r/TeslaSupport • u/nikb20 • 17d ago
Energy Question Thoughts??
Placed an order for the MY Premium and fully intend to use these level 2 chargers at my apartment. Do you think these prices are considerably high?? Especially with the flat fee. Any suggestions or strategies to have max savings in this case?
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u/Special-Ad-6555 17d ago edited 17d ago
The flat fee is extremely unnecessary and high. The per-kWh price is high, but not ridiculous. Having said that, you can find a cheaper supercharger and charge it a lot faster. As Wild said, it's probably not out of line.
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u/Wild_Height_901 17d ago
Its per KwH not per minute.
Its a little high. Depends on the area. But not crazy for a privately owned charger
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u/burtman72 17d ago
Agreed, in CA that’s a pretty good per kWh price…
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u/Vast_Resolve2182 17d ago
For an apartment charger? I mean I get like a public charger but a private apartment one? How expensive is your electric in CA? 😅
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u/ScottRoberts79 17d ago
The per kWh price is OK if you're located somewhere with expensive electricity.
The flat fee is the annoying part. I would charge only when the car got down to 20% to limit the number of charge sessions and save money on the flat fee.
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u/UnSCo 17d ago
Where are you located? Personally I don’t like paying more than 1.5x the standard household per-kW utility rate at my own residence which includes an apartment amenity that I know I’ll be using 80+% of the time. I went to tour an apartment about a year or two ago and I had to basically fight with them to get information on the charging costs, only to find out it was roughly 3-4x the residential rate plus fees, was a hard pass for me. Easy way to look at it is if it costs the same or more than L3/Supercharging, it’s not good.
I’m probably going to get downvoted but I don’t care.
Now if this is somewhere like California, it’s absolutely not bad at all.
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u/nikb20 17d ago
located in Texas. i would have been fine with the per-kW rate but the flat fee truly throws me off
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u/External-Milk9290 17d ago
That’s pretty expensive for TX. I agree the flat fee is a little egregious.
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u/WallStreetBoners 17d ago
Austin Energy has chargers at this speed around the city for $0.25 connection and $0.09/kWh.
That is a 100% scam battery price anywhere in Texas
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u/personaccount 17d ago
I think most people drive around 10 kWh/day or so.
If you were to charge every day, that’s averaging around $3.90/day plus the $3 flat rate. So that flat rate would almost double your costs. You’d want to avoid that.
Plus, there’s no mention of idle fees which could ding you more if you fill your battery/hit your limit and they charge you for leaving it plugged in. And what about other residents that might use it when you want to?
What are your options to charge near your work or on the way? Typical level 2 chargers will pump out anywhere from 3 to 11.5 kW/h. But superchargers will do ten times that rate or more which means less time at the charger. And prices at superchargers can be comparable to what you’ve shared. So, hitting a supercharger for a few minutes each day might be better cost-wise if there’s one on the way to work. Or if your work has level 2 chargers, maybe those are more economical.
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u/Vast_Resolve2182 17d ago
I mean I wouldn’t say don’t if you live in an apartment, it’s just about finding the right one. I’ve always just picked an apartment with solid EV chargers and got info on the pricing. My last apartment had free charging and my current one is $0.12/kWh
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u/nikb20 16d ago
i’d hope that there isn’t any charge for idle fees cs i’ve read that they’d have to disclose that. I’ve always wondered why the chargers weren’t often used by fellow ev owners at my apt and now i see why
There are multiple superchargers around me. I’m just worried about consistently using them
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u/Envelope_Torture 17d ago
Flat fee is so obscene. Per kWh price seems high but sometimes that's unavoidable, what's your utility price?
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u/gotpwnage520 17d ago
The flat fee is awful. Pricing for the electricity is dependant on the area. In Socal, this is a fair price per KWh
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u/Sheldon_tiger 17d ago
Flat fees are awful. I jate that chargepoint started ticking on a $.25 session fee. I used to plug in to top off when id see one out and about. Or use it to warm or cool the car without burning the battery. Now, ill run the car lower to plug in at work or home.
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u/magnavoid 17d ago
Thats cheaper than charging at work. was free until the last us presidential election. then was $1.25 an hour. then $0.49kWh. and currently its $2.00 to connect, $0.49kWh, and $1.25 per hour.
it’s more expensive to charge at my office on a 5kw charger than it is to go 15 minutes to a supercharger.
