flyboylr45

flyboylr45

Senior Audioholic
If you're going EV anytime soon, it's time now to look at your circuit breaker panel to see if it's easily expandable or not. You also should think now about where you plan to install a Level 2 charger. In a garage, under some kind of covered parking such as a carport, or outdoors? Personally, I'd prefer at least covered parking to keep the charger & yourself out of the rain. But to be honest, the chargers I've seen are rated as 'all weather'.

Back to circuit breakers … my old panel, installed new with the house in 1993 was fine, as long as I didn't try to add more circuits. It had 200 amp service with 30 slots for breakers. It was already full. A single level 2 charger, will require 240 Volts – 2 standard slots ganged together. And it requires at least 50A – for my EV. It depends on what EV you get, but the trend is getting larger & larger. Some EV pick-up trucks have huge batteries, and use an 80A charger. Compare that to a typical home circuit of 120V 15A. (Or an audiophile-grade circuit of 120V and 20A ;).)

I had to replace my circuit breaker panel with a larger 42 slot box. That cost me 5 figures! Where I live, the county will inspect any electical work this large, so I got an electrician to do the work. Get more than 1 estimate. (If you really want to know how much it cost, ask by PM.)

In the new box, I had the electrician install a 240V 100A circuit that ran out to a sub-panel in my detached 2-car garage. You read that right, 100 amps. I decided to set it up now for easy expansion for 2 chargers in the future. At present, I have one level 2 charger. To add another charger, all I have to do is add another 50A line from the garage sub-panel for the second charger. My wife & I are both retired and we don't drive everyday anymore. At this point, I think one charger is enough for us. But for a future owner, that could easily change.

Buy a charger you can mount permanently, on a wall. Most come with an easy way to coil & hang the heavy cable. All EVs come with a charger and ~20 foot cable capable of both Level 1 (120V slow charging) and Level 2 (240V faster charging). My first thought was why buy a 2nd charger? The car dealer talked me out of this idea. Keep the portable charger & cable supplied with the EV in the front trunk (the frunk). It's just too easy to leave that clunky charger & heavy, stiff cable in the garage. If you need it on the road you won't have it.

When I bought mine, I was in a hurry, and I was bewildered at the large choice when I shopped at Home Depot/Lowes. The cheaper chargers provide less current, as low as 16A. My car can use as much as 48A, so a 50A charger is common now. In the near future, bigger current chargers like 80A could easily be the norm.

I also didn't really understand the deal about a smart charger with built-in control software vs. a dumb charger. Telsa provides sells a dumb charger for $400 because the car has the software in it. So does my car. I paid $750 for a smart charger sold by ChargePoint, when I didn't really need it. It works well. It can charge EVs at 16, 32, 40, or 50 amps. And it communicates to me via a smartphone app. But that duplicated what my Volvo EV already does.

So, when you look for EVs, ask three questions: 1) What Level 2 current charger is needed by the EV, 2) Does the EV have all the software for charging built-in or not? Do you need a smart charger or a dumb one, and 3) Does your existing WiFi reach the location where you plan to put the EV & charger? For the smart EV & smart charger to actually communicate with my phone, I had to expand my WiFi to reach the garage. Blue Tooth was said to be an option, but I couldn't get it to work reliably. When you think about where you want that charger, also think about your WiFi coverage. That's yet another expense.

My electrician suggested a charger brand called Juice Box. They come in a variety of fixed charge currents, that vary widely in price. The Juice Box model for 50 amp charging cost $100 less than the smart & variable ChargePoint I got. I didn't buy it because I was in a hurry, and didn't know precisely what I needed.

