Lightning SR - no home charging experiences?

[wellowl90]

Hey I’m wondering if anyone out there owns a SR lightning and has no home charging set up. When I bought the truck I was renting a house and had a level 2 charger with solar, and it was perfect. I’ve now moved and fiancée fell in love with a condo with a single car garage and no outlets. The single car garage is SMALL! I have about 3 inches of clearance on either side, and can fit the big beautiful butt of my truck in the garage, but just enough to be able open drivers side door and get out. The driveway is maybe 3 feet long so it’s a tight squeeze.
I’m working on getting hoa approval and getting a charger installed but I won’t be able to leave the truck half in the garage over night so just 5 hours or so per day after work. I have charging a few blocks from work and electric scooter to my office lol

it’s been annoying for the last couple of months. Im wondering if anyone has any experience with no home charging AND with the small standard range bank. How often do you dc fast charge? Do you hate owning the truck? I’ve checked out trade in but numbers don’t make sense.
What are your experiences? Am I the only fool who owns sr with no home charging?

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[RickLightning]

Many, including myself, discourage people from buying an EV without having access to home charging. Your new location seems inhospitable to charging since you can't even charge while on the driveway as it is too small.

DC fast charging for home usage gets old real fast. Leaving your truck at a Level 2 charger and going to work might be doable if you retrieve it promptly when done.

 

[wellowl90]

Many, including myself, discourage people from buying an EV without having access to home charging. Your new location seems inhospitable to charging since you can't even charge while on the driveway as it is too small.

DC fast charging for home usage gets old real fast. Leaving your truck at a Level 2 charger and going to work might be doable if you retrieve it promptly when done.

thanks for the response! When you say dc fast charging at home gets old fast, how do you mean? I’m wondering about how are people’s experience with dc fast charging while not having home charging. So basically doing a fast charge once a week when in range is tight.
I install and design marine lithium battery systems and understand the caveats with fast charging frequently bringing internal battery temp up. I’m wondering if anyone has experience with fast charging on a weekly basis and the overall battery degradation. Is it noticeable?

 

[RickLightning]

I mean sitting for 40 minutes wasting time to charge your truck. On a trip, it's necessary. At home, it is a time suck, more fun in bitter cold or bad weather.

Nobody "notices" degradation, it had to be measured and even then it isn't an exact science. Once a week isn't going to ever be noticeable.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Where is it parked at the condo- a parking lot? No way to run level 1 to the vehicle? Anyway to mooch electricity from work? (With permission, of course)

 

[Henry Ford]

I would not be interested in an EV if I couldn't easily charge at home. When compared to an ICE vehicle, charging at home is better than filling up a gas tank. However, charging at a public DC charger is worse than filling up a gas tank.

Where would you normally park in the condo? Where is the nearest source of power? Can you get power to somewhere you can easily park. Even 120V is better than going to a DC charger. Think creatively. There may be a solution.

 

[Brent@ANParts]

Having owned an EV and living in a house with a level-2 charger, I couldn't move anywhere without one. My last condo had a shared charger and it was horrible.

I suggest plugging in every night with the basic charger (may as well get some juice from the wall outlet) and then charge near work when needed.

 

[hturnerfamily]

my son just experienced a similar move from a rental home where he had a nice 240v outlet for his 240mi BOLT, to a brand new upstairs Apartment, where the owner doesn't allow any external outlet usage for car charging, not that he can even park that close, anyway...

at first, yes, he just feared that it wouldn't be doable, but, honestly, his job is 2 blocks away. Even with traveling for other reasons, he could easily use it for weeks, if not almost a month, before 'needing'to bulk charge in any major way... there are also new DC Fast Chargers 15 miles away.

Your 'SR' truck is not the concern, it's really just finding a strategy that works for your situation.
Having charging anywhere close, while at work, is not something most of us have - those that do should appreciate the option - while not 'perfect', at least you still never have to stop at a gas station. : )

 

[Ragman]

No home charger your basically driving an ICE - you’ll be fueling on same schedule. If there is a 175 kw DC nearby or on direct work/home path you will be fine just expect negligeable savings paying “pump” price.