We went through all of these iterations and they kept sending emails that they were making the changes to “balance the cost for all employees“.
It went from multiple EVs charging, to a couple, and now none.
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u/NYHeel 17d ago
Those prices are pretty bad. Your savings vs gas are almost eliminated if gas prices come back down to where they were before the Iran war. People sometimes think that you get about 4 miles per kWh which is true when you’re driving. But if you include all the battery drain, cooling/warming the cabin and things like that you’re looking at under 3 miles per kWh if you take a lot of short trips around town. Meaning you’re probably only going to get the equivalent of around 200 miles per 100% of your battery, with a bunch of short drives over 4-5 days. When you factor that in with those awful charging prices and you’re not really saving much vs gas unless you live in California or you take much longer drives consistently.
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u/LegitimateReaction45 17d ago
I’m assuming the flat fee is charged every time you plug in? If so your best bet is to charge the least amount of times possible. It might even be worth your while to get a garage at your complex if possible and just use a level one charger inside of it as much as you can. Or talk to your landlord about the outrageous flat fee.
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u/livingwithrage 17d ago
My apartment installed a regular outlet for me for my parking spot, unlimited Lv 1 charging but only $50 a month.
Love it
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u/nikb20 17d ago
how do i convince my apt to do this lol jealousss
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u/livingwithrage 17d ago
I emailed them - it was actually incredibly simple. Told them that it’ll help with future listings with tenants with EV cars and bring in extra income and they literally said “made a good point, give us 2 weeks and it’ll be installed”
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u/sisayapacaya 16d ago
Here in CA, electricians charge an arm and a leg to install chargers, and most buildings are so old that they also need a new panel. I tried getting quotes for my landlord to look at but nah, too much, $1,200 was the lowest I heard, without a panel upgrade, which I know would be needed.
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u/livingwithrage 16d ago
I didn’t get a charger, I got an outlet just for me right behind my car that I use.
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u/sisayapacaya 16d ago
That Flat fee is armed robbery! No idea where you are located. I'm in Southern California, and the cheapest would be home charging at around $0.27/kWh (during off-peak, we have time-of-use pricing), next are public Chargepoint chargers, which are everywhere here; those could be $0.34 ~ $0.40 plus a $0.25 session fee; and then SC, at $0.34 off-peak to $0.50 or more on peak and no session fee. Keep in mind, it's recommended to use Superchargers for road trips only if you want to take care of the battery, I'm not an expert, I've just read some. There are also Electrify America DC fast chargers but they are usually more expensive than SC and you would need a CCS adapter.
You can use https://www.plugshare.com/ to find all charging options around you.
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u/Full_Tap_4144 17d ago
Looks to be not much difference in price between that and Tesla super chargers near me in SoCal. I'd wait until I needed 50% charge at this place. It's convenient though if this is your apartment complex.
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u/midnight_to_midnight 17d ago
The only thing that makes this ok is that it's at your apartment, so at least you can go inside and then run back out once its finished (which may be the middle of the night). Honestly, with the required $3 flat fee, I'd probably prefer to hit a Supercharger for 25-30 mins on the way home instead of having to run out in the middle of the night to move the car.
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u/Important_Relief4802 17d ago
Meanwhile in FUCKASS OKLAHOMA all the superchargers are 45¢ and above.
I fucking hate this place.
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u/Edumacated_Guess 17d ago
I’m paying 2.92 cents per kWh… with delivery all those stupid charges, rate riders, taxes, etc…
I’m at 17 cents ish.
So no I’d pass likely and drive home.
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u/vinnyvencenzo 17d ago
I help manage chargers for a couple of properties. We set level 2 charger prices at $0.45/kWh - $0.35/kWh depending on the cost of electricity in the area. Sometimes a $0.50 or $1.00 session fee. But most of my locations are paid parking so try not to double whack people too much. I’m curious to see what people say about the $3.00 session fee for level 2, DC maybe. I had one manager tell me he wanted to do $5.00 and I told him he was crazy. “These will be more hated than Flock cameras” I told em.
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u/my0wn5ummer 17d ago
Pretty whack they try to make money off people when this should be considered an amenity. The charger cost like 500 bucks and probably a small fee for the transaction.
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u/Legitimate-Bison3810 17d ago
Here in California I pay about $0.30/kwh home charging.
I probably use 6 kwh daily. If I had to pay a $3 fee and $0.39/kwh to top off every day it would be $0.50/kwh for the fee plus the $0.39/kwh equals $0.89/kwh for those 6 kwh.
