Charging at apartment with 110V at MAX rate

Is plugging into an outlet without permission the same as steeling gas? Lol

 

unless the outlet is there for the use of the apartment dwellers. plugging your car in is no different than any other use.

 

The problem with asking is the first answer is "NO". No thought or work involved.
You need the car, the apartment is rented to supply your needs. If you make sure you are plugging in safely there should be no problem doing so.

As two posters above have stated, even on "MAX" a 15 Amp circuit should have no problem supplying the charge.
A few caveats.
First, if you have voltage drop through the extension cord the current may increase to compensate, though my understanding is the Prime charger controls the current to be at the "MAX" rating only, and voltage drop will just increase the charge time, so there should be no problem. It's power that you are putting into the battery times the time, and power is volts times amps, drop one and power drops requiring more time.
Circuit breakers that you find in housing are rather "cheap" devices. They are designed to trip instantly if the current exceeds some value, usually at least double their rating (in case of a short or fault on the line). They will also trip after some time based on heat being generated internally, to protect against "resistive faults". At their rated trip value most of them will operate for hours before tripping.
There have been some problems with housing circuit breakers, design faults mostly. Some need to be "cycled" once in a while to remain reliable (once a year for example), some just fail and explode and burn, overloaded or not! How wonderful! This is why they are in steel boxes, and those boxes are supposed to not be surrounded by flammable materials (not "hidden" behind flammable curtains for example).
All extension cords and even the building wiring WILL heat up a bit when current is put through them. It's the amount that is important. If the cord just feels warm, you are probably ok. If it feels "hot", you probably need a heavier gauge (smaller number). Coiling the cord can cause the heat to build up (more heat in smaller area means less air cooling). It's best to avoid tight coiling of extra cord length. Hanging it in air works well to avoid heat buildup. The heat can get high enough to melt the plastic insulation in extreme cases. You don't want that!

DO find out where your "breaker box" is, and DO make sure the breaker you are on can supply the current you are asking for. If you do this no landlord can reasonably fault you for endangering the building and occupants. If your apartment is not on a separate meter (you pay the power bill) then you are obligated to inform the landlord and you should offer to pay for the extra power for your car.

 

Costs is not so much the issue, it’s safety and more so liability, so you inform mgt. and get their OK for your own protection. Or, continue on and hope for the best. Some Prii renters have gotten together with Mgt. and had a L2 charger installed, on a cost share basis.

 

Cost is not the issue, liability is, both you and Mgt. Some Landlords will share the cost of a L2 charger install.
Or you buy, have it installed and then take it with you when you move.

 

I may have a different view but I always think you need to ask permission. Whether it's an apartment complex or a business that has an outlet you can plug into.

Charging the Prime uses a lot more electricity than household items. It's like running in a 1500 Watt space heater for 5 hours straight.

 

i'm agreeing. but if the rules say the renters can use the outlet, there's no need to ask how long you can use it for, or how many amps you can draw.
if they are unhappy, they'll change the rules.

 

As time goes by it will be interesting to see how charging a bunch of electric cars goes with the landlord. If they don't provide a way of charging your electric car the customer will go somewhere that they can. They will be forced to put in the infrastructure but they will drag their feet. New construction may be proactive if they think even a few years ahead and plan for the extra electrical draw on the utilities.

 

Some articles on this issue:

Palo Alto speeds ahead with new electric-vehicle requirements | News | Palo Alto Online |

San Francisco plans to require that all new buildings and parking be ‘100% electric vehicle ready’ | Electrek

How electric-car owners in condos can get their HOAs to OK charging stations

In CA, Renters Can Now Install Electric-Car Charging Stations

Electric-car chargers a must outside new apartments and stores, Boca proposes - Sun Sentinel

 

Someone is thinking ahead. Living in Indiana is like living in a third world country, nothing ever changes especially minds.

 

How many dwelling rentals or leases go into this level of detail? None that I ever encountered, but those were long ago.

It if isn't within your dwelling unit, and if like most cases it isn't spelled out in the contract or agreement, then ask first.

 

Charging a vehicle is a big difference from what would be considered "normal usage". If I were the owner of the dwelling, I would most definitely charge for it's usage if charging a vehicle is what is was being used for.

I disagree with this as well. We're not perfect, but thankfully we're not in the Peoples Republic of California.

 

Hmmmm....
Lots of opinions here, and since nobody asked me....I'll pile on.


