tchavei
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2022
- Threads
- 31
- Messages
- 1,211
- Reaction score
- 1,309
- Location
- Portugal
- Vehicles
- Too many to list. Includes a MY23 Taycan RWD
- Thread starter
- #1
I grew up in a nice family vila with a 3 car garage that was aiways empty. My parents would usually leave their cars on the driveway as it was "easier" and "convenient" then parking the cars inside the garage.
My mother, who was a bit cleaning obsessed, would regularly complain about the house. She would get into one of her middle spring, late spring or whatever spring, summer, fall cleanings and start with the garage and move her way up to the attic. Usually when she got to the attic, the garage was ready to be cleaned again. She always missed her flat. It was "convenient" to clean.
Later in my life, I married and bought a flat (I learned my mother's lesson well) that came with a community garage. Over the years I had to learn that garages weren't always great specially when thieves managed to enter them and felt secure to clean out all cars. My cars never were touched on the street.
So it comes to no surprise, when the time came to move into downtown, me and my wife decided to buy another flat and having a garage wasn't even on our list. We wanted the "convenience" of having everything at close range including kids schools, workplaces, groceries, etc. Owning an EV was, back then, not even a vague consideration.
Moving fast forward to last year, with the gas prices sky rocketing, I started to consider alternatives. EVs suddenly started to look appealing and I fell in love with the Taycan.
At this point, I admit I wouldn't ever had bought a Porsche if it wasn't an EV. I don't mind paying a large sum for something and cry once but I hate throwing money at something every single month. The monthly gas expenses of an ICE Porsche would annoy me and with the gas prices back then, plain suicidal (for me at least).
However, upon inquiring a couple of friends owning EVs, I was told to forget it if I couldn't charge it overnight. Even the first Porsche SA I talked with, when mentioning I didn't have a garage, replied to me with a big "Oh no, what a shame. The Taycan would have been a sweet car for you"...
This was pretty discouraging I admit. I spent several nights thinking that maybe I was crazy. I couldn't have an EV without a garage. I sat down, pulled all data I could about public charging prices, expected ranges, charging times, my usual routines, weekends, etc and "on paper" it looked very doable. My running costs would be still half or less of my diesel car and I probably would only need to charge once or twice a week. What were all these people saying?
Stuborn as I am, I decided to gamble and just buy my dream car. If it would work, fantastic. If it didn't, I would admit defeat and just sell it.
So, today, after exactly two months ownership and 4000km under my belt (almost twice as much as my usual mileage), I want to let everyone, in a similar situation as myself, know that
YES. IT IS POSSIBLE.
Of course it's not like charging at home, don't get fooled but it's not a big deal really. I do have 28 public chargers in close range of my home, 6 of them are 50-60kw DC while the rest is between 2.3kw (don't laugh) and 22Kw AC. There's also a couple 350kw chargers at my local Porsche dealer about 3km from my home. I mostly only use the 50kw ones. That means leaving the car charging for an hour and a half while I go shopping groceries or just sit in it and watch a movie. That's 1h30m of my life, once or twice a week (I usually charge once on Friday evening and maybe once on Sundays evening depending on what I do with the family during the weekend). It's fine. It doesn't bother me too much and it works.
Would I prefer charging at home and wake up every morning with a SoC of 85%? Hell yea... but I can't. However, given my personal circumstances, it's perfectly manageable to live of public charging and I'm lucky it's not much more expensive than charging at home.
Actually, I've been observing other EV owners around here who just plaster their contract card on the charger and go away. Some are totally clueless and are paying 3x more then what they should (I wrote a topic on public charging in Portugal). This probably explains why everyone told me it was a bad idea to not have a garage for an EV cost wise.
Bottom line, if one doesn't have a garage, it's not the end of the world. Do the math. If one saves on operational costs, the range is enough for several days, then there's nothing that should stop one from getting an EV.