So, be prepared by seeing if your electricity service can be expanded for at least a 240V 50A charger; find out what your EV will require for fast (about 8 hours) Level 2 charging, be prepared to spend some money on this. In my opinion, an EV without a Level 2 charger at home is not worth having. I like being able to control & monitor the charging process from my phone while I'm in the house. I can set up a timer to charge at night when lower electricity rates are available.
So true about making sure you have enough space in your breaker box. I’m completely maxed out to the point that when we are adding a convection cook top that needs its own 50 amp breaker we need to upgrade our service and add a sub panel. I got 2 Tesla gen 3 wall units because while they’re dum, they do communicate with each other and share the load. I run both off of a 60 amp breaker and can charge 2 cars at the same time and they automatically reduce the amps to 24 per car. Like you said, the car has the brain on how and when to charge. When it‘s just 1 car charging, it gives the full 48 amps to the 1 car.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
I got 2 Tesla gen 3 wall units because while they’re dum, they do communicate with each other and share the load. I run both off of a 60 amp breaker and can charge 2 cars at the same time and they automatically reduce the amps to 24 per car. Like you said, the car has the brain on how and when to charge. When it‘s just 1 car charging, it gives the full 48 amps to the 1 car.
I didn't know that could be done. Thanks for the info.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
The Tesla Model 3 Performance I had was super fast and felt great. You could feel the acceleration start to peter off after about 70mph. Yes, the (NO) sound of the engine took away from the Sports car experience even though the car felt sporty. I sold the Performance and got an M4 with a manual transmission. Yes, the Tesla is faster off the line, even faster than the C7 Corvette it replaced but, the M4 is a different experience.
All my previous cars had manual transmission. Sooner or later, I may get bored with the EV's electric golf cart-like transmission, but not yet. I do like the 'engine braking' I get when I lift my foot off the accelerator. It's not exactly like in an ICE car with manual transmission, but far better than automatic transmission. The Volvo allows me to switch that feature on or off. I test drove a Tesla Model Y, and if I remember, it could be switched on, partially on, or off. Did your Model 3 Performance also have that?
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
@Swerd
We've already discussed with our landlord. He is going to add a subpanel and said we can push our mains a little bit more for some headroom, but he is resisting us actually upgrading to a 200 Amp panel.
Regardless, he is a contractor and it's his house, so we will go along with what he wants to do.

As for the rest, well, it's been looked at and understood. Will really come down to closing the deal as a contract we were supposed to be picking up got delayed, so everything may fall through still. Hoping not.
Oh, the contract is ours, just when the guy puts us to work got delayed. In a meeting a couple weeks ago, dude said April... but didn't specify if he was starting early or late in the month. Car should be available in the last week of March.

Fortunately our landlord has an EV of his own and installed an outlet at his workshop, but pulled the charger. I can use that temporarily if needed. We have a guy that's done some other electrical work for us coming by tomorrow to discuss some options.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Today, I took the final step in the switch from driving gasoline burning cars to all electric.

After buying my EV (Volvo C40) last November, I had sold my aging Volvo S70, a 2000 model with 150,000 miles that I had owned since 2003. I was happy to get $1,450 for it. But we still had my wife's car, a 2001 Volvo S60, that we owned since 2004. It had a bit less than 120,000 miles on it. We saved it in case we really needed an internal combustion engine (ICE) car for a long-range trip.

We both retired back in 2016-17. That ICE car became a problem because we didn't drive it everyday. It's starter battery kept needing recharging. What's the point in keeping an ICE car 'for long-range' use if you have to drive it at least every other day to keep it's battery charged?

The other day, my wife agreed it was time. Yesterday, we took that old ICE car to CarMax and sold it for $1,500. Yes, if I sold it myself, I might have gotten as much as $500 more for it. But CarMax is fast & easy. Today, we dropped the license plates off at Motor Vehicles, and I canceled the insurance for that car. For the first time since 1984 we are a 1-car family. And we never again have to think about what the price gasoline is. It's a good feeling.
 
Last edited:
Out-Of-Phase

Out-Of-Phase

Audioholic General
Volvo C40 Range: 226 miles

Seattle to Spokane 228 miles

Almost.... :eek:
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Well…
It seems I will be delivering my 2012 Honda CRV to a Tesla showroom on Wednesday, and driving home in a Tesla Dark Blue Model Y.

I gotta say, dealing with Tesla is an experience. My reservation went from delivery in February or March to April or May…
Then back to the second half of March… then the last week… all the while being told not to get a loan lined up until the VIN is issued. When does a VIN get issued? Whenever they want… and at the last minute in most cases it would seem.
Like mid afternoon on Saturday…
And they gave me a 3-day window to schedule delivery, arrange the loan and hope they get paid before I show up to get the car.
Just wow.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Well…
It seems I will be delivering my 2012 Honda CRV to a Tesla showroom on Wednesday, and driving home in a Tesla Dark Blue Model Y.

I gotta say, dealing with Tesla is an experience. My reservation went from delivery in February or March to April or May…
Then back to the second half of March… then the last week… all the while being told not to get a loan lined up until the VIN is issued. When does a VIN get issued? Whenever they want… and at the last minute in most cases it would seem.
Like mid afternoon on Saturday…
And they gave me a 3-day window to schedule delivery, arrange the loan and hope they get paid before I show up to get the car.
Just wow.
A Model Y, the first EV that got my serious interest. Congrats! Whenever I see one, it still presses some 'I want that' buttons, despite my poor opinion of Telsa's owner. Will need photos when you get it.

Did you get it with or without the 'Auto Pilot' options? That $15,000 option that became non-optional, was the deal breaker for me.

