[WBF25]

I have been interested in an EV for some time. Have an opportunity to lease a 2022 ID4 Pro at a great price with both federal and state incentives (We live in Southern NJ) but need some advise. My wife and I are retired, she’s 71 and I’m 67 and we are unable to home charge. The closest Electrify America public station is only 5 minutes from our home. My wife is really against getting an EV due to charging times, etc. we only have one vehicle so this would be our primary car. Does it make sense to move forward with getting the ID4 or is my wife right that it’s not practical for us? Thanks for any advice as I’m really struggling with this decision.

It’s probably going to come down to how often you would need to charge and if the location is convenient for doing other things, like errands or grabbing a cup of coffee or something. Since it’s a lease, I wouldn’t worry much about battery degradation due to exclusive DCFC, especially if you don’t charge it to 100% and leave it that high.

Also I’m assuming you’re aware that you can charge the car (slowly) with a 120V outlet, but just wanted to mention it because if you’re not driving a ton each day that can probably recoup the miles you drive.

 

[WBF25]

Thank you for your advice. The charging stations are in a Walmart parking lot (9 total stations with 1 at 350kw and the others a mix of 150 and 50kw) which is also close to other stores and restaurants. Our problem with home charging is that our parking is not close to our home but rather the parking lot in our development. I’d have to run an extension cord from our home out to the parking lot. Could do that but the cord would cross the three other condos next to ours (we are the farthest from our parking space). The ID4 is due at the dealership sometime in August so I wanted to get as much advice as I can before I have to make a decision.

Yeah, definitely sounds like home charging is currently not feasible for you. Could be worth mentioning to whoever runs the property that you’re getting an EV to see if maybe someday with enough interest they’d install some L2 chargers in the parking lot.

 

[WBF25]

Also check your local hospitals you might end up at. Alot of them probably have at least L2 chargers already. You can search via plugshare app or their website. We just got a Bolt EUV and we are waiting for the free L2 install so in the meantime we are just charging at free DCFC stations very doable especially with the faster charging rates of the ID4 . I placed an order for the ID4 a week ago and test drove it yesterday. It's a nicer car than my EUV but I was a little shocked by the lack of rear seat legroom compared to the EUV. We have two child seats and the space looks to be about the same as our rx350. The EUV just has a shockingly spacious interior for the size.

The EUV is certainly tempting. Interesting to hear it has more rear leg room than the ID.4. If it had more cargo space than it does I might go for one, but it seems a bit tight. How has it been working out for you - we currently have one little one, so similar boats there?

 

[WBF25]

So two kids are fine. We went from CR-V to RX350 to EUV. 1 kid is definitely doable just setup the seat on the 40 side of the folding seat and you can flip down the 60 if you need to carry anything. The cargo area can hold 5 packs of Costco tp with the seats up surprisingly. It also comes with a L2 charger for free from the factory and free install of the level 2 plug. It was supposed to replace my Volt but my wife likes driving it better than our Lexus rx350 probably because of Apple car play. That's a picture of two chunky car seats installed and it's adjusted for me 5'10" driving position. No power lift gate or memory seats which kinda sucks but heated and ventilated seats which is really nice in So.Cal summers. The one pedal driving will bring the euv to a stop unlike the id4 and the regen on demand paddle is great when you are driving on the freeway. We are getting 4.4 miles per kwh which is outstanding and 33% more efficient than the id4 but much smaller vehicle. The fast charger is not as fast as ID.4 but it hasn't been a huge inconvenience as there are free fast charger near our routine routes. I feel like the battery can easily beat the factory rating of 247 miles because the guess o meter routinely says we have 260 miles range on an 80% battery. I think the battery has been upgraded but just not officially announced. Regular bolt owners that got the replacement battery have noticed increased range as well. If you can find one at msrp I'd consider it. My brother found a dealer in San Jose that was msrp back in June and we both bought our EUVs there. Drove it down to LA and only charged once for an hour. Going down the grapevine was fun watching all the range getting added back to the battery. $30k well equipped with 247 range is tough to beat. Oh there's an Uber driver discount for $2k as well on the bolts. Cost me $20 for vehicle inspection and 3 hours of time delivering Uber eats which was a fun experience. Sales person didn't even know about it until I showed him. Was very easy to claim just took screenshots of my Uber driver account and texted it to the sales person when I was doing the paperwork. Takes a while for the Uber driver account to activate so keep that mind took about a week between when I signed up and found time to go driving for a few hours. If you have other questions let me know.

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Thanks for the thorough response! Glad it's working out well for you, I think I'll take a closer look at it now.

 

[WBF25]

Thanks for the response. I'm seeing some issues with the 350w Electrify America chargers that I would be using (these are from user feedback). Finally convinced my wife to go with the ID4 but since it's our only car, I'm still trying to resolve some doubt in my mind over how much time and how often I need to charge. Any thoughts to make me feel better?

The charging time for the ID.4 shouldn't be any different on a fully functional 150kW charger than it would be on a 350kW. It does not have the capability to benefit from the extra Watts available to it. Maybe the 150kW chargers near you seem to be working better?
Assuming 200 miles a week, you'd probably need to charge once a week for 45 minutes or so, depending on the charger. In the winter your range will drop a bit, so you may be charging closer to every 150 miles.

 

[WBF25]

Yes, the 150kW appear to be fully functional and reliable at that location (it's in a Walmart parking lot in Somerdale, NJ which is only 5 minutes from my condo. I cannot charge at home unfortunately). The charging time is just the one thing I keep pouring over in my mind. I'm retired so I certainly have the time to do it, it's just having to get used to going from gas to electric. Thanks.

Yeah, it definitely will be an adjustment. Could turn it into part of your weekly routine - use the time you're charging to plan groceries, catch up on news or your favorite sports team, watch a show, do some crosswords, go have a cup of coffee somewhere close by, or take a stroll around Walmart.
Worth keeping in mind that in a pinch you could probably get an Uber to go somewhere if you needed to.