Electric car charging

[Lynn2137]

Have any of you had experience with guest who want to charge their vehicle?  We have guest who are staying at our rental for a month, and they are charging a a Tesla 24/7.  Very nice people but we are concerned about the extra electrical costs for charging a vehicle at all times.

Has anyone else had experience with this?

[Lorina14]

@Lynn2137 

If you search the community center you will find some posts about this. In Europe, electricity is expensive and they charge an extra amount/night accordingly. There are varying views on offering it free or for a charge and guests who ask or don’t ask to charge their car.

We have electric cars and offer free charging at our location (a perk for our listing) as it is maybe $5-10/day to charge a vehicle depending on where you are (it’s about $5-7/day for us and most cars don’t need to charge daily depending on how many miles they drive and other cars have a larger range of miles they can drive in a charge).

We do have a CCS2 charger (level 2 charger) and while most electric vehicles can use that a Tesla needs their own specific one. Many cars only have level 1 chargers and they can plug into a standard electrical outlet. Etiquette is that one should ask if they can charge at your home but many electric car owners may forget to ask as they routinely plug in at home. Being plugged in all the time does not mean they are charging all the time. They can set their car to charge in the eve only (cheaper electricity rates) or it can charge then trickles till it’s done (80% is good, it takes forever to get to 100% and isn’t necessarily good for the battery) then the car although plugged in is not charging anymore. My partner is well versed in EV/battery technology so if you need more info I can loop him in to explain to you but he was on some of the threads explaining how charging works. 

I think most hosts who say you can do this charge $10/charge. They put it in their listing that EV charging is extra and also in their house manual that it is extra. Others may say it is not available as there are charging stations nearby. In FL, I asked a host and he declined and referred me to a charging station but it took me 40 minutes sitting in an empty parking lot near a park to charge up for my rental. Another time it took 30 minutes at an electrify America charging station. In the future I’d only rent an electric car if I found a listing that offers EV charging as it was something I had to plan into my day of traveling/sightseeing and attending a seminar.

[John5097]

@Lynn2137 

It would depend on how much they drive their car. 

The wall outlet would just charge slower and would just take it longer to recharge the battery but would end up using the same amount of electricity as a 220 volt L2 charger. 

I did some research and asked a group of EV owners the same question, how much to charge for guest to charge their EV, and vast majority all thought it should be included in the nightly rate and downvoted me for even asking, with every excuse about how it would increase booking rates etc. (I'm already booked and only a one bedroom listing)  

My concern would be the plug, outlet, or electric panel (breaker) overheating and becoming a fire hazard. 

Plugs get lose over time and drawing the max current 24/7 just ins't a good idea. That's what a space heater does for example and why we read about so many in the news.

For EV charging I would have a dedicated charger installed by a professional.

A EV charger caused a fire in a professional athletes home last year. It was a L2 charger but had a plug and not hardwired straight to the breaker panel. It was a Tesla also so probably a really fast charger, but it's the plug that often overheats, and Tesla recommends not using a plug and wiring it directly to the breaker in the panel.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/nfl-star-family-survive-house-085409578.html 

Hope that helps. Moving forward you might want to lock that outlet and not have a plug near the parking area. 


* I would ask them how much they exact to use, they will know, and hopefully being honest. I would also only allow it during the daytime while everyone is awake and not at night.

Or just not bring it up and mention it in their review. That they used power to charge their car, and moving forward suggest renting listings that have EV chargers.  

I have a legal STR and the fire department doesn't allow any extension cords to be used at all in the listing. 

[Lynn2137]

Thanks @John5097,

This is very helpful.  I will call my local fire department to see about possible fire danger.

If it is indeed a risk, I may have to ask them to stop using it.  We have quite a few outdoor outlets, rather than

lock I think I will just add no EV access, no charging.

I have contacted my electric company.  They are going to give me a reading in one week to get an idea of 

usage.  My concern is that they are here for a month.

Thanks again,

Lynn