Time of day SuperCharger rates

[bwilson4web]

I was one of two cars charging at a nearby, 8 stall charging station at 11:45 PM. Then in the next 15 minutes, all stalls filled up. The charge rate after midnight dropped from $0.38/kWh to $0.20/kWh. Local Tesla owners adapted by waiting for midnight rate drops to charge. Of course the congestion charges kicked in so I moved to another, 16 stall charging station and got the extra I needed.

This explains how those without residential charging can own a Tesla and get close to residential charging rates. Just charge after midnight up to 80%, the congestion fee threshold. It is also a trick for value seeking travelers.

The cheap motels seldom have EV chargers. So get a room, take a nap, and after midnight go to a nearby SuperCharger perhaps after getting a snack to go. Listen to tunes while charging and update EV forums, e-mail, or play with a smart phone while getting the charge needed for the next day. When done, back to the room to show and nap before leaving.

If on a long trip, check-in late in the afternoon or early evening. Nap and get the affordable charge after midnight and then shower, checkout, and drive the next 4-6 hours with the lowest SuperCharger rates. This assumes you or the software formerly known as "Full Self Driving" are comfortable driving in the dark without a lot of traffic around.

Bob Wilson

 

[ericy]

I was one of two cars charging at a nearby, 8 stall charging station at 11:45 PM. Then in the next 15 minutes, all stalls filled up. The charge rate after midnight dropped from $0.38/kWh to $0.20/kWh. Local Tesla owners adapted by waiting for midnight rate drops to charge. Of course the congestion charges kicked in so I moved to another, 16 stall charging station and got the extra I needed.

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This explains how those without residential charging can own a Tesla and get close to residential charging rates. Just charge after midnight up to 80%, the congestion fee threshold. It is also a trick for value seeking travelers.

The cheap motels seldom have EV chargers. So get a room, take a nap, and after midnight go to a nearby SuperCharger perhaps after getting a snack to go. Listen to tunes while charging and update EV forums, e-mail, or play with a smart phone while getting the charge needed for the next day. When done, back to the room to show and nap before leaving.

If on a long trip, check-in late in the afternoon or early evening. Nap and get the affordable charge after midnight and then shower, checkout, and drive the next 4-6 hours with the lowest SuperCharger rates. This assumes you or the software formerly known as "Full Self Driving" are comfortable driving in the dark without a lot of traffic around.

Bob Wilson

I guess you could do that every once in a while, but it would get real old in a hurry if you had to rely upon this for day-to-day charging.

 

[andyG59]

Interesting road trip philosophy. We used to drive through the night when the kids were little. Most hotels we stay in don't have charging, some of the ones that do are a little pricy. TOU is also in use by some other networks. It will be interesting to see if other CPOs emulate Teslas strategy.