BernieTx said:
What are your experiences with Public charging? (Austin Tx) Is it convenient or a big hassle? Or do most folks charge at home; and just keep their trips to within 60 miles round trip or so; which would be ok with me. I think 3.3kw is like 12-13mile/hour, which would be fine for for home charging.
How much does it cost to get a 240v volt charger for the leaf, and get it installed? And is 3.3kw enough, or do I need the upgrade option with DC charging? How much extra is the Leaf fast charging option?
- Bernie
In the San Francisco Bay area, there are a moderate number of public charge stations, but generally they are of far less use than charging at home. Problems with public stations are:
1) They are often not where you want to be, so you would have to stop and wait during the charge instead of plugging in at your destination and being charged and ready when you want to leave. This is a problem because even a DC quick charger is a lot slower than pumping gasoline in terms of miles added per minute.
2) They are unreliable - there may be another car charging there, or just parked there - last night I walked past several in our downtown, signed for electric cars only, but only half were plugged in to charge. Also, internal combustion engine cars (generally Prius'es) often block spots.
2b) They are unreliable. Sometimes they are non-functional when you get there. In either case of unreliability, you better have a plan B to get home.
3) They are expensive. This mostly applies to the L3 DC quick chargers. If you are not nearly empty, the $5 - $10 cost can work out to a lot more per mile than just driving the gasoline car. You can't alway expect to arrive at the charger ready to take a near full charge. In fact, doing so would be pretty foolish, since the charger may be non-functioning or non-available. Blink is now $0.49 or $0.59 per kWh, which is more even than the high cost of California electricity, and *lots* more than the cost of Texas home electricity.
Having said all that, yes, get the charge package - I think it was $600 or $700 on the S model, and now included on the others. At one point, there were models with just the 6.6 kWh, but really, just get the 6.6 kWh and DC quick charge options. You may not use them frequently, but when you do, you will appreciate them. (Some say using the DC quick charger a lot can be hard on the battery. Still, for occasional use, it is wonderful - charging at 12 to 15 times the rate of a 3.3 kW charger - it is well worth it.)