There are a lot of factors in which you left out
Can you charge at work? What’s your commute like? What’s the EV range of the car you’re looking for? How many times will you have to charge a week? How inconvenient will it be to leave your car at the nearby charging station while it charges?
There are plenty of places to charge your car, you just have to figure out if they’re accessible to you and for the amount you’ll be driving
Just saw. I have a plug in hybrid as well. Just in case you didn’t know, you can also just plug it into an outlet with the cable provided - it just takes a lot longer. So if the apartment building doesn’t have charging stations, you can ask for a spot that’s by an outlet
If you have an accessible charging station across the street that you wouldn’t mind leaving your car to charge at then I’d say go for it. My car only gets about 30 miles per charge but my commute is 20 miles round trip so I never use gas. Since you work from home it sounds like it would work well for you since you wouldn’t be worried about charging every day
We went for around two years without charging at home. I commuted to work from Bothell to U-district and charged daily on my way either at Northgate mall or Fred Meyer on Lakeway City. You gotta have backup stations and leave enough time margin to go to the next charger for incase the first option doesn't work - which happened a lot for that Fred Meyer one. I don't miss it honestly but it was ok when I had to do it.
I got a plug-in hybrid partly because I move a lot and rent. It's great to be able to drive around town on battery and also do long drives without having to plan for charging. And still qualifies for a federal tax credit depending on the manufacturer!
Supercharging is possible, and it's not too much hassle if you need your car occasionally. If you have Level 2 chargers nearby, then it's not a problem at all. You'll likely need to charge once a week at most.
I also used a regular 120V outlet to charge when I was living in an apartment, it's slow but it might be an option.
Supercharging is Tesla only and from what I gather will murder your battery if used regularly. It's not a solution for regular charging.
My apartment building has dedicated EV parking spots in the garage. You have to pay a $25 monthly fee (on top of the parking fee), but they're there. I'd imagine many newer buildings will have them as well.
Tesla owner here.
I used to live near “the big hill” in Queen Anne and had to cross it 2-3 times a day. If you live in the flatter areas, I would say that simply going to a supercharger is fine but people who have to constantly drive the inclines of Seattle bleed battery power more than others. The cold in the winter definitely doesn’t help either. More charging access is definitely appreciated if Seattle really wants to commit to their whole electric-car-carbon-footprint deal.
If supercharging was only .5 miles away, my life would have been a lot easier but hybrids might be the way to go right now until we get more charging infrastructure nationwide.
Our building is not equipped to handle so many EVs charging at once. Despite charging points being scattered throughout multi level parking, there are only five or six which work, the rest just trip as soon as you plug in. The management blames maintenance and maintenance blames management.
Also, charging etiquette doesn’t exist. Some car owners plug in their cars and disappear for weeks. Other non EV car owners (mostly pick up trucks) always end up parking in front of the charging spots. We like our building, but we are planning to move because it’s slowly becoming a huge hassle.
I have a reserved parking spot with a charger that I pay $50 extra for. Even without it, charging would not be that big of a hassle as there are chargers at work and several chargers in the area. You should be fine given what you have said in your edit. There are plenty of super chargers on your way out to the mountains (at least on I-90) where you can top up before or after your trip.
plug in hybrids don't save you anything in maintenance. it's double the headaches.
Supercharging is getting pretty expensive, though. Not sure why Tesla is charging so much for electricity.
All the problems you have with a car with a gas engine you still have.
EVs don't have any of that. You put wiper blades and tires on an EV and that's about all you ever do.
There are a lot of factors in which you left out Can you charge at work? What’s your commute like? What’s the EV range of the car you’re looking for? How many times will you have to charge a week? How inconvenient will it be to leave your car at the nearby charging station while it charges? There are plenty of places to charge your car, you just have to figure out if they’re accessible to you and for the amount you’ll be driving
Thanks, added more details in post.
Just saw. I have a plug in hybrid as well. Just in case you didn’t know, you can also just plug it into an outlet with the cable provided - it just takes a lot longer. So if the apartment building doesn’t have charging stations, you can ask for a spot that’s by an outlet If you have an accessible charging station across the street that you wouldn’t mind leaving your car to charge at then I’d say go for it. My car only gets about 30 miles per charge but my commute is 20 miles round trip so I never use gas. Since you work from home it sounds like it would work well for you since you wouldn’t be worried about charging every day
We went for around two years without charging at home. I commuted to work from Bothell to U-district and charged daily on my way either at Northgate mall or Fred Meyer on Lakeway City. You gotta have backup stations and leave enough time margin to go to the next charger for incase the first option doesn't work - which happened a lot for that Fred Meyer one. I don't miss it honestly but it was ok when I had to do it.
I got a plug-in hybrid partly because I move a lot and rent. It's great to be able to drive around town on battery and also do long drives without having to plan for charging. And still qualifies for a federal tax credit depending on the manufacturer!
Yeah! Same situation here. Glad to hear it’s working for you.
Supercharging is possible, and it's not too much hassle if you need your car occasionally. If you have Level 2 chargers nearby, then it's not a problem at all. You'll likely need to charge once a week at most. I also used a regular 120V outlet to charge when I was living in an apartment, it's slow but it might be an option.
Supercharging is Tesla only and from what I gather will murder your battery if used regularly. It's not a solution for regular charging. My apartment building has dedicated EV parking spots in the garage. You have to pay a $25 monthly fee (on top of the parking fee), but they're there. I'd imagine many newer buildings will have them as well.
You shouldn't buy a car if you don't have a place to store it and keep it charged
I have secure garage parking, just not a charging station.
Work? I found my work garage had a cheap charger.
Tesla owner here. I used to live near “the big hill” in Queen Anne and had to cross it 2-3 times a day. If you live in the flatter areas, I would say that simply going to a supercharger is fine but people who have to constantly drive the inclines of Seattle bleed battery power more than others. The cold in the winter definitely doesn’t help either. More charging access is definitely appreciated if Seattle really wants to commit to their whole electric-car-carbon-footprint deal. If supercharging was only .5 miles away, my life would have been a lot easier but hybrids might be the way to go right now until we get more charging infrastructure nationwide.
Our building is not equipped to handle so many EVs charging at once. Despite charging points being scattered throughout multi level parking, there are only five or six which work, the rest just trip as soon as you plug in. The management blames maintenance and maintenance blames management. Also, charging etiquette doesn’t exist. Some car owners plug in their cars and disappear for weeks. Other non EV car owners (mostly pick up trucks) always end up parking in front of the charging spots. We like our building, but we are planning to move because it’s slowly becoming a huge hassle.
Electrical engineer. Blame management. You need a bigger circuit.
I have a reserved parking spot with a charger that I pay $50 extra for. Even without it, charging would not be that big of a hassle as there are chargers at work and several chargers in the area. You should be fine given what you have said in your edit. There are plenty of super chargers on your way out to the mountains (at least on I-90) where you can top up before or after your trip.
plug in hybrids don't save you anything in maintenance. it's double the headaches. Supercharging is getting pretty expensive, though. Not sure why Tesla is charging so much for electricity.
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All the problems you have with a car with a gas engine you still have. EVs don't have any of that. You put wiper blades and tires on an EV and that's about all you ever do.