When considering that EV, I remember being irritated by the extra $400 cost for a home charger. In previous years, a charger was standard. I was such a newbie to EVs that I thought $400 for a charger was a rip off price. It's actually cheap compared to most other third party 240V 50A chargers. Tesla put all the control software for charging into the EV, making the Telsa charger cost less. If you want a second charger to keep at home, as I did, just get the charger Tesla sells.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
A Model Y, the first EV that got my serious interest. Congrats! Whenever I see one, it still presses some 'I want that' buttons, despite my poor opinion of Telsa's owner. Will need photos when you get it.

Did you get it with or without the 'Auto Pilot' options? That $15,000 option that became non-optional, was the deal breaker for me.

When considering that EV, I remember being irritated by the extra $400 cost for a home charger. In previous years, a charger was standard. I was such a newbie to EVs that I thought $400 for a charger was a rip off price. It's actually cheap compared to most other third party 240V 50A chargers. Tesla put all the control software for charging into the EV, making the Telsa charger cost less. If you want a second charger to keep at home, as I did, just get the charger Tesla sells.
I am not spending on the xtra features as, at the time of my purchase, even the 2nd tier autopilot feature pushed the price beyond the threshold for tax credits. I also don’t really need automatic lane changing features…
As for Full Sh!thead Driving… I sure as hell am not dropping 15k on that. Even if I had it in the bank. It will be an impressive achievement WHEN it is working… but spending 15Large on a wish and a promise is foolish imo.
As Dennis Miller once quipped: “That’s just me, I’m a different breed of cat.”
*shrugs
As for charging, I am getting the wall charger and the mobile charger (which used to be standard issue). The wall charger will hopefully be installed first week of April. As for the mobile charger, it’s like a spare tire, in a way, there if you need it but not worth relying on. Maybe it’s a waste of $230, but if I ever have to plug in somewhere I don’t have access to a supercharger, it’ll be money well spent.
I also am getting insured through Tesla which is certified here in California. Unless they decide I’m a real a-hole on the road, my quote it under 100 per month. I didn’t even bother getting a quote from anybody else as car &driver pointed out that the best rate they’ve seen is commonly through Progressive (my current insurer) and comes out around $400 per month. o_O
I saw no comments indicating Tesla would be a bad choice. That said, the warning is they are able to review your driving behavior and can adjust your rate as they see fit. (Big Brother, much? ;) )

Tomorrow will be interesting. Definitely excited, but also emotionally drained after the whirlwind of financing I described above.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I saw that the base model 3 may not qualify for the tax credit. I did not know that the way they got the price down was by using a battery manufactured in China (still their supplier, not US based though) for that model only.

I am still holding to see if what Fed decides for the other brands. Price increases are pushing some of the models I am interested in to the top of that range.

The 2024 Polestar 2 is coming with some interesting new features, like it having the ability on the AWD model to disconnect the front motor in some cases to extend range. I also had not seen someone with a "modular" battery before. It states that you can replace a bank with a bad cell rather than replacing the whole battery. That makes more sense to me, though I don't know what the lifespan of a battery might be yet. We have a Lexus hybrid which the battery is more than 10 yrs old and it seems fine. I have friends with Gen 1 Model S's and they're also still OK.

One concerning thing about EVs though, it seems insurance companies see higher liability with them. You cannot trust an EV's battery pack after a collision, so the even a minor fender bender can result in a total loss. Something I never considered.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I'll probably not get a four wheel EV, but sure am having fun on this one (at least when the weather cooperates)
Surron builtup.jpg
 
H

hallowee1234

Enthusiast
I thought this was a home audio forum? Not a vehicle forum. However, if you are planning to get an electric vehicle, be sure to check with your city that your power grid can handle a high voltage charger. I know some people who bought a Tesla, then they could only trickle charge it from a wall charger because their power grid was already almost maxed out.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I thought this was a home audio forum? Not a vehicle forum. However, if you are planning to get an electric vehicle, be sure to check with your city that your power grid can handle a high voltage charger. I know some people who bought a Tesla, then they could only trickle charge it from a wall charger because their power grid was already almost maxed out.
This is the steam vent sub forum, anything goes pretty much.
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
I thought this was a home audio forum? Not a vehicle forum. However, if you are planning to get an electric vehicle, be sure to check with your city that your power grid can handle a high voltage charger. I know some people who bought a Tesla, then they could only trickle charge it from a wall charger because their power grid was already almost maxed out.
I think you mean their breaker box is maxed out, not 'the grid' !
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Spartan
Tourette's? No, worries, It’s all good. Unless of course you also have a mullet, in which case you should just be put down.
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Spartan
Actually, I meant put down like a wounded animal. Its cruel to let them suffer. ;)
 

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