Hey y’all. I’ve been thinking over getting a new car and think I’m in the right spot for a full EV.The first problem I thought I might encounter was charging but there are so many more charging locations than 2-3 years ago. I live in the Baltimore - Washington DC area and have a good about of local charging. I go across the river to Virginia to visit family and see a fair amount of charging stations there as well.
Me and my wife are going to this event to see the cars in person. The misses like the i4 the most. If anything I’ll just eat the free food and drinks and have a decent afternoon out of the house. BMW i4 and iX Premiere Night Tickets, Wed, Apr 6, 2022 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite
Have a good time, tell us what you find out about the Beemer i4. I’m curious.
If you get one, make sure you get the optional turn signals, so many BMW owners opt out - just kidding! 
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It also seems that a huge percentage of BMW drivers are unaware of “no-tailgating” regulations. 
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In the Baltimore/DC area most drivers opt out. If you. Use turn signals to change lanes, it’s often considered a challenge and the guy in the next lane over races to fill the spot you want to move into. It’s not as bad as it used to be, but I still see it.
@EVxDriver, you probably qualify for the federal tax credit, and there might be a tax break in your state. If you live in MD, there is a tax credit for installing a home charger.
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Folks in my area report pretty good results w/the Tesla Model 3 fwiw. Seems to be very reliable, not that much to break, no radiator hoses to spring a leak etc, and they never have to visit a gas station. The biggest downside they tell me is that the best place to recharge is at their work-place (many San Jose area employers allow the employees free charges), but b/c of the pandemic they work at home. They don’t have home charging equipment, so they have to drive their cars to their office parking lot to recharge then either walk back home if nearby or a family member drives another car to take them back home.
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Google Tesla 3 cooling system, it’s pretty complex.
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How often do “work at home” people need to recharge the EV battery? There are many shopping areas that have charge stations.
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The Kia Niro EV owner I know says he usually can go several days without needing to charge but has a charger at home (owned EV’s since the early days). More charger’s around town than there were a couple years ago. Some free for up to 2hrs.
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+1
A few days ago, I was at the Menlo Park Mall after a long absence. There has been a bunch of Tesla charging stations there for several years, but I noticed that there are now even more EVgo charging stations, very close to the Tesla chargers. I believe that the EVgo chargers are “generic”, unlike the Tesla chargers.
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I’ve been lookiong at chargehub.com which will show all the public chargers in your given area and which specific plugs they’re compatible with. You can usually check in another city you’re planning to travel to.
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Thanks for that information. I didn’t know that the tax credit covered at home chargers installation.
I have seen a variation in the size of the charging stations too. Smaller shopping plazas may have between one and three usually not tesla but a mall will have l like 10 and usually, those are the tesla chargers. Maybe that is just my area.
Yesterday, I decided to do my hiking at Duke Farms, the former estate of Doris Duke. Even though it is very close to my home, I hadn’t been there for a couple of years, and I noticed that there is preferential parking for EVs and hybrid vehicles, adjacent to the preferential parking for handicapped drivers.
Then, I noticed that there are two Charge Point Level 2 charging stations, free for the use of people who visit. Sure enough, a guy drove up in his Chevy Volt, hooked it up to the charging station, and then he joined me for a hike through that estate. In addition to fine art, Ms. Duke had a strong commitment to the environment, and her charitable foundation seems to be doing its best to fulfill her goals.
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Similar variation in the size of charging stations here, More in front of the Wal-Mart across town but the one next to Target close by has 8 Chargers operated by Electrify America. Go to the mall right across from Target and there’s at least 2 chargers at each entrance that are free for 2hrs. Tesla charging was only at a couple hotels not that long ago, with all the Model3’s in town there are Tesla chargers at some shopping centers.
The first Tesla chargers that I noticed are placed at a Panera restaurant located on US Route 1. I think that there are 6 charging stations there, and it seems that at least 3 of them are always being used.
In Vienna Virginia there is a Wawa station with no fuel pumps, just about a dozen charging stations and a convenience store.
That’s not uncommon with Wawa’s to be just a convenience station with no pumps. I know of a few scattered around my area, and one in Sea Isle City NJ.
When it was just the Model S and Model X we would see Tesla’s visit from the Seattle area and there was demand at a couple hotel’s for charging but we didn’t get a public Tesla charger until sometime in 2021. I’ve seen several using the one’s in front of the Wal Mart which is located right off I-5 so more of a destination than the chargers on this side of town further from a highway.