20amp 240 for home charging???

[Mod3forMe]

About 2 feet from where I park I have 20amp 240 plug. I am tempted to just buy the adapter and use this as my charger when I need a home charge. I drive about 60 miles most days so overnight I should be able to top up my car easily.

I have a charging station at work (but spend as much time out of the office as in it). I have a super charger 5min for house and have lots of other charging options the places I visit.

The places I visit/my office offer free charging, so obviously home charging should be my last resort. Of course home charging is the most convenient and reliable.

 

[P85_DA]

Not sure how cold it gets in ur area .. but winter you may find that not good enough

 

[Kuhz]

It will be sufficient to cover your daily needs and like you said if you need more the SC is right there. What you will notice (if this is your first EV) is the unbeatable convenience of home charging. You won’t need to plug in everywhere and anywhere every time you stop because that gets tiring quickly. In either case looks like you are good to go!

 

[Mod3forMe]

It does get below freezing, but it does get cold. How much does that effect charging?

 

[Kermee]

It does get below freezing, but it does get cold. How much does that effect charging?

If the battery is "cold soaked", the 4kW you get out of a 20A/240V plug (16A @ 240V) may take much longer to charge. It'll be using all that energy initially to warm up the battery enough to the point where it's safe to charge, or charge at higher speeds. How long that takes, we're not quite sure yet for the Model 3.

Since you're around a ton of available charging solutions though, you're probably fine.

 

[eprosenx]

Normally I am in the camp of "you want the max charge ability available to cover the unforeseen". I personally installed a Wall Connector on a 60a circuit for this reason. My car charges in about an hour to an hour fifteen minutes every day to recover from the daily commute (~30 miles).

But since you have so many other charging options around and you already have a 20a 240v receptacle, then I see no harm in giving it a shot to see how it goes. If you decide you need something better, then you can always upgrade later.

The comments about cold weather are worth considering. The battery needs to be warmed up in order to charge it safely and so on just a 20a circuit it may take all of or nearly all of that current just to heat and maintain the battery temperature if your garage/parking area is cold.

What kind of charging you install is a very personalized decision. Everyone has different needs / desires / financial willingness to spend.

I have on several occasions driven to work on a Friday, driven home, packed the family up, and then headed out on a road trip to destinations that don't require supercharging as long as I start with a full battery. So I have appreciated my ability to charge at the full 48a while at home packing up the family. I don't like my car forcing a stop anywhere to charge/supercharge. If driving the EV is annoying I will just take one of our ICE vehicles instead (thus far we have taken the M3 on all our trips since we got it). ;-)

 

[Mod3forMe]

Thanks guys. I like the idea of giving it a try.

 

[TexasEV]

The places I visit/my office offer free charging, so obviously home charging should be my last resort. Of course home charging is the most convenient and reliable.

No, it’s not obvious that home charging should be your last resort. Your next sentence says why. Unless you live in California, home charging is incredibly inexpensive in addition to being the most convenient and reliable. Plugging in when you visit places will get old quickly, and you never know when other EVs will be using it. Same goes for most workplace charging. There’s nothing like waking up every morning to a full (90%) charge. That should be everyone’s first resort if they have a garage, not their last resort.

 

[Rocky_H]

It does get below freezing, but it does get cold. How much does that effect charging?

240V 20A should be enough power level to eventually charge, but here's the effect you would see: It may just use that energy to heat the battery for some time, like an hour, before it will send energy into actually doing any charging of the battery. So what might normally be a 5 hour overnight charge in warmer temperatures can turn into longer times, like 6-ish hours in the cold.

 

[thelastdeadmouse]

I live in far northern NY, north of where the great lakes keep the weather a little warmer and humid in the winter, so its very Canada like here. I just upgraded from charging off a 110v socket to the ClipperCreek 240v 20amp charger I'd used for my Volt in the past. Once it gets going it charges at a rate of 18 rated miles / hr. Assuming you're going to be parked for only 8 hours overnight, even if it takes 2.5 hours to warm up the battery when you plug in you're still going to get almost 100 miles a night. In the winter that'll probably be good for your 60 mile average.

If you have a particularly cold week or happen to have several days in a row with longer than average driving, you may need to hit up the supercharger on the rare occasion, but I think it'd probably serve you well the majority of the time. I'll find out along side you this winter.

 

[ewoodrick]

Just get the adapter and enjoy the car, shouldn't be a problem.

If for some reason, it isn't satisfactory, then you can always spend money later.

The only thing that I can suggest is getting a second mobile adapter. It's nice not having to unplug from the wall (and keeps from wearing the plug out).

 

[Rocky_H]

The only thing that I can suggest is getting a second mobile adapter. It's nice not having to unplug from the wall (and keeps from wearing the plug out).

Most people don't unplug their mobile cable every day. It's rare to drive over 200 miles around your town in your regular use in a day. And even if you did need to charge during the day, it wouldn't be from an outlet, which is the only way the mobile cable is used. Superchargers or public charge stations don't use that cable.

 

[TexasEV]

The only thing that I can suggest is getting a second mobile adapter. It's nice not having to unplug from the wall (and keeps from wearing the plug out).

As @Rocky_H said, keep the UMC plugged in and hanging on the wall. Tens of thousands of Model S and X owners have done this for years. There is no reason to unplug and take it with you unless you're going on a road trip. Even then you probably won't use it, but good to have for emergencies. There are no conceivable emergencies that would require you to use a UMC with routine daily driving!

 

[Jedi2155]

Plugging / unplugging regularly wears out the socket (not so much the plug) so if you do this regularly, then definitely consider a second one for mobile use than regularly doing it.

 

[Mod3forMe]

I live in far northern NY, north of where the great lakes keep the weather a little warmer and humid in the winter, so its very Canada like here. I just upgraded from charging off a 110v socket to the ClipperCreek 240v 20amp charger I'd used for my Volt in the past. Once it gets going it charges at a rate of 18 rated miles / hr. Assuming you're going to be parked for only 8 hours overnight, even if it takes 2.5 hours to warm up the battery when you plug in you're still going to get almost 100 miles a night. In the winter that'll probably be good for your 60 mile average.

If you have a particularly cold week or happen to have several days in a row with longer than average driving, you may need to hit up the supercharger on the rare occasion, but I think it'd probably serve you well the majority of the time. I'll find out along side you this winter.

I am in the part of Canada, that is not very "Canada Like". Out here on the West Coast we don't have any month with average low below freezing. Think Seattle or Portland weather.

 

[Mod3forMe]

Thanks all for the great advice. I think I will get things a go for a while with what I have. I have so many charging options that I shouldn't have any big issue.

The other thing I guess for me to consider is there has been a government program in my area to pay $750 toward installing an EV charger in a home to promote clean vehicles. It has been fully spent for this year, but If I hold off long enough it will be back.

 

[eprosenx]

Thanks all for the great advice. I think I will get things a go for a while with what I have. I have so many charging options that I shouldn't have any big issue.

The other thing I guess for me to consider is there has been a government program in my area to pay $750 toward installing an EV charger in a home to promote clean vehicles. It has been fully spent for this year, but If I hold off long enough it will be back.

Oh gosh, yes, in this case I would hold out and then install a Wall Connector as soon a second it comes back. Without question. I love my wall connector.