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Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

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Re: Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

#61

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

xani_ wrote: post #12
HEHENE wrote: post #10

Buying a Tesla has caused us to bump up our timeline for purchasing a house. We are very lucky to have two charging stations at our apartment complex, but a few things make it a less than perfect scenario. 1) They charge a 40% markup on electricity. This is fair, given the upfront costs of installation and ongoing maintenance costs, but still a downside. 2) Since installing it, the number of EVs living here have trip…

> 3) Their breaker apparently can't support 2 Teslas charging at once. This doesn't seem to be a problem with two non-Telsa EVs, or one Tesla and one non-Tesla, but if two Teslas plug in at the same time the breaker blows and both chargers are out of commission for 24-72 hours until maintenance gets around to fixing it. https://www.tesla.com/support/gen-3-wall-connector-power-sha... ? Or chargers are non-tesla ?

Parent comment DID mention non-Teslas charging.

Re: Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

#62

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

HEHENE wrote: post #10

Buying a Tesla has caused us to bump up our timeline for purchasing a house. We are very lucky to have two charging stations at our apartment complex, but a few things make it a less than perfect scenario. 1) They charge a 40% markup on electricity. This is fair, given the upfront costs of installation and ongoing maintenance costs, but still a downside. 2) Since installing it, the number of EVs living here have trip…

> 3) Their breaker apparently can't support 2 Teslas charging at once. This doesn't seem to be a problem with two non-Telsa EVs, or one Tesla and one non-Tesla, but if two Teslas plug in at the same time the breaker blows and both chargers are out of commission for 24-72 hours until maintenance gets around to fixing it.

The Tesla owners can fix this themselves by changing the charging speed manually in the car or the app.

Re: Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

#63

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

jewayne wrote: post #31
_fat_santa wrote: post #13

This is one of the main reasons I have not gone electric yet. I currently live in an Apartment Complex and getting power to an EV there would be impossible. One of two solutions will fix this problem, either more chargers or better energy density in the batteries. The first solution is the simpler one, just add the chargers, not actually that simple but simpler than the latter option which is develop batteries with h…

Non-EV owners seem to be under the impression that DC fast charging has not been invented yet. The Superchargers that I use all charge at a peak of 250 KW. At 250 KW, my car is gaining up to ~17.5 miles of range per minute of charging. Of course, it can only charge close to that fast when the battery is low, so what about a more realistic wattage, like 150 KW? That's still 2.5 KWH per minute, or up to ~10.5 miles of…

> Non-EV owners seem to be under the impression that DC fast charging has not been invented yet.

Yup, there's a dead comment [0] about having to "wait hours", which is just flat-out incorrect.

On a road trip, I find that every 150 miles of driving takes 10-20 minutes to charge, depending on how low I let my battery get. Charging from 10% to 60% is faster than 30% to 80%, but planning to arrive with 30% gives peace of mind.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33068439

Re: Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

#64

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

toast0 wrote: post #16
giantg2 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think being low income is itself prohibitive to adopting electric.

If your needs fit its range, off lease Leafs were pretty low cost when I was last looking; you could get an older gas car for much less and not everyone can afford a $10,000 car. Electric $/mile operating cost is very often less than gas $/mile, especially if you have significant access to free charging. Of course, if you move, you might need to get a different car.

> Electric $/mile operating cost is very often less than gas $/mile, especially if you have significant access to free charging.

If you can charge at home, then electric $/mile is usually significantly cheaper. For me, my electricity is 11 cents/kWh, which made driving about 1/4 the price per mile as the 32 mpg Subaru BRZ I drove before my Tesla, and with gas over $5/gallon now, it's more like 1/5th the price.

But if you can't charge at home, it's very likely nearly as expensive as gas. Electrify America, ChargePoint, etc. are not cheap. I usually see them around 50 cents/kWh.

Re: Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

#65

Post by thethethethe »

logicalmonster wrote: post #18

At one time, hotels didn't offer free (or any) Wi-Fi, and now it's basically standard even at the bargain basement cheapo motels. As the market demands a feature, it will eventually come. I think time will ultimately solve the EV charging issue in many apartment complexes, multi-family homes, townhouses, and other types of residential areas as that feature gets more demanded. Property management companies are particu…

> Dense cities. It's hard to see how EVs can work in denser cities where they theoretically could do the most good.

No!!! Keep your cars out of my city! Personal EVs are not a solution for cities, they just perpetuate detrimental car centric urban policies. Spend that money on continuous sidewalks, narrower streets and better public transit.

