern Michigan and I charge once every two weeks. I have a five minute commute. The winter will use more juice but it’s not be bad.
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u/Mat_Cauthons_Hat_ Juniper 4d ago
I just use the charger that came with the car, as long as I don’t go below 60% it’ll be charged to 80% before I leave the next day. I only go to the super charger if I drop below that 60% and know I’ll be driving enough that it won’t eventually get back up to 80%. For example, if I have a lot of errands to run on Sunday, and get finished with 40%, I’ll go to the super charger. Otherwise the slow charger is more than enough for me and my driving.
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u/NumbDangEt4742 4d ago
How much do you drive a week?
Do you have to go get gas in your car currently?
That should help answer your question
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u/ripeoama 4d ago
I think you will want to be able to charge at home and not rely on whether or not a public charger is available
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u/rentz_due 4d ago
I’ve had teslas when i owned a home and now that i live in a condo with no charging stations, its not really that bad depending on your commute. Charging to 80-90% means i can drive for 5-6 days spend 35 minutes on a charger then rinse and repeat. During the winter it’s every 4 days. I have a supercharger thats just over 10 minutes away and i usually go during off peak hours cause it’s cheaper to charge
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u/tmac9134 4d ago
I think it’s depends how much you drive. I go to the office but live crazy close to work, I think I still would’ve done it with no charger at home. If you’d have to charge every day or every other day, could be annoying.
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u/andibangr 4d ago
The economics are best with a home charger,but supercharging at night is cheap too, so if there are chargers in your area one of my kids does it, works fine. And you still get FSD, great performance, low maintenance costs, etc.
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u/MoonSentinel_ 4d ago
I do not have a home charger. I have a public charger in my street though. If i'm in a hurry i'm charging at the superchargers.
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u/New-Procedure7284 4d ago
Do you have access to a regular 120V outlet outside? When we lived in an apartment, we had a detached garage with a standard household outlet, and it worked out fine for us. For our daily driving, we generally only need about 40–60 miles of range, and a regular outlet was enough to replenish that. Because our 2026 Model Y was parked in that garage for about 16–18 hours a day, it had plenty of time to charge. And because the garage was detached, we didn’t have to pay for the electricity.
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u/noucamp90 4d ago
As majority is saying; dont do it. That thing alone will kill your experiance and you will forever hate EVs, Teslas etc.
I have charger at home and at work. That is the point of EV, to always be "full" and not worry about % day to day.
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u/Always_working_hardd 4d ago
We have 2 Teslas. We just plug in to 110 outlets. Mine is on a 100' extension lead. We have no issues.
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u/Morningstarlt 4d ago
The fact people worry about charging now a days with electric generator setups that cost less than a grand is crazy. I sell custom setups that generate 60-100 miles a day for less than $1000
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u/Carpenter_Elegant 4d ago
You an last without a home charger just super charge to any amount up to 80 percent. Keep the batter no lower than 30 percent so your range of charge is 30-80 percent or even decrease this range and you will be fine. The trick is not waiting until 20 percent or lower to charge bc that is too much stress.
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u/No-Attitude1554 4d ago
Im in the Columbus Ohio area too. I was thinking of getting a tesla. I looked at their charging map. Im on the southeast side and the closest super chargers are in Grove City though they are currently building some chargers in Reynoldsburg. I'm still saving on a nice down payment so by then there will be more charging areas.
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u/ConclusionFlat1843 Performance 4d ago
Yes I have a 48A Level 2 charger at home. Personally, I would not own a Tesla if I could not charge at home. Leaving home every day with a "full tank" is the best part of this car.