1. Most apartments are individually metered for electricity. The fact that the OP stated that " I live in apartment building, hence can only drop down wire to charge at 110V. suggests (to me , at least) that they're using an outlet from their apartment....hopefully something like an exterior outlet that's GCFI protected.
If the OP is taking pains to use THEIR outlet to charge THEIR car, then I see no need to involve management, ASSUMING that there's no physical hazard with the extension cord, and that it does not detract from the attractiveness of the surroundings.
It's been a long time since I did the communal living thing, and people have wildly varying opinions on what they consider to be a nuisance, but in the absence of complaints, threatening notes, cold stares, cut cords or key art etc......I'd be tempted to let sleeping dogs lie.
As long as it's not on the extension cord....

2. Stealing electricity is much MUCH worse than stealing gas because the gas burners of the world have already established their reputation. The EV community still has a little rudder input on how the world will view them, and you never get a second chance to make a first impression.... Gas thieves are just thieves.

3. I'm not a Prime driver, and I do not play one on TV, but the googles inform me that With the 120volt EVSE, the maximum draw is 12 amps, or about what a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer will draw.
This is not an insubstantial load, but you should be FINE pulling 12a through a 50' 12AWG extension cord hanging off of a GCFI protected outlet.
Somewhere in the apartment there's going to be a circuit breaker panel, and the individual breaker that's supplying the outlet in question should be labeled (usually on the door of the breaker panel) for location and for capacity ("15" = 15 amps and so on...) All of my branch circuits are 20A, but my house was built back before LED bulbs, and Energy Star ratings.
Otherwise you can find out by turning off likely breakers until the outlet is de-energized. Sometimes you can plug a radio into the outlet to help figure things out. After that you can monitor the breaker from time to time to see if it's getting heat stressed.
Then?
You begin to answer basic questions like what else is on the circuit in question and how many amps that it's rated for.

4. If drawing a 12-amp load for 5 hours through an electrical outlet is a problem, then it's a different kinda 'prime' problem, and I would not sleep under that roof again until somebody explained to me why this is so!
Owning an EV does not have to be this hard.
Most properly wired US electrical outlets are rated to supply.........wait for it...........12 ampres (amps) for an indefinite (long) period of time.
AND......
Most 'lectric cars in the US (PHEV, EREV, BEV, EIEIO) draw a maximum of.....about.......12 ampres (amps).
This is NOT a coincidence.
Furthermore, the people at Toyota, Nissan, GM, etc planned for the possibility that somebody would try to use their 200-foot-long 25-year-old Christmas Tree extension cord that only has two nicked places covered by masking tape to charge their car.

Good Luck!

 

Yeah, I agree with this. I guess I was thinking of apartments around here. Metered individually, but those in the parking lot are not and are for "General purposes" available to all such as running a small vacuum to clean your car once in awhile.

 

Except here in Edmonton, where about half the outlets in parking lots are switched on/off every half hour or so, the other half run off breakers for each individual apartment. They do not switch, unless the renter switches the breaker. They are for "block heaters". Which consume from 200W to about 1000W. The 200W ones are the new useless Toyota units.
When you park at work there is often an outlet for a "block heater". They almost always switch on/off every 30 min or so.

 

if you are using your own electricity, there's nothing to ask. i was thinking you were using an outside outlet on the building or in the parking area.

the circuit breakers should be on a wall in your apartment, often near the kitchen area. they are sometimes painted the same color as the wall, and might not be noticeable. ask maintenance if you can't find the cover.

sounds to me like you're good to go at max amps.

 

Unless there is a tripping hazard or electrical hazard. Years ago I lived in an apartment with a rented carport. I could see charging your car from a rented carport, the rest of the parking spots were not reserved. Not to worry, someone will complain and that's when the fight started.

 

If the outlet is within your apartment unit, then there is no reasonable risk that you are sharing the circuit with someone or something else that will be impacted if you trip the breaker. (If a circuit in your unit is shared unbeknownst to you, then no-one has reasonable cause to blame you. Blame goes to the building owner / facility manager.)

This need for permission applies to circuits and outlets outside your unit, in areas shared with or common to other tenants, or intended for use by the facility operators instead of the tenants. The bulk of EV charging at apartments is from such outside-of-unit connections.

 

Aren't most block heater outlets set up to run multiple block heaters per circuit? As such, they could handle a single EV per circuit, but not two EVs.