EV discussion - hate or love?

[jthackman]

nice truck kwik... don't remember seeing comments on your home charging situation. aren't you in a rental? will you be 110 charging or are you going to install something else? or charge at work?

 

[2kwik4u]

Stumbled on this while I couldn't sleep this morning. Just finishing it up now.

Really great data and observations from a very long road trip in a Rivian. Addresses a LOT of the comments/questions that are brought up here with some real world examples, as well as strategies to make it as pain free as possible. Echo's a lot of what I've heard from current EV owners already.

 

[2kwik4u]

nice truck kwik... don't remember seeing comments on your home charging situation. aren't you in a rental? will you be 110 charging or are you going to install something else? or charge at work?

I am in a rental currently. Plan to stay here for a couple years minimum as well (assuming landlords don't get greedy with rent).

I reached out to the owners a few months ago asking about putting an EV charger in the garage. They are OK with is, so long as I pull all necessary permits and have it professionally installed. Up front cost is on me, and they get the NY state tax credit.

Electrical service already a 200A setup into my side of the building, and there are plenty of open breaker positions available. Garage is about 20ft from the electrical box, so I foresee any major issues to getting that plug added.



I suspect it will be a few weeks before I can figure out which charger I want to get, and get the service into the garage installed. Until then, there is a DCFC station about 3mi from the house. Figure I'll just "fill 'er up" every couple of days there as needed for the short term.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I am in a rental currently. Plan to stay here for a couple years minimum as well (assuming landlords don't get greedy with rent).

I reached out to the owners a few months ago asking about putting an EV charger in the garage. They are OK with is, so long as I pull all necessary permits and have it professionally installed. Up front cost is on me, and they get the NY state tax credit.

Electrical service already a 200A setup into my side of the building, and there are plenty of open breaker positions available. Garage is about 20ft from the electrical box, so I foresee any major issues to getting that plug added.

View attachment 227097

I suspect it will be a few weeks before I can figure out which charger I want to get, and get the service into the garage installed. Until then, there is a DCFC station about 3mi from the house. Figure I'll just "fill 'er up" every couple of days there as needed for the short term.

Do you have a dryer outlet nearby? Might be more cost effective since you don't own the building.

 

[2kwik4u]

Do you have a dryer outlet nearby? Might be more cost effective since you don't own the building.

I do. The Laundry room is adjacent to the garage. Would have to build a "cord pass-through" or something like a cord doggy door. It's only on a 30A circuit, so I think I'll want more than that for nightly charging and "quick turns" for weekend towing. We'll see.

I am considering it though. Going to wait to decide until the quotes come back on the cost to add, as well as what my actual usage looks like.

 

[adrianp89]

I would counter the owners say you will pay for it and expect the rebate on next month mortgage. They shouldn't get paid for someone else to upgrade their house.

 

[Bluewater272]

I would counter the owners say you will pay for it and expect the rebate on next month mortgage. They shouldn't get paid for someone else to upgrade their house.

I'd have never let one of my tenants get a new circuit installed, tax credit or not - I'd take the cooperation as a win.

I do. The Laundry room is adjacent to the garage. Would have to build a "cord pass-through" or something like a cord doggy door. It's only on a 30A circuit, so I think I'll want more than that for nightly charging and "quick turns" for weekend towing. We'll see.

I am considering it though. Going to wait to decide until the quotes come back on the cost to add, as well as what my actual usage looks like.

You may not need it. We installed the Tesla charger on a 60A circuit, car only takes 2-3 hours to recharge most days - lower amperage would have been fine. See what kinda daily/weekend burn you're getting before you shell out for an outlet install on someone else's house. Bigger batteries and more juice used on the truck though, so probably an apples/oranges scenario.

Edit: You'll almost certainly pay less to add a 40A outlet in the garage (material cost difference aside, don't ask for a charger install). Curiously, almost every single one of my quotes was just about the exact amount of the tax credit I don't qualify for.

 

[Ribs77]

I don't currently have an EV, but if I did, I'd be charging it for free when I go to the office 2-3x/week. I think that'd just about cover ALL of my charging needs. I wonder how long those kind of fringe benefits will continue at offices...

Longest trip we regularly do is 185 miles which is no problem. If I were towing a boat that might be cutting it close.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I would counter the owners say you will pay for it and expect the rebate on next month mortgage. They shouldn't get paid for someone else to upgrade their house.

Not sure I would consider it an upgrade to a rental home as currently 98 - 99% of tenants wouldn’t have a need for the charger. I think it’s a win just to get the landlord to approve the upgrade.

Jim

 

[BlkGS]

I kinda agree with Bluewater. I wouldn't let a tenant add something like that. Too much risk, and I'm damn sure not paying for someone else's EV charger, the rebate I might get (assuming I went and did the paperwork for it) is to cover my risk on my property.

 

[adrianp89]

I guess I view it different - I understand if the tenant is adding it, but having a licensed electrician do it with proper permits at no cost to you is a win with minimal risk (struggling to find any real risk here) You can raise the price of rent because now you have an EV charging outlet, which is becoming more and more important to people.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I think that so few renters currently have EVs, the fact that a home has a charger would add little value to a rental property.

Now this likely will be different in the future as EVs move in the mainstream. We may even reach a point someday where these chargers might be expected in rental units.

Jim

 

[BlkGS]

I agree, people aren't going to pay more for rent because of an EV charger. Most people don't own EVs, and most renters that would own an EV are more likely to be renting a condo or apartment in a more urban area.

