I'm not at all educated on electrical issues and was hoping someone could help? I've rented a home in France for two weeks and it is not near any charging stations. I was hoping to use a socket in the house to charge my 2019 Model 3. Should I just buy a 'normal' adaptor for my UK plug on my charger or buy this https://amzn.eu/d/g3ExGYD 16a caravan hookup for my UMC to plug into the French house socket? Any advice would be welcomed. Thanks!
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Charging help for France, pls
- Thread starter scohtay
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- european charging
Doudeau
Member
+1 for Schuko Adapter otherwise an appropriate adaptor for 3pin plug. Schuko adaptor wasn’t in stock when I needed one.
Heads up that you might find that it’s a slooow charge. In the first 2 weeks in August in France I was plugged into a house socket and with sentry mode active and cabin overheat kicking in regularly during the day I wasn’t getting much more than 1kw/h at times. I kept the car plugged in whenever I was at the house.
Heads up that you might find that it’s a slooow charge. In the first 2 weeks in August in France I was plugged into a house socket and with sentry mode active and cabin overheat kicking in regularly during the day I wasn’t getting much more than 1kw/h at times. I kept the car plugged in whenever I was at the house.
Andy_RS2113
Member
I got one of these before I went to France in June - worked perfectly the whole time we were there
toughleads.co.uk
EV granny charger weatherproof travel adaptors
Heavy duty weatherproof travel adaptors to enables you to charge your EV using a UK 13A granny charger from domestic sockets across the majority of Europe and Scandinavia. Simple, cost effect and robust solution to driving your EV abroad. 10A, 13A, 16A. Holiday, Europe, driving abroad. Schuko...
I bought a high quality schuko plug and a good quality uk extension lead. I then changed the plug in the extension lead for the French one and all worked well. It avoided daisy chaining too many cables and provided more reach to a socket. The older UMC on MS and MX were sensitive to polarity and it was easy to switch as the French were known for not being too bothered, not an issue with the UMC 2 with the M3, but I mention it as it might matter to others. Touch leads one seem to have adopted the idea.
One thing to watch is the current draw by the car is determined by the UMC plug, if you use a 16a commando one it will try and draw 16a which may be more than the rest of the cabling can cope with. You can turn it down in the car. The uk 3 pin plug is the safest bet
One thing to watch is the current draw by the car is determined by the UMC plug, if you use a 16a commando one it will try and draw 16a which may be more than the rest of the cabling can cope with. You can turn it down in the car. The uk 3 pin plug is the safest bet
Thanks everyone. It sounds like both would work. Would the Schuko adaptor to my Tesla 16A UMC be too much for a French home socket? Unfortunately, I left it too late to order the Tesla Schuko adaptor as it seems like that might take 2 weeks to get to me but could get another brand in a couple of days.
Note that the UMC Schuko adaptor is good for 13a, the UK plug is only good for 10a (It's 13a, but only 10a sustained). 10a will always be the limited with an EU-UK adaptor, because that's the limit on the UK side.
I've bought a 16a Commando adaptor for the UMC, and have had toughleads make me a version of their modular EV cable with a Schuko, UK and 16a commando plugs, and a female connector for the 16a UMC. I've then got to adjust the car to pull the appropriate current for that I'm doing. Means I can pull 10a from a UK plug, 13a from a European, and 16a for a Commando. Some of the cable is 2.5mm2 rather than 1.5mm2, which buys me use of the 16a over longer lengths. The Modular EV connectors are good for 16a, so that's the limit...
It's best to avoid cheap EU to UK adaptors. Best case you're limited to 10a, worst case, it's cheap materials which won't do 10a sustained, and melts.
To reiterate previous advice, cheap generic extension leads are rarely designed for 10a continuous. You want *at least* 1.25mm2, if not 1.5mm2. Most are 1mm2. Always, always, always unspool the cable from any reel.
Unless you know the electrics are good, turn off the car charger while you're doing other power consuming things, such as kettles, electric overs, electric showers, etc. Popping the breaking and making the owner faf around fixing it is a sure way to make sure the next person is told they can't charge.
I've bought a 16a Commando adaptor for the UMC, and have had toughleads make me a version of their modular EV cable with a Schuko, UK and 16a commando plugs, and a female connector for the 16a UMC. I've then got to adjust the car to pull the appropriate current for that I'm doing. Means I can pull 10a from a UK plug, 13a from a European, and 16a for a Commando. Some of the cable is 2.5mm2 rather than 1.5mm2, which buys me use of the 16a over longer lengths. The Modular EV connectors are good for 16a, so that's the limit...
It's best to avoid cheap EU to UK adaptors. Best case you're limited to 10a, worst case, it's cheap materials which won't do 10a sustained, and melts.
To reiterate previous advice, cheap generic extension leads are rarely designed for 10a continuous. You want *at least* 1.25mm2, if not 1.5mm2. Most are 1mm2. Always, always, always unspool the cable from any reel.
Unless you know the electrics are good, turn off the car charger while you're doing other power consuming things, such as kettles, electric overs, electric showers, etc. Popping the breaking and making the owner faf around fixing it is a sure way to make sure the next person is told they can't charge.
The advantage of using the UMC Schuko adaptor is that the UMC corrects incorrectly wired French sockets where the live and neutral have been reversed. This is really common in France. Do check that you're using a socket with an earth pin, as there are plain 2-pin sockets too and this wouldn't give you any earthing protection. Sockets in France are on 16A spurs, so you can set the charge current to 13A safely. If it looks old and ropey, 10A would be fine and no different to using the 3-pin in the UK. Wherever possible, extension leads are a not recommended for long-term high current.
If your saying you have a 16a blue commando plug on your UMC and want to connect that to a Blue commando socket to Schuko plug, then weakest link is the schuko plug which is rated at 13A continous. This might confuse or it might help, a schuko is rated at 16a but this is for boiling a kettle type uses, but not doing it for hours on end which is what happens when youy charge a car. The max is 13a for this use. The worry is youy can start to draw at 16a because to the electrics you could have plugged in a kettle, but because it keeps going things start to get hot and melt. This should not happen at 13a with the schuko.
So if the above is correct, you need to dial the current down to 13a in the car. To be safe, and it's probably worth doing anyway, start at 10a and after an hour or so feel each connector, plug and piece of cable for heat. They will be warm, but nothing should be hot. If everything is ok, you could increase the current to 13a.
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