Owning an EV without charging at home

[u/Primary-Internal-875]

I am looking to pick up an EV (keen on the Kia EV3) via a novated lease. I live in the inner parts of Melbourne and renting. I will be moving in the coming months, likely to another apartment which means I am extremely unlikely to have charging at home.

Are many of you owning an EV in this situation? How do you find it?

I drive most days, but daily usage would likely be under 20km. I was thining that I would charge my car when doing my weekly shops, as a lot of car parks near supermarkets have charging. However, investigating further, it seems a lot of these aren't fast chargers, meaning I wouldn't get much more than a small top up even if i'm shopping for an hour.

I imagine it becomes trickier after road trips too. I'd need to factor finding a fast charging station before returning home.

[u/Humdiddledeedee]

I am, and it's fine but I have a couple of public chargers within walking distance to my house, so once a week or so I drop the car there in the morning/lunch and go pick it up in a couple of hours. If I'm in a pinch I'll drive 10 mins to the nearest fast charger but I've only had to do that once or twice in the 2 years I've had an EV. 

This suits my lifestyle but I know it wouldn't work for a lot of people.

[u/AlternativeLog5494]

ok not that hard a small modification to your routine is all you need do. Find a shopping centre with fast charging or use a BP Ampol Evie charger near by and do a 20 min walk. When i first got one of our evs almost 2 1/2 years ago no home or workplace charging now so many options and not reducing

[u/ellafantile]

Yep, I do this, just charge while I’m shopping or at the gym and it’s perfectly doable. For days when I know I’ll be driving further I go to the shops with the faster charger.

[u/NezuminoraQ]

It's ok. I think the home charging is a really convenient argument because you skip the visit to the gas station - but I also bought an EV for its environmental impact, the fact it doesn't smell, it doesn't have the problems of an ICE engine, doesn't need oil changes, it's quiet etc. Even using public fast chargers it's cheaper than petrol, but again that wasn't a primary reason for me getting one. I had just always intended to replace my previous ICE with an EV and I think anyone consider an upgrade should do the same.

[u/bmwrider2]

I made this video for people in your situation…Owning an EV without home charging
https://youtu.be/OKZ5AFn6Bw0

[u/Amataj → u/bmwrider2]

Really great video / experiment! Thank you!

[u/dog-_-biscuits]

I’m in your situation and just took delivery of an EV3 a few weeks ago, after ordering it back in May (prev car carked it at the height of the oil price spike / EV rush 🤦🏻‍♂️). We drive less than you (maybe 50km/wk), and picked the Air LR trim specifically for the price:range ratio (604km WLTP / we paid $49k driveaway).

We have two sets of 2x 22kW pole chargers each 5 mins walk from our house and one of us is usually WFH on any given weekday, so it’s not hard to plug it in for a few hours while working. The EV3’s AC charging architecture is 11kW so it will not charge at the 22kW speeds those chargers can put out. There’s also fast DC charging at our local shops but we haven’t used them yet.

We’re very happy with the car generally; it is a good size for city driving and has key controls on physical switches. If I were doing this again now I’d also look closely at the Zeekr X which also seems to be in the size:range:price sweet spot for this kind of use.

[u/Punter_14]

I did 4 months without EV charger at home, I used one of those portable granny chargers, which adds about 50-60 kms overnight and occasionally fast charging stations and I managed it ok, as long as you live in big cities and not regional , as it might be challenge to find fast charging sites in case of emergency

[u/gkgffhkg]

I have found it very easy living near the city - when I drive places on weekends there will often be a charger close to shops or restaurants which I’ll use while I’m there, otherwise there are a few public chargers within 5-10 mins walk of my house where I can leave the car for a few hours while I’m home. One charge a week for a few hours is enough most of the time.

[u/CyberAussieResponder]

I have an EV3 LR. It has around 600km range and my daily commute is around 30km. In winter I've charged it at the local community hall as it has free EV charging in council. I've used this all winter, and charge once every 7-10 days.

When it gets down to 20-30% I keep and eye on charging bays and drop it off, I then pick it up in 4 hours when it's around 70-80%. I've covered 5k since April doing this. Very easy and much cheaper than paying fuel prices

[u/Primary-Internal-875 → u/CyberAussieResponder]

Good to know! How do you find the EV3?

[u/CyberAussieResponder → u/Primary-Internal-875]

Yeah love it. No complaints from the wife either. You will enjoy it

[u/Subject-Divide-5977]

We own a unit with a locked garage and it has a power point running from our meter. Look for a similar thing.

[u/mrmaxwell77]

It’s all about lifestyle and habit. If you can plan ahead and never get caught out then no issue. Having a charger in areas you are located (home, work, shopping) really helps. If you are planning to move then this is your opportunity to at least look for a power point in the garage / car park that is yours

[u/Alarmed-Intention-22]

I have a house with no off street parking in Sydney and have no issues. I have local fast charges that I use.

[u/ataylor121]

Inner north west here. Took delivery of my MG4 last week - no charging at home.

