Considering an M3 - wondering if I'll need a couple more solar panels

Did I say there were no car owners in apartments?
Home owners, on average, are more likely to own car(s) than apartment dwellers.
The better the mass transit in a city, the greater the likelyhood.

Thanks for the link!
Yes, I would expect Tesla to pass along increased costs, just as I expect gas stations to pass along increased prices.
As mentioned in the article, many SC locations use time of use pricing. We have a few in MN that do that (although the off-peak hours are much more generous).

 

The increases in Supercharger electricity prices don't really track with the actual price of electricity charged to commercial users. Per California Energy Price Data for March 2022 - Center for Jobs 50 States you will see:

California average Commercial Price for the 12 months ended January 2022 was 19.35 cents/kWh, 82.9% higher than the US average of 10.58 cents/kWh for all states other than California

But then there's the industrial rate from the same source:
California average Industrial Price for the 12 months ended January 2022 was 15.18 cents/kWh, 120.3% higher than the US average of 6.89 cents/kWh for all states other than California.

The documents filed with the state Public Utilities commission show yearly raises of the cost of electricity by about 5% in 2022 and 6% proposed for 2023. If Tesla was passing on the cost of electricity rate increases, the supercharger prices would go up only 1 cent per kWh. It looks more like Tesla is trying to match the increases in GAS prices.

 

Looks like that post may not be doing a like to like comparison. A Supercharger in California can have over 50 cent rates, but that $4.50 gallon is far too low for the state. At the time of the InsideEVs article, it was almost $6.30 gallon, and it is still over $5.

Superchargers and other fast DC chargers are intended for a 'fast fill' on a long trip. Delivering large amounts of electricity over short periods involve higher costs. Slower charging for daily use will be much cheaper. The Prius will cost less on a trip, but overall, it might run higher. Another thing to consider is the price of fueling cars with similar performance of a Tesla. Those take more fuel, and likely higher octane.

You are looking at an average commercial rate. Industries that draw a lot of electricity will usually plan their electric use during low peaks for cheaper rates. Fast DC chargers don't have that luxury, and can be drawing at peak rates more often.

Then Superchargers are generally cheaper than the competition.

 

I currently rent and have no access to charging. No driveway/parking lot. just public street parking. hoping in a year to switch to full electric, but it would require me to move :/

 

Plz give truthful credit to Dumbty who was President in 2019 when both the Tesla and GM tax credits ended. Both Tesla and GM exceeded the 200,000 EV vehicle sales threshold which over the next two quarters eliminated the old (and current until January 2023) $7,500 tax credit.

BTW, 'Sleepy Joe' pushed through the next program, the Inflation Reduction Act, that brings back even better EV tax credits in January 2023. Best of all, your Bolt EV will have a higher resale value because it too will have a used EV car tax credit that never existed before ... thank you to 'Sleepy Joe' and those who voted for the team that passed it.

Given the rate EV technology is improving, you may want to 'trade up' the Bolt in 2023. The Tesla Model Y are already being delivered with front and rear castings:

The casting has eliminated hundreds of pieces that had to be welded and glued together. They are stronger and lighter than the puzzle pieces they replaced.

The Model Y also have the 4680, structural battery pack:

This makes the body stiffer and reduces manufacturing labor cost. The cabin seats and floor are assembled on the battery pack that is lifted into the body as a single unit.

I am looking at giving her a 2023 Tesla Model Y with a factory installed tow kit sometime in February or March of next year. For trade in,I have a 2019 Tesla Model 3 Std Rng Plus with 83,100 miles and -8% battery loss, 240 miles became 220 miles. I also added a 2" receiver hitch that my wife used to tow her trailer today. A wild card, I can live with the 2014 BMW i3-REx that also has a 2" receiver hitch.

Bob Wilson

 

Yeah...Daughter used to live in Minneapolis...now lives in Chapel Hill, NC. In both places, absolutely no place to conveniently charge...nor will there be for a long time. And there are 10s of millions of folks ( if not more ) in the same situation.

Gotta love the 'early adopter' hot takes around here. And trust me...I'm rooting for EVs..but I'm also a realist.

 

Bob, What's your logic in trading in a perfectly running Model 3 that has nearly infinite range (thanks to all those superchargers) and keeping the BWM which has less storage room, worse performance, and that has to run on gasoline most of the day to make a long drive practical? As I recall, the BMW can only drive for an hour and a half at a time?

Is the "puzzle pieces" rear end that bad? Do you really like the BWM that much more?

 

I would find that you are a realist much easier to believe if you didn't make absolute, blanket statements such as the above.
In Minneapolis there most definitely are convenient places to charge (I am assuming you meant for apartment dwellers). There are numerous apartment complexes with chargers available.
It is also true that there are many more without. But to say there is "absolutely no place to conveniently charge" is false.

I would not doubt that there are 10s of millions of folks without convenient charging. Likewise, there are 10s of millions of folks that do have access to convenient charging.
Let's see how much better the charging infrastructure is when we get to 10s of millions of EVs on the road.

 

Home I Connected Kerb

Now those solutions won't work in the US because we'll have to make a huge paradigm shift from how we see public chargers having the cord these past 12 years vs. having the car owner supply the cord.

While I can't speak for Bob, but do believe the i3 is for the second driver that lives with him, and he had it, the car, before getting the Model 3.

 

I hear a lot about the "charging infrastructure" for supporting a (mainly) EV future. Would you mind telling us, at a high level to keep it brief, what your vision of the future charging infrastructure is? I'm sure that it's quite different from mine.

 

Early adapter heck. In Chapel Hill and Cary and Raleigh I swear I see a Tesla every 10 cars. And EVs are 10% of new car purchases in many places.

 

I’m jealous! in the town where i currently live and work, there are 6 EV chargers. Each one is only 7.2 kW. First hour is free and 10 cents/kwh after that. I don’t think I can rely on that being my only charging place, but maybe in a year things will look different

 

Interesting. I didn't see many Teslas at all during our visits...I guess my daughter lives in the 'hood'? Seriously though...she does live in a very large, very nice complex with many students...and I didn't see any chargers either.

 

The latest and greatest cars are probably outside of a college student's budget.

Public chargers can be hard to spot. They don't have big signs announcing their presence. The first I spotted years ago was by luck, as it was behind the little strip mall.

 

I also see an increasing frequency in the parking lot at local golf courses, the ones that charge 4-5 times what the ones I play at charge. Mostly S and X models.

 

My heart doctor's office. Two Teslas, one BMW.

As to Chapel Hill, it is the DRs and Profs that are driving them, not the students. Not to mention the tech startup founders that are all around the area. Lots of business write-offs.

 

Just because apartment parking lots are full (or not) has nothing to do with how many people live in apartments.

Here are some real stats:

66% of US households have a garage or carport (these are owners or renters)
source: Two-thirds of all housing units in US had a garage or carport in 2017 - Green Car Congress

39% of rental units have a garage or carport
81% of owners have a garage or carport
(Owners are probably more likely to have the finances to be new car buyers)

That 66% number is US wide, here is how it is broken down by region:
West 79%
South 59%
midwest 75%
Northeast 53%

Of course, the NE probably has fewer cars per household given the more usable mass transit in places like NYC, Boston, WashDC, etc.

More stats:
New units 2-5 years old, 72% have garages or carports (so that 66% number is increasing)
New units 0<2 years old 74% (Maybe COVID is causing the 66% number to rise even faster)
Newer homes are probably more likely to be bought by people who have the finances to buy new cars)

source: Vehicles per household by type of dwelling 2014 | Statista

Cars per household
Living in an apartment ~1.0 cars per household (1.1 for newer than 1990 apartments)
Average cars per all households (including apartments): 1.8
This means that the cars per household in homes is 2.2 (these mostly have garages/carports)
Therefore 82% of cars are parked at a garage or carport.

Thus is the West, for example, over 90% of cars are parked at a home with garage or carport -- regardless of how full the apartment parkings lots are.

Mike