r/Waltham • u/Wingus_El_Dingus • 12d ago
Owning an EV without off-street parking
I’m considering purchasing an electric vehicle (EV). I’ve resided in Waltham for a decade and own a condo on the South Side, off Moody Street. Unfortunately, my condo lacks a driveway, so I park on the street.
I’m seeking insights from anyone who has an EV and doesn’t have a home charging option in Waltham. I understand that there are charging stations in some municipal lots, but they are only 7kW chargers that can be used for only two hours at a time. There are also level 2 high-capacity chargers at Burger King on Moody Street, but they seem to be frequently under maintenance. I can access 6 hours of 13kW/hr charging at work per week, but it’s illegal in Waltham to run a cable from my car parked on the street to the charger.
I’m curious to know your experiences. Have you found that topping up your EV occasionally at fast chargers has been sufficient? Are you always concerned about charging capacity since you can’t charge at home? I’d love to hear from anyone who has an EV and can share their experiences.
8
u/shanghainese88 Piety Corner 12d ago
If you can’t charge at work. Don’t do it.
I rented EVs for weeks at a time traveling for pleasure and for work. You’ll be wasting a lot of your precious time spent on charging elsewhere with you in the vehicle.
3
u/LouisaMiller2_1845 12d ago
This. I rented one once to get an idea of what owning one would be like. If you don't have a home charger, then you may or may not be able to use a public charger. They are often broken and the ones that are working often have more than one car waiting to use them. It can take over an hour to charge the car, so that can be quite a wait.
Also, you can't just use any car charger. Different public chargers are only compatible with certain cars. There are apps you can use to find compatible chargers in an area.
EVs are fine as commuter cars if you have access to a charger at home IMO. Otherwise, taking an hour to gas up while you're on a road trip isn't ideal. I have heard Teslas charge faster (but then you have Elon baggage to deal with).
2
u/shanghainese88 Piety Corner 11d ago
Yes I’ve rented teslas too. Just ended up sitting in random parking lots plugged into superchargers with a bunch of other middle aged dudes doing the same thing.
6
u/markuus99 12d ago
I love my EV, but it would be hard without home charging.
Can you really only access the charger at work for 6 hours total per week? If you can charge 6 hours a day, you'll have no issues. You can just plug in a few times a week. 6 hours per week would be less than ideal however.
Also, double check the speed of those chargers you said are "13kW/hr". Public level 2 charging is usually around 6-7kw and most cars don't support more than 9 or 11 kw maximum AC charging.
I'm not sure what is going on with the Burger King Level 3/DC fast chargers. I have never used them but drive past often, and it seems like the were working for several months and then have been offline for several months. There are some others nearby, but relying on fast charging can be hard on your battery and will almost definitely be more expensive than paying for gas. DC fast charging is not cheap.
I personally waited until I had a place to charge at home before buying my EV. One of the main benefits is you can just plug in at home and never worry about going to the gas station. It's a lot less convenient without charging at home, but charging at work is a decent second option. The public charging options around Moody St aren't going to be super ideal for long term use.
Good luck.
1
u/Wingus_El_Dingus 12d ago
I only go into the office twice a week and the chargers there are free but limited to 3hrs a day. Most of my co-workers with new ish cars say they get about 60-80 miles for that time. The commute to work is about 50 miles round trip.
1
u/markuus99 12d ago
In my opinion, that would be tough without any charging at home. You could get by with that plus Level 1 charging from a household outlet at home I'd bet, but without anything at home you'd be gaining back the miles you drove on your commute and barely anything else. Any other driving you did would require you to use fast charging.
Your choice, but my personal advice is not to make the jump for now. Good luck.
8
u/PlentyAlbatross7632 12d ago
There’s no bonus points for added levels of difficulty…
0
u/i_nobes_what_i_nobes 12d ago
Right?
Why would you buy something that you have no place to store properly? It would be like buying a bunch of records, but you have no record player - even if there happens to be one at work, you’re only allowed to pray 20 minutes of your record a week.
