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Couple questions about EV charging and battery warranty

Discussion in 'Tesla' started by cycledrum, Jun 17, 2016.

  1. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    First, it seems for personal use of an EV, charging at home is necessary. But, to charge at home, you need to own or be buying your own place of residence, right? I mean, if your landlord says, sorry, but you can't and I don't want to have a charger installed in your garage or parking spot ... seems game over.

    Other thing is I guess Leafs and Tesla's come with an 8 yr / 100k mile battery warranty. Are new buyers purchasing extended warranties for the battery or pre-paying for a new battery when the range becomes too short?

    I have an 11 year old sedan with 124k miles and being an Accord, I'll bet it won't cost me much to get to 200k miles. With a Model S, do you think the drive battery will be worth a squat, have much range at 11 years old?
    If not, what do you do? Buy another battery? Anyone know how much that might cost in year ... um 2022 or so?

    Just curious, thanks in advance.
     
  2. TomSwift

    TomSwift Member

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    There are so many different ways to charge an EV and to attach a device that acts as Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) for the charger (found in the car and that will accept AC from the grid). With so many possible charging approaches it is difficult to answer your question for all possible situations and landlords. But... Both Nissan Leaf and Tesla (Model S and X) come equipped with an EVSE that can plug into 120 volt 13 amp circuits (the kind that are found in homes and garages to power most things in the home), so the wiring might already exist, and then it comes down to establishing a way to monitor power usage and to compensate the landlord for the extra power used to charge the car. I'm sure some landlords will work with the EV owner and others won't. Tesla's portable EVSE can also plug into a NEMA 14-50 outlet (240 volts 50 amps) and charge much more quickly as a result. Many "permanently" installed EVSEs can also be found in versions that plug into a NEMA 14-50, so they don't need to be "hard-wired" to a dedicated 240 volt 50 to 100 amp circuit. Portable EVSEs, obviously, aren't permanently installed at the "plug-in" location, so the landlord doesn't have to contend with installing a charger, although I think that having an EVSE installed in a rental will, in time, be viewed as a feature that would make an apartment or rental home more desirable/rent-able. As with all things: your mileage (and landlord) may vary.

    Tesla's battery and drive warranty is 8 years and unlimited miles. I don't know if available extended warranties would cover battery and drive unit replacement beyond that point. Since the Leaf and Tesla Model S haven't been on the road for 10 years, their out-of-warranty service needs haven't been determined yet and there is some level of risk that an EV owner would have to accept... at least until there is some data available to more accurately estimate the risk. However, a Tesla Model S 90D has a fully charged range of almost 300 miles, how much would the battery need to degrade to make the daily available range (produced as the result of an overnight charge at one's home) too short to handle your daily driving needs? There are a number of Tesla Model S vehicles that are well beyond 100k miles and I haven't seen reports of people suffering from excessive battery degradation, but perhaps some Tesla owner will chime-in with their personal experience.
     
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  3. Zythryn

    Zythryn Senior Member

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    In Minnesota a couple of years ago, we had about 20 multi-house buildings with EV charging infrastructure. I would guess California would have more than that. There probably are not a lot, but they are coming.
    I also know of others that charge at work each day rather than at home.
    Some Tesla owners rely on the Superchargers, however in CA they can get busy at prime times, so that may require some planning.

    As stated above, the Tesla battery and drivetrain warrantee is 8 years/ unlimited miles.
    We just traded in our almost 4 year old Tesla with 66k miles. Battery degradation was about 5%. 140 miles is plenty for us, so we would expect the battery to last about 20-30 years.

    If it is something you are considering, and you rent, talk to your landlord about it. For many, a standard plug is all you need, for almost everyone, a 20A plug is sufficient.
     
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