Of course, my next home (regardless of flat or, God forbit, a house) will have to have a garage but until then, public charging it is!
Cheers
My mother, who was a bit cleaning obsessed, would regularly complain about the house. She would get into one of her middle spring, late spring or whatever spring, summer, fall cleanings and start with the garage and move her way up to the attic. Usually when she got to the attic, the garage was ready to be cleaned again. She always missed her flat. It was "convenient" to clean.
Later in my life, I married and bought a flat (I learned my mother's lesson well) that came with a community garage. Over the years I had to learn that garages weren't always great specially when thieves managed to enter them and felt secure to clean out all cars. My cars never were touched on the street.
So it comes to no surprise, when the time came to move into downtown, me and my wife decided to buy another flat and having a garage wasn't even on our list. We wanted the "convenience" of having everything at close range including kids schools, workplaces, groceries, etc. Owning an EV was, back then, not even a vague consideration.
Moving fast forward to last year, with the gas prices sky rocketing, I started to consider alternatives. EVs suddenly started to look appealing and I fell in love with the Taycan.
At this point, I admit I wouldn't ever had bought a Porsche if it wasn't an EV. I don't mind paying a large sum for something and cry once but I hate throwing money at something every single month. The monthly gas expenses of an ICE Porsche would annoy me and with the gas prices back then, plain suicidal (for me at least).
However, upon inquiring a couple of friends owning EVs, I was told to forget it if I couldn't charge it overnight. Even the first Porsche SA I talked with, when mentioning I didn't have a garage, replied to me with a big "Oh no, what a shame. The Taycan would have been a sweet car for you"...
This was pretty discouraging I admit. I spent several nights thinking that maybe I was crazy. I couldn't have an EV without a garage. I sat down, pulled all data I could about public charging prices, expected ranges, charging times, my usual routines, weekends, etc and "on paper" it looked very doable. My running costs would be still half or less of my diesel car and I probably would only need to charge once or twice a week. What were all these people saying?
Stuborn as I am, I decided to gamble and just buy my dream car. If it would work, fantastic. If it didn't, I would admit defeat and just sell it.
So, today, after exactly two months ownership and 4000km under my belt (almost twice as much as my usual mileage), I want to let everyone, in a similar situation as myself, know that
YES. IT IS POSSIBLE.
Of course it's not like charging at home, don't get fooled but it's not a big deal really. I do have 28 public chargers in close range of my home, 6 of them are 50-60kw DC while the rest is between 2.3kw (don't laugh) and 22Kw AC. There's also a couple 350kw chargers at my local Porsche dealer about 3km from my home. I mostly only use the 50kw ones. That means leaving the car charging for an hour and a half while I go shopping groceries or just sit in it and watch a movie. That's 1h30m of my life, once or twice a week (I usually charge once on Friday evening and maybe once on Sundays evening depending on what I do with the family during the weekend). It's fine. It doesn't bother me too much and it works.
Would I prefer charging at home and wake up every morning with a SoC of 85%? Hell yea... but I can't. However, given my personal circumstances, it's perfectly manageable to live of public charging and I'm lucky it's not much more expensive than charging at home.
Actually, I've been observing other EV owners around here who just plaster their contract card on the charger and go away. Some are totally clueless and are paying 3x more then what they should (I wrote a topic on public charging in Portugal). This probably explains why everyone told me it was a bad idea to not have a garage for an EV cost wise.
Bottom line, if one doesn't have a garage, it's not the end of the world. Do the math. If one saves on operational costs, the range is enough for several days, then there's nothing that should stop one from getting an EV.
Of course, my next home (regardless of flat or, God forbit, a house) will have to have a garage but until then, public charging it is!
Cheers
Sponsored
My only gripe are the massive amount of tourists. When they start arriving, I'm usually fleeing to somewhere else. 
Hello (from one of those tourist). You live in a lovely location. Thanks for the temporary usage. I hope to return someday and maybe live there for a few months out of the year during retirement.