Re: Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

#66

Post by pwinnski »

thethethethe wrote: post #65
logicalmonster wrote: post #18

At one time, hotels didn't offer free (or any) Wi-Fi, and now it's basically standard even at the bargain basement cheapo motels. As the market demands a feature, it will eventually come. I think time will ultimately solve the EV charging issue in many apartment complexes, multi-family homes, townhouses, and other types of residential areas as that feature gets more demanded. Property management companies are particu…

> Dense cities. It's hard to see how EVs can work in denser cities where they theoretically could do the most good. No!!! Keep your cars out of my city! Personal EVs are not a solution for cities, they just perpetuate detrimental car centric urban policies. Spend that money on continuous sidewalks, narrower streets and better public transit.

I'm with you in spirit, but I think this verges on letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Ideally we'd have really narrow streets, so much less parking, and many more amenities for pedestrians.

Realistically, replacing a good chunk of the existing gas-fueled cars with electric cars would be a HUGE net win.

Re: Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

#67

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

jononomo wrote: post #55
zamalek wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unsurprisingly, renters tend to have lower incomes than those who own their own homes Not only that, but renters are often put in the situation where their rent is the same as a mortgage, but can't afford to save for a down payment. Renting is a cockroach motel.

My landlord has to replace a rotting front porch, and that will cost him five months worth of the rent I pay him. There is so much more cost associated with owning a home than just the down payment and the mortgage payments. In fact, it often makes a lot more sense financially to rent, and it is also a lot more flexible.

> In fact, it often makes a lot more sense financially to rent, and it is also a lot more flexible.

If you need the flexibility, then yeah, sure.

But if you have no plans to move or don't think you'll ever need to move, in the long term, owning is always going to win.

Rent money just goes into a black hole. Mortgage payments build equity until you pay it off, at that point the asset is 100% yours and you're no longer making payments. Sure, you're paying for maintenance, but the maintenance costs will be less than what you were paying before.

Also, rent always goes up, sometimes faster than inflation. A fixed mortgage doesn't. When I bought my house at the end of 2015 for $330K, Zillow estimated the rental value at $1,800/month, and my mortgage was $1,500/month. Now, cash value is estimated $560K and the rental value is estimated to be $2,700/month.

If I chose to rent 7 years ago, I'd be spending $1,200 more per month right now. Another couple years, and I could be spending double.

Re: Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

#68

Post by sigio »

jononomo wrote: post #51
sigio wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in suburbia in the Netherlands, there's chargers on basically every street in area's without driveways, and in areas where people mostly have a driveway, you can find most will have a private charger. I can't charge in the carpark with my house, but never have an issue finding (many) free charging spots on the streets around my house. And besides the level 2 chargers (11/22kw) here, there's also enough fast-char…

Who pays for the electricity from these chargers around the street that are free for you to use?

The free in the post above was free in 'available' not 'gratis'. Though there are still a few 'free as in beer' chargers available at shops like LIDL, and some company-office locations.

The user of the chargers pays for them.... they are all equipped with RFID cardreaders and compatible with all different charge-card suppliers. Prices have been going up a lot lately with the european energy crisis, with prices going from 20-30ct/kwh to ~40-50ct/kwh now, and fast-chargers going at 70-90ct/kwh.

Re: Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

#69

Post by voozy »

helen___keller wrote: post #32

Depending on location, apartment hunting with any car can be difficult, and likewise house hunting without a car can be difficult. In general the infrastructure needs of apartment dwellers and house dwellers tend to differ a lot. Personally, if we're talking about upgrading legacy infrastructure in rental units, I would really like if including in-unit washer dryer combos would be the norm in my city (Boston). Althou…

I also believe that in extremely dense cities perhaps car sharing could become the norm? Of course this only applies to urban centers.

I personally ride my escooter to the office, walk to most places, take the occasional taxi, and if I need a car, I use car sharing programs.

Re: Think apartment-hunting is frustrating? Try doing it with an electric car

#70

Post by toast0 »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #64
toast0 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your needs fit its range, off lease Leafs were pretty low cost when I was last looking; you could get an older gas car for much less and not everyone can afford a $10,000 car. Electric $/mile operating cost is very often less than gas $/mile, especially if you have significant access to free charging. Of course, if you move, you might need to get a different car.

> Electric $/mile operating cost is very often less than gas $/mile, especially if you have significant access to free charging. If you can charge at home, then electric $/mile is usually significantly cheaper. For me, my electricity is 11 cents/kWh, which made driving about 1/4 the price per mile as the 32 mpg Subaru BRZ I drove before my Tesla, and with gas over $5/gallon now, it's more like 1/5th the price. But if…

Hmm, around me, most of the paid charging is close to home prices. Although there's a few that are crazy prices.
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