What does charging an EV at home actually look like day to day, for people who've been doing it a while?
For people who've been charging at home for a while now, what does it actually look like day to day at this point -- do you still think about it or has it basically become automatic? Trying to get a realistic picture before committing to a setup, beyond just the install cost.
Completely automatic at this point. Pull in, plug in, walk inside. The car is set to charge to 80% and it is done by morning every single time. The most I ever think about it is when I forget to back into the garage and have to go back out and turn the car around because my cord does not reach the port the other way. Honestly the biggest perk is never stopping for gas anymore. My wife went from filling up twice a week to about once a month once we started using the Mach-E as the daily driver.
Pretty much automatic. I plug in maybe 2-3 times a week, not every night -- the LEAF doesn't need it with my driving, and I mostly just glance at the percentage when I get home and decide.
The only time I really think about it now is when I'm planning something longer than usual. Before I had the Emporia I was on L1 at about 1 kW and that was the part where I thought about it constantly... a big day meant the car wasn't full again the next morning. L2 took that worry away completely.
4.5 years and 100k miles on a Model Y, all charged at home except road trips. It became automatic within the first couple of weeks. Set the charge limit, set it to charge off peak, plug in whenever you park. That's the whole routine.
The one thing I'd mention is winter. My commute is 100 miles round trip, and in summer I don't think about it at all. In January I keep a closer eye on it, because winter range drops to about 160 compared with 225 in summer. That's still fine with home charging, but it's the one time of year I actually look at the numbers.
Day to day it's automatic for me too, but what I actually ended up thinking about was the electricity plan, not the charger. I switched from ToU to Tiered and it saved us about $30/month, because the off-peak window didn't line up with when we really use power. Worth running your own numbers before you set a schedule and forget about it!
Also, before you buy anything, look at the charger rewards programs if your area has them. Some of them pay you per kWh. Read the fine print though... some are a lot better than others.
Whatever you end up using, make sure the receptacle is actually rated for EV use. I used a cheap one and it cooked my charging equipment. Hardwiring avoids the problem entirely.
Thanks, this is reassuring. Is everyone here on a 240V circuit? Our panel is on the older side, so I'm wondering if L1 would be enough to get by for a while.
Depends entirely on how many miles a day you drive -- that's the number that matters. L1 gets me about 4 miles of range an hour, so 12 hours overnight is around 40-50 miles. If you drive less than that most days it works. It just doesn't leave you any slack.
Get a load calc done before you assume anything about the panel. Mine ended up maxed out after the 50 amp outlet went in and I cannot add any more major loads now. Worth knowing that going in rather than finding out afterwards.