Level of frustration depends on daily/weekly miles. Being in Cali you don’t need preconditioning which is the real “must have home charging” for us northern folk.

If garage has lights get a 120 outlet on same circuit for some minimal level one.

Depending where you work I’d scout for an exterior 110 then ask the okay to plug into it.

 

[Ragman]

thanks for the response! When you say dc fast charging at home gets old fast, how do you mean? I’m wondering about how are people’s experience with dc fast charging while not having home charging. So basically doing a fast charge once a week when in range is tight.
I install and design marine lithium battery systems and understand the caveats with fast charging frequently bringing internal battery temp up. I’m wondering if anyone has experience with fast charging on a weekly basis and the overall battery degradation. Is it noticeable?

We have two compareable SR/Pro one with 50k miles and other with 5k at 100% charge they give exactly same 381 kms. Two ERs one with 55k miles and one with 20k - both show 541km at 100%.

The high mileage ones see DCs regularly, the lows only get level 2. I’ve seen zero difference on the degradation end at least via GOM. We also charge 100% all the time.

 

[watts/up]

So, EVSEs can be installed outdoors. Any chance you can get your HOA to allow that? Not sure what the parking situation would be with such a short driveway though…

Edit: they may not be able to stop you from doing so.

 

[wellowl90]

Where is it parked at the condo- a parking lot? No way to run level 1 to the vehicle? Anyway to mooch electricity from work? (With permission, of course)

There’s a carport directly in front of the garage, which is where I park. I considered running an extension cord to the spot, but I do t think hoa will like that. I’m going to back into garage for level one charging once I have an electrician inspect the wiring in there. I don’t trust the work in there as far as wire size and condition at the outlet.

 

[wellowl90]

I would not be interested in an EV if I couldn't easily charge at home. When compared to an ICE vehicle, charging at home is better than filling up a gas tank. However, charging at a public DC charger is worse than filling up a gas tank.

Where would you normally park in the condo? Where is the nearest source of power? Can you get power to somewhere you can easily park. Even 120V is better than going to a DC charger. Think creatively. There may be a solution.

yea I’m trying to work out a solution. The price of DC fast charging upsets me lol and I constantly worry about damaging the battery. But I’ve seen here I may be overthinking the damage to battery.

still working on home charging though. Thanks for the response

 

[wellowl90]

my son just experienced a similar move from a rental home where he had a nice 240v outlet for his 240mi BOLT, to a brand new upstairs Apartment, where the owner doesn't allow any external outlet usage for car charging, not that he can even park that close, anyway...

at first, yes, he just feared that it wouldn't be doable, but, honestly, his job is 2 blocks away. Even with traveling for other reasons, he could easily use it for weeks, if not almost a month, before 'needing'to bulk charge in any major way... there are also new DC Fast Chargers 15 miles away.

Your 'SR' truck is not the concern, it's really just finding a strategy that works for your situation.
Having charging anywhere close, while at work, is not something most of us have - those that do should appreciate the option - while not 'perfect', at least you still never have to stop at a gas station. : )

thank you for the response. I appreciate hearing about the similar situation your son was in and found a work around. Definitely gives me some hope. When I have to drive far for work I start getting irritated by the inconvenience, but realistically I do t drive very far often maybe a couple times a month. The rest is pretty manageable. Having experienced home charging then lost it, has taken some getting used to. Definitely thinking I can make it work. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[wellowl90]

No home charger your basically driving an ICE - you’ll be fueling on same schedule. If there is a 175 kw DC nearby or on direct work/home path you will be fine just expect negligeable savings paying “pump” price.

Level of frustration depends on daily/weekly miles. Being in Cali you don’t need preconditioning which is the real “must have home charging” for us northern folk.

If garage has lights get a 120 outlet on same circuit for some minimal level one.

Depending where you work I’d scout for an exterior 110 then ask the okay to plug into it.

yea I hadn’t considered the implications of winter charging and see that home charging is a necessity up there. I think I can figure out a 110v situation in garage at minimum. The fast charging price is definitely annoying, but after seeing so many replies about not having to worry about fast charging on a weekly basis, I think I’ll stop worrying about degradation as much. Thanks for the response!

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