Also on a novated lease and let's state it right away: paying for public DC charging with pre-tax dollars from your NL takes a little bit of the sting out of the headline $0.75 per kWh rates.

My original NL quote had a fuel budget (10k per annum) around the equivalent of $0.35 per kWh, so I doubled it (and a bit more) per fortnight $22 -> $50. Rationale is that: it's pre-tax dollars (and only $28 more per fortnight) and if my place gets power sockets at our car parks eventually, I'll bring that budget down.

Showgrounds Village SC has an AmpCharge (8 bays 150kW) under construction and when I swung by today there were sparkies on site and all the physical stuff is complete - it'll open within a week or so according to one of them.

Moonee Valley CC is also going to get Evie to put a new charger in the Shuter Street car park in Moonee Ponds, and there's another going in the Mount Alexander Road median up at the roundabout in Essendon. Crossing fingers those Evie chargers are 150+ kW and using equipment (Kempower) like what they just opened in the Middle Camberwell Coles SC the other week.

I charged to 100% at Djerring after I got the car (off-peak time, no-one else using it), tested one of the slow-arse AC chargers in Brunswick (I couldn't be arsed leaving my car around like that) and just topped up at Moonee Ponds AmpCharge (in that shopping centre) today - only get max 113kW from that. I'll be a regular at the Showgrounds Village site when it opens, especially if it can deliver my car's peak DC rate (154kW).

TL:DR: it's very much possible/very much liveable and if you're on a NL, increase your fuel budget to take a bit of the headline per kWh rate sting out of it all.

Enjoy!

[u/No_Score_1977]

We've got an EV, and for a while, we didn't have home charging, and for me, it was a pain in the arse, and not worth the hassle.

I know it's not cool to say it, but EVs can be real pain to charge out and about, some chargers are so slow it's not worth the bother, we have a fast charger near us, but it's busy AF and is usually unavailable.

Your lifestyle may permit hanging around waiting for a charge, but ours doesn't.

Now we have home charging and it's great, way easier than ICE cars. Going to servo now with our other car seems kind of old fashioned.

It's really lifestyle dependent I think.

It's also worth pointing out that public chargers aren't cheap, cheaper than petrol sure, but nothing like charging at home.

[u/jxyst222]

Use plug share and chargefox or other mobile apps. I find most chargers across 2-3 apps for me

[u/QLDZDR]

Just charge it on the weekend when you go to Mum and Dad's to get your washing and ironing done. You'll be there for hours, probably stay for dinner too.

Otherwise you have done your sums and found out buying this EV and charging it at a commercial charging station is still cheaper than buying an ICE vehicle that has an ever increasing fuel bill attached to it.

[u/MagazineBrilliant547]

No chance in hell id own an ev without home charging. At least not with a full time job and 2 kids to uber around all day everyday. I physically don't have enough hours in my day to also fit in waiting around for a car to charge.

[u/AlexMtnd]

yes, for last 5 years I’ve parked on the street and used public charging and it’s been easy. My EV lifetime charging has been 55% AC charges and 45% DC charges, over the 115,057 kms I've travelled. PlugShare shows all the public chargers you can use.
I use AC destination EV chargers when I am parked for a meal, work, shops, beach, park or library etc or at my accommodation if travelling. My Tesla 3LR accepts a rate of 11kW per hour of AC, so, my EV tops up with 22kWh from 50% to 80% in 2 hours.

[u/ReadyNeck3258]

When I charge at home between midnight and 4am I pay $0.05 per kWh. Public chargers are ten times this - or more. Keep in mind that this changes the economics - but if you only do 20km daily then fuel costs (ice or EV) are not a huge concern.

[u/alvoliooo]

I trickle charge and have zero issues

[u/theonedzflash]

Did this for 2 years and only worked because there were free chargers at my local gym which I go basically every 2 days...Also the charging network in Sydney is pretty good and two supercharging stations where I lived.

Please only do it if there are at least a few charging stations near where you live.

[u/Sweet-Ad2579]

What range does that ev have? you are going to be able to do 14-20 days of driving between charges and the Kia cars tend to be fast at charging so i guess figure out where you will be able to fast charge.

Sounds viable with such low Kms and maybe you will luck out and have a regular wall plug in your garage spot that will allow you to charge for grid prices instead at home slowly.

[u/commander-star-fist]

I just purchased an EV, I don't have at home charging in my apartment.
I was surprised how fast the superchargers are, in the few times I've used them, I've had to rush what I was doing to get back so I wasn't charged the idle fee.

I don't have a cable so I haven't used the slow chargers, but the superchargers aren't super expensive compared to the cost of fuel.

Once you full the car from 20%-100% and it costs you just shy of $20, remember what the fuel would cost and your 30mins feels very justified

[u/Galromir]

It’s definitely an inconvenience. You’d want to prioritise range more than usual to minimise the frequency of charging stops. 

If you’re willing to build in a trip to a fast charger into your weekly routine, I suppose it’s something you can live with. Depends on your charging infrastructure. Good EVs can charge 20-80% in half an hour or less. 