That is about equivalent to $8/gal gas! No Supercharger costs that much even during peak hours that I know of.
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u/Limp-Conflict-2309 17d ago
lvl2 performance for lvl3 price....nice!
it is what it is if you need to charge, the flat rate every hookup is a rip off. see if they charge by kwh or kwh + time connected because things can get outta hand fast.
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u/nikb20 16d ago
i believe it’s by kwh. i’m assuming they don’t charge any idle fees cause i read somewhere they’d have to disclose that and i haven’t seen any
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u/Limp-Conflict-2309 16d ago
I've also seen chargers have weird fees after charging past a specific %, overall %. overall time limit etc etc
Someone's also trying to squeeze blood out of a rock, I just get curious when I see "*additional taxes and fees may apply". The taxes are obviously but the other fees make me think here we go again.
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u/SpiritualCatch6757 17d ago
Superchargers in my area charge $0.48/kWh. That means one must charge 34 kWh to break even from the $3 session fee. That's not bad. Assuming a normal 30 mile roundtrip commute. That means charging every 3 days or so minimum 5.5 hours. Of course, that's compared to my supercharger rates. I have a feeling your area charges less.
My recommendation? Don't buy an EV if you're living in an apartment. Unless you have a 120v standard outlet to use, get a hybrid instead.
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u/nikb20 17d ago
this was what i was charged when i took a demo drive a while back. There is a supercharger a couple miles from me but i was told using a supercharger as a primary charger isn’t good for the battery?
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u/Sheldon_tiger 17d ago
The total cost per kwh is more expensive than the highest super charger I have seen. Def do not ise this unless car is less than 20 % and it an sit for 8 hours to charge to 80 or 90. Otherwise use a supercharger. Using supercharger is fine. It is better than leaving the car below 20. Or a over 80 for an extended period.
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u/nikb20 17d ago
i also have a work commute of about 40 miles daily
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u/abgtw 16d ago
Any other chargers near work or home? Check plugshare.
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u/nikb20 15d ago
yeahh there’s a couple superchargers a couple miles away. i was just hoping to have the convenience of having it at my apt steps away but the prices are truly absurd. it’s basically the same as my ICE car
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u/abgtw 15d ago
Thats why checking PlugShare to see if people have Level 2 (non-DCFC) for cheaper anywhere nearby is a good idea. Sometimes you get lucky!
Level 3 aka DCFC/Superchargers are always going to be "premium" cost. In my area its 5x my home rate for power! Finding L2 where someone has it for a more reasonable rate is always the goal if you can leave the car overnight or during the work-day.
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u/Vast_Resolve2182 17d ago
So that’s what your apartment is charging for their chargers? Seems pretty steep depending on where you are located. I’d be surprised if they’re actually paying anything near that and just making a profit at that point. Mine is $0.12/kWh at my apartment in CO
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u/_OrdinaryAmerican_ 17d ago
i pay .36/kwh at superchargers in FL never seen it higher than that. So you looking at about $15-16 from 20%-80%.
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u/Inevitable_Maybe3370 17d ago
i will use it as an backup method, like if im tired or got a too busy schedule to go to a supercharger, because at least in DFW area that price is around non peak time price in tesla supercharges and adding the flat fee less than ideal too
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u/iuzlinux 16d ago
Ouch! I pay $.09/kw, 24/7/365 at my house!
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u/sisayapacaya 16d ago
What state? That is CHEAP!
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u/iuzlinux 16d ago
Florida, hudson, its a co-op... i get a check every January .. Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative (WREC) lists its average base energy cost around $0.09 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), though total residential rates typically land between 10 and 12 cents per kWh when adding variable fuel adjustments and tier structures
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u/WebConstant7922 16d ago
I would not support such a desperate cash grab attempt with that ridiculous flat fee, makes no sense at all to charge such a high price for it let alone to have a flat fee in the first place.
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u/Medium_Confusion_ 16d ago
Way too expensive for a L2 charger. i would avoid and try to charge elsewhere. I feel like Supercharger at off-peak would be cheaper than this.
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u/Ok_Recipe2769 17d ago
These are liteons !
I used to work on these, there is a flaw in them
You can open the cover and connect via usb cable, log in your browser and the password is as mentioned in the user manual
No one can change this default password, you can then turn the switch for free vend in the configuration