I'd absolutely not give someone the benefit of modifications to my property without being compensated for it. Think of it this way, you're leasing a car. You decide you want to install a high end audio system. Firstly, what leasing company is going to ok that? Secondly, imagine them asking the leasing company to give you money because you spent money on "improvements" their car?

I can tell you the answer. None. When I worked at best buy in college we did a lot of work pulling out equipment for people that had leased cars they were turning back in. I remember one that had the initial install done by a smaller shop that had closed, so they were paying us to remove it all. It was like $500-600 because we had to pull out everything and it was really poorly done. They said they had been to the dealer before when they were ordering their next lease and they said something about it and were gonna charge them like $2500 if it wasn't back to factory when their lease ended. They were happy to pay us a lot less, lol.

 

[2kwik4u]

I'm a dork, but the guide snapped this for me.



Looks like I have 305mi range on a full battery. Gonna make it home on a single charge with 95mi to spare.

Initial thoughts when I get back to a PC.

 

[2kwik4u]

Home! 95mi remaining.

 

[Coult45]

I'm a dork, but the guide snapped this for me.

View attachment 227113

Looks like I have 305mi range on a full battery. Gonna make it home on a single charge with 95mi to spare.

Initial thoughts when I get back to a PC.

Wait...that thing has the dry land version of swim up seats? Very cool.

I'll second someone else's suggestion not to ask for an EV charger electrical install. Just get quotes for a 14-50 220 outlet for your garage heater or welder or something. I'm guessing there are electricians who mark up EV charger quotes knowing the homeowner is getting the rebate.

And I know you're a data guy so you're probably looking at chargers that give you a lot of info and a lot of control, but I'm a fan of our very simple but well-made unit with no bells or whistles...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082LMVSLY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[buckbuck]

Tom Moloughney has done the research for you concerning chargers.

 

[2kwik4u]

OK, initial impressions......here we go.

One pedal driving is weird. I like it, but it's going to take some getting used to. Makes backing into parking spots feel weird and different. I'm not super smooth with it yet. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

I tried to charge last night at a fast charger near the house. It didn't work, charger was down but didn't say that until I downloaded the app. Tried again this morning at a chargepoint station. Worked fine. The process of downloading an app to start, then plugging in, then starting the charge in the truck, then OK'ing the charge in the app is very cumbersome. The tesla I rented in Tuscon last year was way easier. I expect once I get all these things setup and used to the process it'll get easier. Right now it's cumbersome and feels harder than it should be.

Speaking of charging, I picked up ~50% range (from 25% to 75% - ish) in about 25min. Using mph as a charging speed is non-sensical to me. Charger was delivering 150kW through that whole range though. Cost $28 for 162mi of range. $0.064/mi Pretty comparable to the Audi in that regard. It'll get much cheaper when I can charge at home for $0.19/kWh instead of $0.50/kWh. Hadn't intended to

The look and feel of the truck is growing on me quickly. I'm not sure I would have spec'd this configuration, but I'm digging it. has a very "rugged" feel to it. Much less "fragile" feeling than the Audi was.

Tires need balanced really bad. I know they're 35in A/T tires and they'll shake a little, but these are in rough shape. Going to see if Rivian will do that for me, but my suspicion is that I'm too picky, and I'll have to pay to have it done properly locally. More my issue than a truck issue.

I think the Audi was faster. 400hp/5,500lb in the Audi vs 553hp/7,600lb in the Rivian. Both are right at 13.75lb/hp. Audi was just more aggressive with the delivery. The Rivian is very smooth and predictable with no drama. The Audi had noise, and shifts, and lights and all kinds of stuff going on. I'm betting the A/T tires aren't helping the Rivian feel very sporty either.

SOOOOOOO many settings. Cheese and Rice I can't remember where anything is. There are so many buttons and settings and things. I'm sure that will settle down with time, but it feels overwhelming initially.

The screens at night aren't as bad as I expected. The "auto" brightness is nice, but doesn't dim enough, however manually adjusted dim setting is perfectly adequate to not bother me. This was a big worry, and I've railed against them for years. Still think manual gauges are better, but this isn't as bad as I thought. Speaking of gages. I want more details and options for energy use data. This trip computer is pretty stark overall in comparison to even my wifes Rogue. Some configurability here would be nice for the data analyst in my.

Driver+ is pretty cool. Works great, centers in the lane and maintains speed and distance really well. I can see that being very handy on the daily commutes. Adaptive cruise works without Driver+, so that's nice. I turned off the lane keep assist though, it was far more intrusive in daily driving than I cared for.

Overall it's a damn fine vehicle. Fit, finish and overall quality is on par with the Audi. Drying dynamics aren't as great, but that's OK, it's an American pickup not a German "Sports-SUV". I'm sure it will serve me well for the coming years.

 

[BlkGS]

So, the real question is, outside of the crazy lease deal, would you pay $80k or whatever they charge for it?

 

[Julian]

On another note. The EV fire debate is about to heat up again. Tons of houses burned down here over the past few days. If I still owned own and was in an evac zone, the car would be miles from my house.

Actually probably a better thing to have your house burn down than deal with flooding! I read (not sure if this is true) that many of the people who lost houses in Western NC have no flood insurance....bet they wish the house had burned down!

Also just saw a fake post on FB complaining about EV fires....which a photo of a burned out F150 with the ice engine clearly visible. There are also AI generated pics of cyber trucks burning. So stupid.

Now cheap Chinese E-bikes burning....that would be shocking (pun intended)