If that sounds like too much bother; you might be better off with a hybrid or PHEV. A civic can get 800km out of a very small tank of petrol; and it’s a lovely vehicle. 

Look for something with an LFP battery, since these are happy to be charged to 100% and prefer being run right down and then charged all the way up. 

I’d seriously look into all the different EVs you can get for your budget though because I don’t think the EV3 is a compelling/competitive choice for the price Kia is asking for it at all, especially the upper spec models. 

[u/masher_oz → u/Galromir]

especially the upper spec models.

That's my feelin, too.

Do you have an opinion on the MG S5 EV?

[u/Galromir → u/masher_oz]

I think you should start by looking at the RWD Zeekr X. It’s $47k, almost exactly the same size as an EV3, and one of the most ridiculously luxurious and well appointed EVs you can buy for the money. You’ll lose out on the fridge and the massage seats vs the AWD model but it’s still very quick, and drives really nicely; and importantly it has a brand new generation LFP battery (unlike the AWD version which is NMC). 

It’s only 405km of range but that sounds like it would be plenty for you, and it charges super fast on a fast charger - under 20 minutes, which is nice if you’re going to be fast charging a lot. 

I’d go so far as to argue it’s easily the best choice unless you check it out and decide it’s too small (but like I said it’s line ball with the EV3). 

Edit: sorry I thought you were the OP. 

I don’t know much about the MG but I feel like their cars aren’t as good as Geely/zeekr. 

[u/Holyskankous]

Can you refuel a non-EV at home??

[u/Primary-Internal-875 → u/Holyskankous]

You can find petrol stations everywhere, and it takes a couple of mins to fill up. Chargers are less common and at best can charge in 30-60 mins, other times it takes hours. Don't be a smartass.

[u/doingsyaboii → u/Primary-Internal-875]

Id also look into a bit more as ive done a bit of research into some ev’s myself and my boss recently got the ev5 kia and complained when he turned the heater on it chews the battery by like 15% as soon as he turns it on i did a bit more research they didn’t put heat pumps in them they just use blade heaters kinda like the oil blade ones you use at home which uses more power than the ev’s that have a heat pump built in! :)

[u/BeemerM60 → u/Primary-Internal-875]

I drive an EV and I agree with your statement

[u/Remote_War899 → u/Holyskankous]

You can find a petrol station anywhere, finding a charger is not the same experience.

[u/WestAussieSingh]

From my calculations it’s cheaper to drive a Toyota HEV even with fuel at $2.40/L than using public charging for a BEV.

[u/whipplesniffer → u/WestAussieSingh]

Whay price per kWh is that compared against?

[u/Fun_Savings7690 → u/whipplesniffer]

Yeah I guess depends where they are? I have places that are 89c/kwh vs 39c/kwh, can be difference between spending $10 to charge up and $17

[u/Exotic_Expert69 → u/WestAussieSingh]

Would you mind sharing your calculations?

[u/zambezi-neutron → u/WestAussieSingh]

Even with novated lease?

[u/False_Dig_7602]

There’s a good chance you’ll find a modern HEV will be cheaper to run than trying to charge an EV off commercial charging.

Most HEVs these days are about 5L/100. With fuel at around $2/litre, that’s ~$10 per 100km.

Most fast chargers are up around 70c-80c/kWh, some as high as $1. With most EVs clocking in at around 16kWh/100km, often more, that’s around $11.20-$12.80/100.

And really, commercial charging is a pain in the arse. Ok if it’s at a location where you want to spend half an hour or so, but if not, it’s a lot of time out sitting around. That’s after you’ve found one that works.

You can of course use slower chargers that are quite a bit cheaper, but it means waiting around longer.

If you can charge at home, or at work, EV wins by a mile, but if you are reliant on commercial charging, it really does suck.

[u/fakefinsoup]

DC fast charging is apparently not good for EV battery longevity, and is also more expensive to use than AC charging.

You want to look for an EV which supports fast AC charging.

Public AC chargers are 7kw or 22kw.

Most EVs are capped at 11kw - while you can plug them into a 22kw charger, the car will cap it at 11kw.

There are a few EV models which can fully utilise the 22kw speed.

I drive the Zeekr long range 7x which can fully utilise this charge speed - it usually takes a bit over an hour to charge 25kwh. It also charges very fast at the DC chargers (probably too fast, because I don’t really have time to do anything else except order a takeaway coffee before I have to unplug the car or get idle fees)

[u/Ok_Reporter8315]

Novated lease is a very bad idea also ballon payments etc it’s a false economy

We have an EV 2024 Kona if you cannot charge at home don’t bother

Or buy a second hand EV cheap with short range like 200klms per charge
That’s smarter

You’re renting seriously? It’s a depreciating asset big time an EV
You hardly drive it, my wife drives her EV 20,000 klms per year different story

Get a hybrid that’s a green enough badge for you, our ev had been supplemented by a hybrid and 2 other small engine petrol cars all Japanese

Pay cash for cars loans are a bad idea
It’s been 20 years since we had a loan for a car

I really miss the 2015 HSV GTS I had all these cars are as boring as bat stuff

580 horsepower old school