Charging at a maximum of 32A with a 60A home charger [Model 3 SR+ in Canada]

[father_of_6]

Okay, so finally got to the bottom of this, and you guys were correct all along. Onboard charger is 32A. Bizarre thing is, I have been dealing with a Tesla rep for the last month and he has been telling me that it will charge at 48 amps. So I have been trying everything including replacing the Chargepoint station. After talking to you guys, I mentioned to him that I was told the onboard charger is 32 amps for the model of car he sold us. Conversation went dark for a few days and when I asked him again, he came back with a big apology and said he somehow overlooked that issue with the model 3 ST+. Bizarre to say the least. As for what I and my electrician saw, it must have been the kilometers I guess. I can’t confirm this at the moment as its my daughters car and its not here. I also asked if I could replace the onboard charger with a 48 version. He said to talk to the service department. Anyone know if thats possible? Where is the onboard charger located? Thanks again for the help, sorry for the confusion.

That's not gonna happen. Service centers are busy enough with repairs... even if frankensteining a different charger were possible, they aren't going to do it.

That said, does this really matter? Unless you're driving 24x7, it should be fast enough to fully recharge the battery every night.

 

[Bert3]

The charging screen always shows both amps and mph/kph for a charging rate, it doesn't matter what you have the battery level display set to.

 

[jjrandorin]

I also asked if I could replace the onboard charger with a 48 version. He said to talk to the service department. Anyone know if thats possible? Where is the onboard charger located? Thanks again for the help, sorry for the confusion.

There is a zero percent chance that tesla would upgrade a SR+ car to higher than 32amps. The chargers in the car are 16amps each, so 2 of them = 32 amp and 3 = 48 amp (im over simplifying but there are (3) 16 amp chargers in a model 3 long range, and (2) 16amp chargers in a model 3 standard range.

Tesla is not going to add an additional one to your car. If yours stopped working, they would put in exactly what you have now. There isnt any chance that tesla "upgrades" your car in this manner.

This is certainly not the first time that a person selling cars has made a mistake about the cars feataures, tesla or otherwise. Its a pretty embarrassing mistake for the tesla person though, as they should know better than to assume something like this. You (the customer) asked because you didnt know, and would expect them to know. You jumped through a bunch of unecessary hoops because of their lack of attention to detail.

They likely know better, but just were not paying attention, and caused you a bunch of time chasing a problem that didnt exist. Thats unfortunate, it really is. Like I said, I am used to people in the car industry not really knowing their products, but its still crappy when it happens so blatantly like this.

 

[davewill]

I was referring to the screen that shows WHILE you're charging, which is not that one.

 

[ucmndd]

I was referring to the screen that shows WHILE you're charging, which is not that one.

Could you provide an example of what you’re talking about? My car never displays miles per hour, on any screen, when L2 charging.

 

[jjrandorin]

Could you provide an example of what you’re talking about? My car never displays miles per hour, on any screen, when L2 charging.

View attachment 789109

View attachment 789110

Im not sure if this is what @davewill is talking about, but my model 3 (and my wifes new model Y) displays "miles" charged like he mentions. I dont remember changing any setting to display it that way. Here is a pick I took just now after triggering charging on my wifes model Y, thats 2 ish weeks old.

Its a fairly poor iPhone pick, but look in the top left corner, that text says "40 mi/hr" along with amps and volts its charging at.

 

[ucmndd]

Im not sure if this is what @davewill is talking about, but my model 3 (and my wifes new model Y) displays "miles" charged like he mentions. I dont remember changing any setting to display it that way. Here is a pick I took just now after triggering charging on my wifes model Y, thats 2 ish weeks old.

Its a fairly poor iPhone pick, but look in the top left corner, that text says "40 mi/hr" along with amps and volts its charging at.
View attachment 789559

Right. But if you switch your range display from miles remaining to percentage, the metrics change to the ones you see in my screenshot (charging speed in kw, total energy added in kWh). Dave is suggesting that both are always displayed, and I don't believe that to be true.

 

[terranx]

Could you provide an example of what you’re talking about? My car never displays miles per hour, on any screen, when L2 charging.

View attachment 789109

View attachment 789110

Change your energy display to range instead of percentage and it'll show the miles per hour

 

[ucmndd]

Change your energy display to range instead of percentage and it'll show the miles per hour

Yes. I know that. I’m responding to this post:

The charging screen always shows both amps and mph/kph for a charging rate, it doesn't matter what you have the battery level display set to.

Which as I’ve pointed out a couple times now, isn’t true.

 

[terranx]

Yes. I know that. I’m responding to this post:


Which as I’ve pointed out a couple times now, isn’t true.

Ah fair. I think the only time that statement might be true is while supercharging

 

[Bert3]

I was referring to the screen that shows WHILE you're charging, which is not that one.

