How Much Does FREE Charging Station Access Make In Your Decision To Go Electric Vs. Staying With Gasoline Power?

None. Does not overcome range anxiety

With 300+ miles of range on some cars, I can't imagine anyone having anxiety with their commute.

300 miles is a limit that means I cannot do my normal Thursday drive.

@SJD. How many Americans can pay $40K for a commuter car when they can get a fuel efficient ICE car for roughly half of that? How many use their vehicle for more than commuting where range and recharging time become issues. You live in a bubble with many 6 figure high tech workers that can afford things the majority of Americans cannot.

Bubble yes, but $40k with no maintenance for 4 years and very low cost of fuel translates to $34-35k or so, which is the average sales price for a car these days.

Also, the Model 3 is far from a commuter car. If you need to travel more than 300 miles, you can charge 100 miles in a little as 7 minutes. Even MD has to eat or pee at some point on the drive. Is it worth paying a ton more for gas to not stop? Maybe, but if you can barely afford a $35-40k car, you can probably afford a pit stop at a charging station to save $20-50 a trip.

None. Unless and until recharge is as fast as filling a gas tank, an EV is not a viable option for me.

If you're paying for charging, AND you have to wait 45 min, then what's the freaking point of an EV? I don't have time to wait around when I can just esily fill my gas or diesel tank and be on my way!

And as Tesla sells more cars, there are going to be ever longer waits at their Superchargers.

I can fill my tank up at Costco much more quickly.

Or you can simply plug in your car at home like a cell phone, on a normal outlet, which is more than enough juice for most commutes. You'll likely see chargers at your work in the near future, which for me is way more convenient than getting gas even if it takes all day (who cares when you're in the office anyway).

"And as Tesla sells more cars, there are going to be ever longer waits at their Superchargers."

99% of the time, there is no wait in the Bay Area when I check nearby Superchargers. More cars are being added, but new Superchargers are almost twice as fast and Teslas can utilize all of the other major networks coming online like EVGo. Now there are 40 Superchargers in the Bay Area and they have up to 40 outlets. There is one in San Jose at a popular shopping and entertainment center that has 36 Supercharger stalls AND 25 free destination chargers (slower, but free).

There is no such thing as FREE. Snap out of it or abandon the liberal fake philosophy.

This wasn't really a factor for me. When I got the Model S, I charged it at home and cut my $350-400/mo gas bill down to $50 in extra electricity each month. Around the time I got the Model 3, every office building on the street got 4 free charging stations. I didn't use them for a while since connecting an adapter was an extra 10 second hassle over plugging in at home. When I realized I only had to charge the Model 3 every 3 or 4 days, I caved and now only use the free station versus charging at home. I've used a Supercharger once, and that was on a 4 hour drive.

There is no such thing as "free".

And how long does anyone seriously think “Free” charging will last? It will disappear when government bureaucrats need to recoup the lost revenue from reduced usage of gasoline. Don’t think that a mileage tax won’t accompany that as well.

There’s another issue that isn’t talked about, the cost for dealerships service departments to handle EVs, it’s not like they can just pull them onto a lift a few feet away from a gasoline powered car. Never mind the fact of finding techs that like working in a “Quarantine Zone”.

Like most things mandated by save the world bureaucrats it’s not well thought out without consideration of potential consequences. What’s the municipal cost to install charge access for on street parking? Anyone want to guess what the cost is going to be to maintain proper working stations in high crime areas? Think what public phone booths were like in those areas. Unless they next go all in for Wardenclyffe Towers dotting the country, which is somehow different than the high voltage power lines they protest.

"FREE" is provided as an incentive either to employees of a company or to patronize a business, has nothing to do with government subsidies. Most people in the country have free parking at their nearest supermarket, same thing. Businesses could charge for parking, but it is an incentive to visit the store versus another store.

There's little free charging around my usual driving destinations. The only one I've used is at a nearby hospital after both of my daughters had multiple visits there. Beyond that, I've used pay sites a few times (mostly Chargepoint). EVGo isn't big here in the Seattle area yet.

But did free charging have any impact on my decision to get a PHEV? None whatsoever. I figured that if I ever had access to a free site, it'd just be a nice add-on. Moving from an Outback 3.6R to a Niro PHEV I've reduced my gasoline consumption by 80%, and only added about $10-15 per month to my electric bill. And switching to a PHEV hasn't altered the places I go at all, although I have altered my driving style a touch to improve my EV range. I don't hyper-mile drive, so not driving under the limit or things like that. Just more coasting/regen if traffic permits, and slower acceleration so the ICE doesn't fire up.

The charging stations I've seen are all open to the elements. In Colorado you can sit in your cold car while you recharge for 45 minutes. Enjoy the foot of snow that's going to fall on your car and the complete lack of conveniences available at gas stations. I love to drive and stopping to get gas is an opportunity to stretch my legs get a coffee or snack and get on the road again.....in 10 minutes.

Most of the superchargers are close to stores, restaurants, restrooms, etc. Some of the nicer ones have lounges with free coffee and in cities they are now being put inside of parking structures. Heating is also a rounding error for battery usage, if you're in Colorado charging you're not going to be sitting there in a cold car.

Time is money. Waiting 40+ min, or even longer if the stalls are occupied, is not appealing to me. As for charging at home, yes I can do that, but it would mean a couple thousand to install the charger and a long run from my main panel. Considering you're overpaying for the Tesla anyways, I don't see how you're saving any money. And you're most definitely not saving any time at all.