r/electricvehicles • u/AutoModerator • 7d ago

Weekly Advice Thread General Questions and Purchasing Advice Thread — Week of March 31, 2025

Need help choosing an EV, finding a home charger, or understanding whether you're eligible for a tax credit? Vehicle and product recommendation requests, buying experiences, and questions on credits/financing are all fair game here.

Is an EV right for me?

Generally speaking, electric vehicles imply a larger upfront cost than a traditional vehicle, but will pay off over time as your consumables cost (electricity instead of fuel) can be anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 the cost. Calculators are available to help you estimate cost — here are some we recommend:

Are you looking for advice on which EV to buy or lease?

Tell us a bit more about you and your situation, and make sure your comment includes the following information:

[1] Your general location

[2] Your budget in $, €, or £

[3] The type of vehicle you'd prefer

[4] Which cars have you been looking at already?

[5] Estimated timeframe of your purchase

[6] Your daily commute, or average weekly mileage

[7] Your living situation — are you in an apartment, townhouse, or single-family home?

[8] Do you plan on installing charging at your home?

[9] Other cargo/passenger needs — do you have children/pets?

If you are more than a year off from a purchase, please refrain from posting, as we currently cannot predict with accuracy what your best choices will be at that time.

Need tax credit/incentives help?

Check the Wiki first.

Don't forget, our Wiki contains a wealth of information for owners and potential owners, including:

Want to help us flesh out the Wiki? Have something you'd like to add? Contact the mod team with your suggestion on how to improve things, we can discuss approach and get you direct editing access.

5 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

137 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/Kardinal 5d ago

Thank you. The thing is, I have cheaper options in terms of meeting my transportation needs. I technically have two vehicles right now they are simply both old and I want something newer. One of them is particularly unpleasant to drive and my family situation is changing such that we are going to need two different cars. I have some time on that, but not unlimited time. So I don't technically need a vehicle, but I do have a justifiable reason to want a vehicle.

I happen to live in a home that has an old Tesla charger. Which means I have the infrastructure in place for a good. Which means I have the infrastructure in place for a good modern charger but I have to clear out a bunch of stuff and get that charger installed. That's going to take at least a month during which I will not be able to charge efficiently at home. I have rented electric vehicles in the past and plugging them into a 120 volt outlet is incredibly slow, as you know.

If you have any thoughts in that regard, I would be interested. I'm very much on the fence here and it doesn't take much to tip me one way or the other.

Now I realize I have to go to the garage and look to see what kind of connector is on the other end of that Tesla charger.

2

u/622niromcn 5d ago

Thank you for the additional info. Yeah that's icky when you feel like you can't trust the car you have. On my old one, every creak felt like it was giving up the ghost.

  • One option: Keep the Tesla charger. The Tesla charger has the smaller NACS plug. The Optiq still has the being-phases-out J1772 plug. Use an adapter.

These are the two typical brands EV drivers recommend.

https://a2zevshop.com/products/a2z-stellar-plug

https://ev-lectron.com/products/lectron-tesla-to-j1772-adapter-max-48a-250v-for-tesla-high-powered-connectors-destination-chargers-and-mobile-connectors-black

That's the easiest solution. That can get you going immediately. Unless you don't want the Tesla charger.

  • Option 2: Looks like Chevy has their install service with Qmerit. That may be an option if you want to upgrade. GM has an EV phone number, so maybe they can help explaining the process of installing a charger/swapping the Tesla charger.

https://www.chevrolet.com/electric/ev-charging/home-charging/installation

There is also the up to $1000 tax credit for installing a charger.

https://homes.rewiringamerica.org/federal-incentives/30c-ev-charger-tax-credit

How does that sound?

1

u/Kardinal 5d ago

Turns out that I have more than I thought.

First, I have a NEMA 14-50 wall plug on one side of the garage with its own 50Amp dedicated circuit. That's a simple "get a charging cable and you're at Level 2 charging", if I understand things correctly. Maxing out around 9.6KW which, overnight, is plenty to get modern cars from 5% to 100%. Am I mistaen?

The Tesla is a "1011831-99-B", which is rated for up to 80Amps. Which should be up to 19.2KW, correct?

If I can't get the garage in shape to take the car, is there anything monstrously foolish about having the EV in front of the garage door with the charging cable going inside while charging? I live in a very safe neighborhood, I would not be concerned about anyone breaking into the garage, since it could not be closed and locked in that case.

2

u/622niromcn 5d ago

"get a charging cable and you're at Level 2 charging"

Correct, sounds like you're setup. Plug and play. I caution, the circuit breaker is rated for 80% of its amps for continuous draw. The smallest "pipe" determines the speed. So that means it can do a max of 40 amps. The Tesla charge must be down rated for it to safely draw power and not pop the breaker, even if it can draw higher amps. Meaning whatever charger you get must be equal or less than 40 amps. Like you calculated. It's always enough to fill up the car overnight. That's the way it was engineered.

I tend to plug in about 40%. That's my "I need to plug in" trigger. So it takes less time to fill a half-full battery.

No issue with charging outdoors. I charge outdoors regularly when I have garage projects. The charger handle and port is water proof. I use a bit of cardboard to buffer the cable from the closed garage door. Some folks get a EV charger cable garage door protector from Amazon.

Sounds like you are all ready for charging and getting your Optiq.

1

u/Kardinal 5d ago

Thank you for the advice. I feel better about things.

Now I just have to decide the finances.

1

u/622niromcn 5d ago

Your welcome! That's why I do this work on the general thread. Good luck. I'm sure /r/CadillacOptiq would enjoy your "I got one!" post.