Think your mistaken.

 

[davewill]

frrrf

Think your mistaken.

You're quite correct. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[father_of_6]

Think your mistaken.

Don't you only see that when you're charging AND the car is locked and you're not in it?

That's like the advertisement charging screen for stalker/creepers.

 

[Ther0ck]

I have a CP-50 chargepoint charger that is hardwired and on a 60 Amp breaker. When it was first installed, our Tesla 3 would charge at 48 amps. A while ago I noticed that it was charging at 32A. It will show as 32/32A. Used to be 48/48A which is correct for a 60A breaker. Since the car is showing as a max rate of 32A now, there is some sort of handshake between home Chargepoint and the Tesla 3. Chargepoint has sent me another wall Chargepoint but it has made no difference. The Tesla 3 will charge just fine on a Tesla SC. I tried my neighbors tesla 3 on our wall charger and it also was limited to 32A. So, who’s responsibility is this? Tesla? ChargePoint? Anyone else having issues with ChargePoint home chargers?

Model 3 RWD (SR+) is limited to 32amps on level 2 chargers even if the charger can supply 48amps. The fastest you'll able to charge at a Tesla Supercharger is 175w in ideal situation. It's the car limitation Tesla gave it.

If it was the Long Range of Performance, you'll be at max 48amps on lvl 2 and max 250w on a V3 SC.

 

[topcoach]

I'm soon getting a new Model 3 RWD with LFP batteries. I heard LFP batteries can charge faster. I'm getting a NEMA 14-50 plug installed with a 50 AMP breaker. Can I get a faster charging for my model 3 if I use the Mobile Charger with the built in 14-50 plug, which can apparently charge at up to 40 AMPs. The regular Mobile Charger (with the 120 volt plug), can only go up to 32 AMP's with the 14-50 adapter. Will I see a difference in charging speed if I get the 40 AMP Mobile Charger?

 

[Randy-12]

I'm soon getting a new Model 3 RWD with LFP batteries. I heard LFP batteries can charge faster. I'm getting a NEMA 14-50 plug installed with a 50 AMP breaker. Can I get a faster charging for my model 3 if I use the Mobile Charger with the built in 14-50 plug, which can apparently charge at up to 40 AMPs. The regular Mobile Charger (with the 120 volt plug), can only go up to 32 AMP's with the 14-50 adapter. Will I see a difference in charging speed if I get the 40 AMP Mobile Charger?

32 Amps is the most that the car can or will accept.
Doesn't matter if you have a 100 amp breaker the car will only accept 32 amps
So the max amp breaker you'll need is 40 for this car.
Even with the Wall charger the max you can pull on the Model 3 RWD is 32 amps

Wall Connector

The Tesla Wall Connector is the most efficient way to charge a Tesla at home — just plug in your vehicle overnight and wake up to a charged vehicle.

www.tesla.com

With the 120 Volt plug as you call it will only go to 12 amps on 120V which is not very fast. It is what I use. I get only 9 km/h charge on my RWD model 3.

 

[ucmndd]

Will I see a difference in charging speed if I get the 40 AMP Mobile Charger?

No.

 

[topcoach]

No.

However my understanding is the new Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries support a higher Model 3 RWD charging rate. I was told by Tesla that when I receive delivery of my Model 3 next month, it will be from the Freemont factory, which has switched from the older Nickel Cobalt batteries to the new LFP batteries for the Model 3 RWD. I've heard from several sources that Model 3 with LFP batteries supports a faster charging rate. Just not sure if that would translate to me seeing a difference the a 40 AMP Mobile charger with a built in 14-50 plug. If it does, I will then purchase the 40 AMP version of the Mobile charger.

 

[pipp]

I think there might be a small time window when the car is plugged in, but either has finished charging or hasn’t started yet, and during these periods of time the display shows 48 amps. I think…

 

[ucmndd]

However my understanding is the new Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries support a higher Model 3 RWD charging rate. I was told by Tesla that when I receive delivery of my Model 3 next month, it will be from the Freemont factory, which has switched from the older Nickel Cobalt batteries to the new LFP batteries for the Model 3 RWD. I've heard from several sources that Model 3 with LFP batteries supports a faster charging rate. Just not sure if that would translate to me seeing a difference the a 40 AMP Mobile charger with a built in 14-50 plug. If it does, I will then purchase the 40 AMP version of the Mobile charger.

You are confusing supercharging with Level 2 AC charging.

LFP batteries may well supercharge faster than the prior NCA SR+ models. I don't know.

What I do know is that both the older NCA cars and the new LFP cars have 32 amp onboard chargers in the Power Conversion System, for a maximum L2 charging rate of 7.6kw. This onboard charger / AC rectifier is the limiting factor, not the battery.