Soul EV with no home charger = bad idea?

[born2drv]

So I am renting an apartment in a Southern California beach community. There is hardly any parking here BUT there is a rapid charger and two level 2 chargers in a public grocery store 2 blocks away where there is also lots of parking.

Up until now, I've been getting around town within a couple miles using my electric skateboard. (15 mile range!). I only really "need" a car 2-3x a week, and when I needed to go any where with distance, I've Uber'd it there. But I miss having my own car and I'm considering getting the Soul EV because here in SoCal it is eligible for the HOV lane...

My office, my apartment and my grocery store are all within 2-3 blocks of each other, and since there is no parking available by my apartment I was thinking of just charging/parking my Soul EV by the grocery store.... letting it charge, and using my electric skateboard to go back and forth, pick up the car, etc.... There is limited street parking too by my apartment and office, and I could manage that.... but I won't be able to charge it there.

Is this a bad idea?

Does the cost of charging in a public charger cost significantly more than charging at home, defeating the purpose?

 

[tractioninc]

If you're putting only a handful of miles on your car and you have nearby paid charging options, it sounds like you have an ideal use case for a-la-carte charging. High electric rates in SoCal make this a more compelling solution then in my area, where overnight EV plans are less than 2 cents per Kwhr.

 

[born2drv]

I have no parking spot at the apartment I'm renting... so I would ONLY be able to charge in public charging stations.

About 2-3x a week I go downtown, round trip about 50-55miles.... otherwise the car will be parked getting little to no use. That's why I was thinking of charging/parking at the grocery store nearby with a DC Fast Charger or Level 2 Charger....

No place to charge at home or at the office, unfortunately.

 

[iletric]

It cost more. Varies by location so you better know how much exactly.

The other option is to charge at the dealer. Whichever is closest to you that's the car you get, Fiat, Leaf, Soul or even Spark. They will all let you charge for free -- their car only -- as a general rule.

Also look around the neighborhood who has either an EV or at least 110 outlet on the driveway, and make a deal. Juice total cost is usually 20 cents per kWh summer or 18 winter, so about $5 per full charge from almost empty. They'd better count on you parking your rig on their driveway all night.

 

[kiastormtrooper]

Not having a parking space at home would be the deal-breaker for me. Although you probably could manage it, that's just a whole lot of stress you really don't need.

While I do have a parking space, I rely primarily on the networks to charge. Like iletric said, the price to charge is different everywhere, so you should download plugshare and map out the best places (i.e. cheapest/reliable) to charge.

If you do plan to get an EV, I'd suggest getting network memberships well in advance. For my first 2 days, I didn't have access to any charge network (they said it would take 2 hours to process), and had to rely on the free charger at the mall to get around. While that sounds awesome, it really isn't, since every EV owner within 20 miles knows about it, and it's like Road Warrior when you get near.

 

[thesoundsmith]

Sounds like you are considering connecting to the supermarket charger and then going home to sleep. Meaning there are other people that would be unable to use the charger. I trust you would leave a BIG note on the car saying it was OK to unplug if fully charged, otherwise you are likely to have a LOT of PO'ed EV owners - especially if you do this multiple times per week...

 

[wrickcook]

I don't know if leaving a note would work.
If my doors are locked, the plug is locked in. And if they could remove it, wouldn't you be paying for their kWhs?

 

[mtndrew1]

Sorry, this sounds like a terrible idea to me.

There are a whole lot of variables here that at least from my perspective would ruin half the fun of driving an EV. L3 chargers go down sometimes, hogging an L2 regularly in public won't win you any friends, and the novelty of the situation will wear out REALLY fast.

I've done PHEV (Chevy Volt) living in a rental with only L1 charging at home and public L2 nearby. Even that was a PITA from time to time, but more often than not the car was full every morning. I'd say find reliable parking with L1 charging (120V outlet) or get a different kind of car.

 

[thesoundsmith]

I've done PHEV (Chevy Volt) living in a rental with only L1 charging at home and public L2 nearby. Even that was a PITA from time to time, but more often than not the car was full every morning. I'd say find reliable parking with L1 charging (120V outlet) or get a different kind of car.

If your daily mileage doesn't deplete the battery too much, this should work just fine (still need an AC outlet, of course, but covered parking may have an occasional wall outlet for the maintenance crew that you could arrange to access.) And then when you actually NEED the L2 or L3 charge, it's not a burden on the other EV owners, and they won't hate you... :roll: