Newbie to EVs. Please help me with charging and other issues.

[floss187]

• IONNA
• Electrify America
• EVgo
• Chargepoint, Inc

there's a lot of info on charging at Inside EVs Forum

 

[planuntilthefisthits]

OP here. Had a couple of interesting experiences today. Went to a Shell charger while at Whole Foods and got acquainted with charging for the first time. Free charging, but was there for only a short time, so just added 2%.

Then traveled to another shopping center and parked next to a woman with an older Y model. Very nice woman approached me and warned me about using the auto-park feature in my garage (I never met this woman before). She then pointed to the rear driver's side of her car and said that she used the auto-park feature and that the car was driven into her garage wall. Said she did this many times without previous incident. Put a damper on my self-drive enthusiasm.

I then drove to yet another facility, where I ran into a woman that I met a week before. I noticed she had a Y and chatted her up. She was very enthusiastic about Tesla in particular and the MY specifically. Today, I showed her my new car and she was shocked I got it after talking to her. I think I made her day.

I then used FSD to take me to a supercharger, and it took us from 34-80 in 24 minutes. We wondered around and ordered a beverage, amazed that almost all of the 12 or so superchargers were in use.

An interesting day of learning some new features of the car and meeting some interesting other Tesla drivers.

 

[Dranoel]

Happy New Year! For reasons unrelated to the calendar, I got my first EV car on 12/31/25. It is a Tesla Y Premium. It is a marvel of a computer that has wheels!

I'd appreciate some ongoing tech support from those inclined to help an EV Newbie.

My first question is related to charging: I live in a townhome without any high speed charging. This is a temporary living situation for me, but right now, I will need to find charging options. I can see where the Tesla Superchargers and destination chargers are located, and some are in convenient locations close to my regular travel patterns. But, I anticipate that I will need to occasionally find non-Tesla chargers. How to do this? I have Googled and found a host of apps that purport to guide me to chargers, but which apps are the best/reliable/not scams? One I downloaded is Shell, but that app is alerting me that their network is phasing out.

I'd appreciate any guidance the community might provide.

Thank you!

Google maps will show all chargers under "Services"

 

[wrigley]

Tesla didn’t help you with this stuff?

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[joesxm3]

My model Y parks in the driveway since I do not have a garage door opener. But I am not sure ho that would work auto parking in a garage, unless she meant a parking garage and not a house garage.

But my two "accidents" with my Model Y have both been in my garage, which is a tight squeeze.

The first one only a couple days after getting the car was a scrape of my right front wheel on a cement block that I should have had the sense to move out of the way when i got the car. The second was two days ago when i bumped a 2x4 shelf that i have in the garage right next to the car. Both times I was driving and FSD was not involved.

I have had three other incidents with FSD.

Back with V11 I was in a left turn lane making a turn and a pick-up truck pulling a trailer came racing by in the lane to my right with the trailer bouncing and swerved to clear a cop and construction. I took over at the last minute and the trailing edge of the trailer brushed my right front wheel well and nailed the plastic molding. I do not know if FSD might have avoided it if I had not taken over. Had I left FSD alone maybe the turn would have feen a few milliseconds faster and I would have been out of the way. Tesla sent a guy to my home with a new plastic part and charged $112 plus $65 to rotate my tires while he was there.

The other incident was with my new car and V13. There were some exposed man hole covers in the middle of the lane painted orange as the only warning. FSD drove over the first one. I took over . . . and drove over the second one. A month later the car displayed a message asking to be taken to a service center to have the wheel alignment checked. They adjusted it for free.

On one trip I came to a construction zone that had a strange stop light on a pole instead of a flagger. FSD mistook it for a stop sign, stopped then tried to go before its turn. I had to take over.

 

[Flieger]

Tesla didn’t help you with this stuff?

I was thinking the same thing.

I'm not sure I understand this thinking?

Is it expected that Ford, Chevy, etc inform customers of gas stations or the best way to "fill up", or in the case of their EV's, locations for charging stations? Is it expected that Tesla (or as mentioned the legacy auto makers) question each buyer as to how they intend to "fill up" their new EV? When you purchase an EV, you know that chargers are not as prevalent and there will be a need to identify your options and charger locations. Did the OP ask for how to pull up on Tesla Navigation all Supercharger or other charger locations (easily done) and they (Tesla employee) refused to help? That's an individual employee issue of so, and they should talk with the Tesla dealerships management about that individual employee.

Seems like she is going about learning what to do and should not be a big issue.

Flieger

 

[steady saver]

Nope. I had a wonderful experience with my multiple test drives of different vehicles, but the pickup of the purchased car was not a good experience. The car was not in the shiny, "new car" spotless condition one would expect. The CSR who handled the pickup answered all our questions, but generally did not seem totally engaged or enthusiastic. Sort of like she was on a time schedule and had to get us out "soon." After she departed and we were still in the lot, I had a question which I directed to the salesperson I used, not the woman who "kicked us to the curb."

I’m sorry to hear that! They made a big deal out about when we went to pick up our car. The had us pose by the car and took pictures and all of that. I was ready to get out of there, but I thought it was really nice of them. It was a feel good experience.

 

[Steve P]

Happy New Year! For reasons unrelated to the calendar, I got my first EV car on 12/31/25. It is a Tesla Y Premium. It is a marvel of a computer that has wheels!

I'd appreciate some ongoing tech support from those inclined to help an EV Newbie.

My first question is related to charging: I live in a townhome without any high speed charging. This is a temporary living situation for me, but right now, I will need to find charging options. I can see where the Tesla Superchargers and destination chargers are located, and some are in convenient locations close to my regular travel patterns. But, I anticipate that I will need to occasionally find non-Tesla chargers. How to do this? I have Googled and found a host of apps that purport to guide me to chargers, but which apps are the best/reliable/not scams? One I downloaded is Shell, but that app is alerting me that their network is phasing out.

I'd appreciate any guidance the community might provide.

Thank you!

I have a Tesla and it tells me both where tesla and non tesla superchargers are. In addition I have plugshare and chargepoint. There are more and more superchargers tied to specific apps too. I'd download a few of the major ones if I were you. Additionally when your driving by areas when you think you might need a charger, see what app is supported. For instance, NJ turnpike just got rid of their Tesla superchargers and awarded it all to some contract/app that I never heard of.

 

[Gallaher]

I'm not sure I understand this thinking?

Is it expected that Ford, Chevy, etc inform customers of gas stations or the best way to "fill up", or in the case of their EV's, locations for charging stations? Is it expected that Tesla (or as mentioned the legacy auto makers) question each buyer as to how they intend to "fill up" their new EV? When you purchase an EV, you know that chargers are not as prevalent and there will be a need to identify your options and charger locations. Did the OP ask for how to pull up on Tesla Navigation all Supercharger or other charger locations (easily done) and they (Tesla employee) refused to help? That's an individual employee issue of so, and they should talk with the Tesla dealerships management about that individual employee.

Seems like she is going about learning what to do and should not be a big issue.

Flieger

Just customer service. Last new vehicle i bought, 2022, the dealership told where the sun visors were, where gas goes, what kind of gas, some uses for the heads-up display, etc, etc, etc.
Now I already knew where the visors were. But I was actually appreciative of where gas goes and run down on heads up.
Would I have figured it all out? ….probably but I had just spent $50k and they were showing some appreciation.
If I spent tens of thousands of dollars and someone tossed me the keys and said “good luck!” I’d never return. Vote with dollars

 

[Flieger]

Just customer service. Last new vehicle i bought, 2022, the dealership told where the sun visors were, where gas goes, what kind of gas, some uses for the heads-up display, etc, etc, etc.
Now I already knew where the visors were. But I was actually appreciative of where gas goes and run down on heads up.
Would I have figured it all out? ….probably but I had just spent $50k and they were showing some appreciation.
If I spent tens of thousands of dollars and someone tossed me the keys and said “good luck!” I’d never return. Vote with dollars

I'm not sure that's what the OP said, but if so, yes, I would never go TO THAT DEALERSHIP again.

I'm sure there was more discussion, as you have to program a key, program your phone as a key, etc during the pick up.

Flieger

 

[audreyh1]

Just customer service. Last new vehicle i bought, 2022, the dealership told where the sun visors were, where gas goes, what kind of gas, some uses for the heads-up display, etc, etc, etc.
Now I already knew where the visors were. But I was actually appreciative of where gas goes and run down on heads up.
Would I have figured it all out? ….probably but I had just spent $50k and they were showing some appreciation.
If I spent tens of thousands of dollars and someone tossed me the keys and said “good luck!” I’d never return. Vote with dollars

Tesla supplies that kind of valuable info in a series of excellent orientation videos that the customer is encouraged to watch before picking up their car, even before doing a test drive. Yes, that’s a different way of doing things. Probably much more attuned to the younger generations of car buyers. Frankly I loved not dealing with a traditional car dealership.

Our Tesla showroom got us going with setting up the phone keys etc., and answered any questions we had. I’m sure we reviewed doors, glove box unlock etc. I was already well prepared having watched the recommended videos and read everything I could including posts on a Tesla user forum. I also watched the orientation videos before my test drive.

 

[RetMD21]

I watched the Tesla videos too. They send you links so it is awfully easy. I would have been able to find the sun visors on my own. Some people need more guidance I guess

 

[euro]

People with access to a conveniently located US type electric dryer outlet have been able to do level 2 charging with an adapter. IDK if that would work for you

This is correct, in principle, but be aware that you will need to replace the outlet with one rated for EV charging or else you run the risk of melting down the plug and/or causing a fire. The 5 dollar outlets used for dryers will not stand up to continuous draw for many hours on end. The ones used for electric ranges are often (but not always!) of better quality but even those should be replaced with something like this:

Leviton 50 Amp EV Charging Receptacle/Outlet, Heavy Duty, Weather Resistant, 1450W, Black​

$44.85 with 34 percent savings-34% $44.85

List Price: $68.39List Price: $68.39
Price history

These are built much more solidly - much stronger (but alas, obviously, more expensive). VERY IMPORTANT!!! Best of all: looks like they are on sale right now!

 

[TheWizard]

As RetMD21 says, look at using your dryer outlet as a possible level 2 charging source.

Also, the PlugShare app is very good for locating charging stations.

Your dryer outlet?
Cripes.

Just run a 240 volt circuit to the front of your garage door and go with that.
Was that so hard??

 

[RetMD21]

Your dryer outlet?
Cripes.

Just run a 240 volt circuit to the front of your garage door and go with that.
Was that so hard??

OP isn't going to be there long. May not own the townhouse. I'm not she OP wants to install anything.

 

[RetMD21]

This is correct, in principle, but be aware that you will need to replace the outlet with one rated for EV charging or else you run the risk of melting down the plug and/or causing a fire. The 5 dollar outlets used for dryers will not stand up to continuous draw for many hours on end. The ones used for electric ranges are often (but not always!) of better quality but even those should be replaced with something like this:

Leviton 50 Amp EV Charging Receptacle/Outlet, Heavy Duty, Weather Resistant, 1450W, Black​

$44.85 with 34 percent savings-34% $44.85

List Price: $68.39List Price: $68.39
Price history

These are built much more solidly - much stronger (but alas, obviously, more expensive). VERY IMPORTANT!!! Best of all: looks like they are on sale right now!

That's a 50 amp outlet. You are proposing using it on a 30 amp circuit?

 

[euro]

That's a 50 amp outlet. You are proposing using it on a 30 amp circuit?

No, you are right, you'd need to get the matching outlet if you have a 30amp circuit. Thanks for catching that. So, the one below, for example.
Doesn't change the main point though that a "regular" dryer plug will melt if used for prolongued EV charging.

Nema 14-30 Outlet Designed Specifically for EV Charging,Weather Resistant 3-Pole 4-Wire Grounding,14-30 EV 30A 125/250V Heavy-Duty Receptacle Outlet Metal Wall Plate Included,UL Listed​

I grabbed the 50Amp example because that's one I used for my own level 2 charger setup, but I am running a separate 50Amp circuit for that, not tapping into the dryer circuit.

 

[Original Wally]

For DW Molly's BMW i4, we had an electrician run a new, separate 50 amp circuit with the plug near the passenger's side rear fender. We are STILL using the free 2 years @ Electrify America that BMW provides so we don't do TOO much home charging. AND we still get the penny and a half per kWh credit for all 12:00 AM to 6:00 AM usage.

 

[Flieger]

No, you are right, you'd need to get the matching outlet if you have a 30amp circuit. Thanks for catching that. So, the one below, for example.
Doesn't change the main point though that a "regular" dryer plug will melt if used for prolongued EV charging.

Nema 14-30 Outlet Designed Specifically for EV Charging,Weather Resistant 3-Pole 4-Wire Grounding,14-30 EV 30A 125/250V Heavy-Duty Receptacle Outlet Metal Wall Plate Included,UL Listed​

I grabbed the 50Amp example because that's one I used for my own level 2 charger setup, but I am running a separate 50Amp circuit for that, not tapping into the dryer circuit.

I had a separate 50A circuit run to my garage, which the electrician installed a Nema 14-50 plug, but I'm not sure it is an EV type. Definitely going to check it out.

Edited: Just changed setting on my Tesla Wall Charger to "30A" breaker lowering max current to 24A until I can verify above. Since I charge overnight, increased charging time at home is not a significant issue.

Flieger

 

[REWahoo]

I had a separate 50A circuit run to my garage, which the electrician installed a Nema 14-50 plug, but I'm not sure it is an EV type. Definitely going to check it out.

Edited: Just changed setting on my Tesla Wall Charger to "30A" breaker lowering max current to 24A until I can verify above. Since I charge overnight, increased charging time at home is not a significant issue.

Flieger

I also had an electrician install a separate 50A circuit in my garage and found he did not install a heavy-duty receptacle. Researching, I learned the best commercial quality Nema 14-50 receptacles are Hubble and Bryant, which is also made by Hubble. I replaced the Levitron the electrician installed with a Bryant three years ago and charge at 32A without issue.

 

[audreyh1]

The Tesla Mobile Connector is a smart unit with several adapters and can even plug into 110 even though that takes forever. Better to use the public chargers until you are in the new housing and can install a charger.

We use the Tesla Wall Charger which is a direct connect to 240V and has its own safety electronics.

 

[RetiredHappy]

I know OP is unable to install one at his home currently. I want to share my own experience.

After we bought the Lyriq, we bought the General Motors 240V wall charger (hardwired and not the direct plug in one). GM pays for the installation but we have to pay for the charger. An electrician came out got it installed, tying it back to the circuit breaker. That charger had been problematic, not wanting to charge and then we reset the breaker to get it to work etc. About 4 months later, it finally stopped working. The electrician came back out and opened up the GM wall charger and it was burnt on the inside. We looked it up that we could install a Tesla wall charger instead. We took the GM burnt charger back to the dealership and got a full refund and ordered a Tesla charger off Amazon. The electrician came back out to install for "free", as their installation was still under GM warranty. We love the Tesla charger. It is very reliable and also much faster than the piece of xxxx GM charger.

 

[RetMD21]

No, you are right, you'd need to get the matching outlet if you have a 30amp circuit. Thanks for catching that. So, the one below, for example.
Doesn't change the main point though that a "regular" dryer plug will melt if used for prolongued EV charging.

Nema 14-30 Outlet Designed Specifically for EV Charging,Weather Resistant 3-Pole 4-Wire Grounding,14-30 EV 30A 125/250V Heavy-Duty Receptacle Outlet Metal Wall Plate Included,UL Listed​

I grabbed the 50Amp example because that's one I used for my own level 2 charger setup, but I am running a separate 50Amp circuit for that, not tapping into the dryer circuit.

You make a good point for the 50 amp outlets but I am not sure it really applies to 30 amp or 15. I charged for a few months using a standard 15 amp outlet and didn't die. Level 2 is niice if you can do it. Not spending a lot on a temporary charging solution seems like a good idea.

For a "permanent" solution a hardwired charger is best. We went with the Tesla and a 60 amp circuit. As Audreyh1 says it has internal safety electronics and it doesn't require a GFCI breaker.

I don't know what else people use 14-50 receptacles for but apparently some aren't up to continuous use. DIYers have caused problems with poor installations as well.

 

[Fermion]

6AWG sounds pretty good for a 50 amp cable that is 25 feet long (50 foot round trip current path). That size copper conductor should have a total of 0.02 ohms resistance the power loss in the cable itself will be about 50 watts at maximum rating (P = Current squared times resistance, P=(I^2)*R).

11950 watts delivered, 50 watts waste in the cable is a reasonable figure.

 

[Flieger]

You make a good point for the 50 amp outlets but I am not sure it really applies to 30 amp or 15. I charged for a few months using a standard 15 amp outlet and didn't die. Level 2 is niice if you can do it. Not spending a lot on a temporary charging solution seems like a good idea.

For a "permanent" solution a hardwired charger is best. We went with the Tesla and a 60 amp circuit. As Audreyh1 says it has internal safety electronics and it doesn't require a GFCI breaker.

I don't know what else people use 14-50 receptacles for but apparently some aren't up to continuous use. DIYers have caused problems with poor installations as well.

Mine doubles as an "inlet" for a generator when/if I lose power, although the generator is 5500 Watts and limited to 30 Amps. That's why I use a plug for my wall charger. I guess I could install a 50A panel in the garage (Our Main and Sub are in the basement) and come off of that...

Yes, I turn off the Main Breaker when I use that so as not to back charge the power lines.

Flieger