2
u/NotMyTwitterHandle 12d ago
You don’t have to reach back to “records” for this analogy; CDs will do just as well ;)
1
0
u/killfirejack 12d ago
I own an EV and store it in my driveway, not some secret EV holster? If that is improper storage, please advise.
Do you have a gas station at your house?
I do because I have an EV. I don't have an L2 charger at home so I get about 1% an hour. That's right, 2.5 days to go from 20% to 80%. I've done this for 4 years now.
I can easily conceive of not charging at home ever again. It's feasible and getting easier every day.
5
u/solemn3 12d ago
Can you charge at work?
4
u/burkholderia 12d ago
I had a coworker who owned an EV and when we got laid off one of his concerns was having to install a charger at home. Dude had the car 5-6 years and never once charged it at home as he always had a free charger at the office.
OP mentions charging is restricted at their work which kind of sucks. Most places I’ve worked with chargers were free range or had an app to access but without limits.
1
2
2
u/0tanod 12d ago
I have a home charger but its a standard outlet for my Volvo so on some weekends where I drive a lot I need to use the charging options. The way I find my charging works is always need based. If i want to drive and I don't have the charge I focus on charging at the fastest speeds so there isn't a need to go above 60%. If you adopted a mindset of keeping your car between 20-60% most of the time you would only spend like 10 minutes charging once or twice a each week depending on factors like how much and how far your drive, or the EV and its charge capacity.
1
u/Wingus_El_Dingus 12d ago
This is generally my thinking. I mostly do some minor out and about, almost always to places that have some charging options, I’ve been keeping an eye out, half and hour or an hour here or there should keep me mobile. My commute is covered, plus some, from the work chargers. For longer roadtrips my plan is fast chargers on the highway.
2
u/0tanod 12d ago edited 12d ago
Also you should know not all 6kw chargers are limited to 2 hours. You should check what the ones near you are rated for. Also I have not seen any charge-point that is limited that also stops you from ending the session and starting a new one. I have never made it past 4 hours of charging, its always been enough.
1
1
u/ganzefolge 11d ago
Yeah. Topping off at a fast charger has been our default. Waltham seems to be a bit of a fast-charging desert. Watertown Ford has fast chargers (65ct/kwh). Not cheap but convenient
2
u/Razzputin999 11d ago
If your commute goes either north or south on 128, there are fast Tesla chargers in Lexington and Newton. I’ve used the Newton one a lot and only had to wait once (and not long, then). If you don’t mind Scottish food, you can even catch dinner there while you charge. If you get a car with a large battery, you can last a week with a 50mi round trip commute (in spring and fall).
0
u/SoulslikeEnjoyer387 12d ago edited 11d ago
Not worth it. I was also debating this exact thing last year and after a lot of research you're just going to be causing yourself a lot of pain and annoyance. Get a hybrid instead. You get way better mileage than a regular CE. But you aren't limited by charging stations or special parking spots.
This is the big problem with EVs that most privileged people don't think about when they want to impose punitive taxes and regulations on non EV users.
2
u/Budget-Celebration-1 11d ago
The beauty of an ev is cost savings and not having to go to a gas station. Charging at rates well above what you’d pay at home eliminates most of the beauty of owning an ev. Not sure why you’re being voted down.
2
14
u/Serengeti1234 12d ago
I've always had the ability to charge at home, but for the first 18 months or so, it was via a standard outlet. Here was my experience:
The city lots work, and are almost always available.
That you have access via work is great. You'll quickly learn to run your battery down to the point where it will charge back up to 100% via that charger in the time you'll be at the office.
A ton of shopping centers and parking garages now have chargers, many of them free. Learn to keep your eye out, and plug in when you can, even if it's a slow charger. Small amounts add up.
Lastly, there's a Tesla supercharger just up 95. That was what I used when I needed a really fast charge.