Then I don’t think an EV is really practical
I have a Fiat 500E with 140 miles of range. My commute is 15 miles each day. I can go a whole week without charging and likely more. I didn’t even bother with an L2. Household plug charges fine, although slow, but 12 hours on a charger gets me a good boost.
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Yeah I had nem 2 in my old house which is great for EV. Just moved to new house and can’t get solar at nem 2 anymore. Nem 3 is a lot more questionable roi wise. Pge even during off peak is 30-40 cents due to delivery charges.
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Our usage is similar, it’s do-able without installing level 2 charger at home, however the installation price is just worth it for my convenience. Even with level 2 charger at home, sometimes the wife just forgot to plug it overnight.
Have L2 in both homes, just that without NEM2 solar EV don’t really save much money vs gas cars.
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This. 
It’s not “free” if you have to go find the charger, go during off hours, etc. Zero point zero percent chance I’d own an EV without home charging. The convenience of having a charged vehicle any morning I enter the garage is a huge benefit of ownership.
Also echo the above poster — home charging means a basic level 2. I’d be nuts trying to live with level 1, and you are getting scammed if someone says you must spend $3k+ on getting level 2 in your garage. Get another quote.
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I think most electric companies in California have EV plans, where night charging is super cheap. I’m on SDG&E TOU-EV5 and from 12-6am weekdays and 12a-2p weekends, electricity is like 0.15/kwh. You’d be a fool to use a standard electric plan here with home charging.
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This is 100% dependent on if you have solar (with batteries and what NEM you are on) and if you need to charge your EV every night.
TOU/EV may actually be more expensive for some people.
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Not necessarily. May not work for you but works for some people.
Depending on their needs the thought of installing L2 shouldn’t deter them from getting an EV.
I’ve owned 8-10 ev cars in the last 10yrs while living in a condo in NYC. I would not get another EV currently without proper charging access because even though we have more chargers, we have more ev cars as well with drivers who do not charge them properly. The rate to charge has went up 300% plus I faced parking lots that are pay to enter. Secondly, insurance premium on EVs is much higher.
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it was easier in 2015 to 2020 period because there was not as much competition for EV charging in the office.
Right now I have to do a lot more home charging because I EV chargers are full at work. I would rather pay for charging at home than drive to a public charger and waste my time.
So for my personal situation, I would not buy EVs now if didn’t have access to home charging.
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The only situation I can think of where you wouldn’t sign up, is if your charging is a very small percentage of your overall electricity usage. Since the regular time rates are a bit higher.
I only charge my truck like once per week on average. Combine with shifting some of the heavier electric usage to cheap hours (delayed start dishwasher, washer and dryer), I’m basically paying the same as I did last year without an EV.
The NEM 2.0 helps, as even my little 2 kw solar array is generating that sweet 0.60/kwh nectar. But it’s not much higher than the regular plan rate of ~0.50/kwh.
If you have south-facing(or even worse east-facing) solar and are grandfathered into a non-TOU rate plan, that’s a scenario where you wouldn’t want to give that plan up for an EV-TOU plan that gives you cheap rates overnight. In that scenario you want your electric rate to be highest during the hours of peak solar production which are generally going to be 10am - 2pm(or earlier if east-facing).
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There are far more scenarios than what you listed where you would not sign up for a TOU or EV plan with cheaper overnight charging, but as you noted your use must be low with a small solar array and NEM 2.0 for your rates. SDG&E, PG&E and SCE all have different rate structures but they are similar. This guy knows it:
One common example is If you have a large and all-electric house, a few EVs, a much larger solar array than 2kw and NEM 1.0, then your rate choices look much different than yours when you look at E1 vs. TOU and EV - for example:
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Yeah, lots of misinformation and assumptions out there about solar, EVs and pretty much everything else! Always be very careful what internet “advice” you are following on someone’s single use case applying to every other situation out there without accounting for variables and your own issues.
So the answer to the original question: maybe!
@Iceman3568 can you be more specific about what city you live in? We might be able to give you some more feedback based on lived experience as apartment dwellers here in California.
Depends on how many miles you drive daily.. used a lightning f150 for an year on L1port..
I wanted to add my perspective here. In the summer of 2022 my partner and I were considering an EV to replace her car, but were nervous because we live in an Apartment/Condo complex and do not have access to charging at home. I thought charging at home or work would be necessary.
Now almost 3 years later we have two EV’s (Chevrolet and Hyundai), no ICE vehicles and still cannot charge at home or work. We’re found that our town has 4 locations within quick walking distance of us that provide free Level 2 charging. If we need to charge fast or if we’re taking a trip, there are Tesla Superchargers and an EVgo station a couple of miles down the road.
We’re pretty lucky and it may not work out this way for everyone, but it works for us. Outside of my own home, I have family members that only have a regular outlet at home, charging at like 1.7kW, and that’s fine for them, because they rarely drive more than 50 miles in a day and their range is 250. When their car is home, its plugged in.
Here in California, with high electricity rates and free charging perks going away, EVs won’t be as attractive.
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In a newer house, you can DYI for under $200, but if you live in an older house and need to upgrade to a 200+ amp service your quote can easily get to that.