# How to Charge your Tesla for FREE (Might be region specific)



## Dynamite647 (Mar 3, 2021)

or the potential buyers or for those who have already purchased a Tesla or any other EV you can in some cases charge your car for free using public stations. In video below I have shown the Chargepoint stations and depending on location it will either give you 2 or 4 hour of FREE charging.






These stations are located at most offices and malls (at least here in Toronto). All you need is the Chargepoint card or app, you just plugin the car and start charging. You will need the J1172 adapter. The station will let you know when your free session is about to end so you can manage accordingly. The speed on these stations varies but most of the FREE ones are around 6kw/30amp.

I think this is great to charge your car for FREE while shopping, at work or if you are out with friends chilling. This is also useful for those people who might not have a charging setup at home and this is there only option. This is just one example of many stations out there that let you charge for free to a certain degree.


----------



## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

The apps for Chargepoint, Plugshare, and Chargehub among others will lead you to free charging wherever you happen to be in North America. And probably Europe too(I haven't driven there yet!)


----------



## lance.bailey (Apr 1, 2019)

true story, and many malls used to offer free charging. used to. I have noticed a prevalence of "$2/hour" rates on some shopping mall lots which used to be free. like @FRC and many others, i use chargepoint/plugshare/chargehub and so on to filter out freebie ones.

since they all have very similar information I'm thinking of having one of the apps set with filters for freebie, another app set with filters for any j1772 or tesla, another for fast DC - you get the idea.


----------



## Feathermerchant (Sep 17, 2018)

There are places that give away free gasoline too.
Just kidding. So you buy a $50K car and can't pay $6 for a charge?
I think this is silly.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Feathermerchant said:


> So you buy a $50K car and can't pay $6 for a charge?


What kind of logic is this?
If you have the option to charge for free while shopping, why wouldn't you take advantage of it?

Do you also bring your own paid-for bottle of ketchup to McDonalds and forgo the free ketchup packets?


----------



## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

garsh said:


> What kind of logic is this?


Poor logic.


----------



## Feathermerchant (Sep 17, 2018)

I think it is silly to seek out 'free' charging. As Lance said 'used to'. Free charging is just a blip on the radar. A very short blip.
It's like chasing unicorns.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Feathermerchant said:


> It's like chasing unicorns.


Except for the whole "it actually exists, and there are apps to make it easy to find" aspect.


----------



## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

It's not unusual in any way to need charging solutions while road tripping. Oftentimes supercharging is unavailable or inconvenient. At these times alternate solutions are necessary, and why not use a free one?


----------



## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

Feathermerchant said:


> Just kidding. So you buy a $50K car and can't pay $6 for a charge?
> I think this is silly.


In some cities there are shopping malls and offices that charge for convenient close parking. Wouldn't you be willing to walk a little farther to park for free? Or do you use valet parking everywhere you go because when you have a $50k+ car you should never use free parking?

Charging _can_ be the same thing. If you want to top up the battery, why simply grab the first Chargepoint and hope it doesn't charge $2 a minute? It's better if you know where the free ones if possible, or lower priced ones failing that.

But I also wouldn't advise going out in the morning once a week to hunt for free charging so you don't have to pay for electricity, because then the cost of the time wasted doing that "cost" more, and it's frustrating like trying to find gasoline when a hurricane is on the way. It also takes away a charging space that someone might desperately need, as most charging locations only have a few spaces. And if the company that owns the station sees a drastic increase in usage because everyone is pouring in to get free charging when they meant it to be just a few customers a week, that station won't be free for long.


----------



## TrevP (Oct 20, 2015)

Public charging in malls and the like is very much the early days of WIFI: I'll go to that store because they offer free WIFI. 

It's still a bit of the wild west with 2 camps: free to attract customers to a business or paid because the the business doesn't see the advantage and wants to cover their costs but still appear "eco-friendly"


----------



## Dynamite647 (Mar 3, 2021)

Feathermerchant said:


> There are places that give away free gasoline too.
> Just kidding. So you buy a $50K car and can't pay $6 for a charge?
> I think this is silly.


You buy a $50k gasoline car and you still have to pay for Gas. You buy a $50k ev and you can charge for free in most cases.


----------



## Dynamite647 (Mar 3, 2021)

lance.bailey said:


> true story, and many malls used to offer free charging. used to. I have noticed a prevalence of "$2/hour" rates on some shopping mall lots which used to be free. like @FRC and many others, i use chargepoint/plugshare/chargehub and so on to filter out freebie ones.
> 
> since they all have very similar information I'm thinking of having one of the apps set with filters for freebie, another app set with filters for any j1772 or tesla, another for fast DC - you get the idea.


True, most places (at least here in Canada) you get 2 free hours and after that the "Charging" begins lol.


----------



## Madmolecule (Oct 8, 2018)

lance.bailey said:


> true story, and many malls used to offer free charging. used to. I have noticed a prevalence of "$2/hour" rates on some shopping mall lots which used to be free. like @FRC and many others, i use chargepoint/plugshare/chargehub and so on to filter out freebie ones.
> 
> since they all have very similar information I'm thinking of having one of the apps set with filters for freebie, another app set with filters for any j1772 or tesla, another for fast DC - you get the idea.


What is a shopping mall and what would you do there for four hours or so? I have found them much more convenient at microbreweries and hotels. PS hotels should offer charging valet service to move your vehicle once it is charged. It would also free up your car so you could summon it in the morning. Drop your key card off with the front desk and it would be great if the app would text them when it was charged. They would not have to be in a hurry to swap them out and move them. They would not even have to drive your car, they just need to unplug it and press the relocate on the summon app.


----------



## lance.bailey (Apr 1, 2019)

i have kids. shopping malls have become part of life. 

but to be honest, i'm also a people watcher and a browser. airports are equally wonderful for me as I get a great chance to observe **** suburbia in a natural habitat.


----------

