Charging Recommendation

[PVEaglesFan]

New Tesla Model 3 owner here.

I am retired and do not drive a lot. Daughter is 30 miles alway and SIL has an S and charging.

Right now using 110 to charge. Electrician can run dryer 220 to the garage easily and its 30 amp. Which should be all I need.

If I go that route, what else do I need to buy?

Tesla wall charger would be fine I guess but is $500.

Ideas?

Thanks

 

[Tam]

New Tesla Model 3 owner here.

I am retired and do not drive a lot. Daughter is 30 miles alway and SIL has an S and charging.

Right now using 110 to charge. Electrician can run dryer 220 to the garage easily and its 30 amp. Which should be all I need.

If I go that route, what else do I need to buy?

Tesla wall charger would be fine I guess but is $500.

Ideas?

Thanks

it's more convenient if you have money to spend money for the dedicated Tesla High Power Wall Connector.

Otherwise, using the mobile connector for a 240V 30A socket would be fine. In that case, you need to buy a correct 30A adapter as the 240V 30A outlet for clothes dryer comes in either 4 pins or 3 pins. They are not interchangeable because of the different numbers of pins.

 

[ewoodrick]

Do you need more than 120V can provide?

 

[eevee-fan]

For low mileage use, 120V portable should be fine. It will replenish about 4 miles per hour.

Though there is a case to be made to buy the wall charger so your SIL can come by and use it sometimes.

 

[Knightshade]

A second mobile charger will be cheaper than the wall unit and works just fine for your application....the wall charger gets you exactly nothing on a 30 amp circuit other than looking a little nicer/neater compared to a mobile connector.

You can even just use the one that came with the car (plus a $35 dryer socket adapter) but those 240 plugs aren't intended to be plugged and unplugged often so if want to also be able to carry one in the car you'd want a second one.

 

[ralph142]

I have a mr model 3 up here in the Nw, keep the car outside and use a 120 v 15 amp circuit to charge. 20 miles a day typical use, never been a problem. Usually takes 4 hrs or so overnight. For what it’s worth I usually run 70-60% charge. Maybe 2x a month I do a 200 mile rt on a weekend, so charge up to 90% or so to leave. Works fine.
Your SIL’s S can charge on your circuit too, just slow.

 

[apodbdrsM3]

New Tesla Model 3 owner here.

I am retired and do not drive a lot. Daughter is 30 miles alway and SIL has an S and charging.

Right now using 110 to charge. Electrician can run dryer 220 to the garage easily and its 30 amp. Which should be all I need.

If I go that route, what else do I need to buy?

Tesla wall charger would be fine I guess but is $500.

Ideas?

Thanks

There are few details missing, like how far are is the dryer outlet and is its 220V in current use, are there supercharger near or on the way to your daughters.

The 110V is fine if as you say you don't drive much, I recommend use the 110V for a 2-3 months to get a feel on charging and then decide. However, if you think you need more power, have an electrician connect from dryer 220V if it closer, it is cheaper and works just fine. If you really need a quicker charge go to a Tesla Supercharger. I have been using 110V, rarely the dryer 220V for over year. However I still have 6,000 miles on 11,000 free miles on Tesla Superchargers, and there one only a couple miles away. I live in Southern California, so cold weather is a non issue. Good luck.

 

[jjrandorin]

New Tesla Model 3 owner here.

I am retired and do not drive a lot. Daughter is 30 miles alway and SIL has an S and charging.

Right now using 110 to charge. Electrician can run dryer 220 to the garage easily and its 30 amp. Which should be all I need.

If I go that route, what else do I need to buy?

Tesla wall charger would be fine I guess but is $500.

Ideas?

Thanks

That dryer line that you are looking at extending to the garage... do you still use it for your dryer? If not, I would extend that line. If you dont want to plug and unplug your mobile wall connector when you go visit your Daughter and Son in law, you would want an additional mobile connector (1 to leave at your house, plugged into that extended line, and one to leave in the trunk for travel).

If you still are using that dryer line for your dryer as well, you either need something like a dryer buddy, or your electrician to put in another line in your garage, if you dont have one.

if you have any electrical in your garage, maybe it can be re purposed for your car.

 

[arodriguez]

I'm going to get into a bit of detail here but basically, I agree with the previous comments. Get a extra Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle from the Tesla store and the correct adapter for your 220/240 outlet. It will cost $275 for the bundle and another $35 for the adapter. Plus sales tax and shipping. Note that the kit is sold out as of today (12/23/2019) but keep an eye out and I'm sure it will be available soon. Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle

When using that 30 amp circuit, check the breaker panel to see the amp rating of the breakers. You don't want to pull more than 80% of the rating. In my home, I had a 40 amp circuit installed. The max amps that can be used is 32 amps. This is the max for my Model 3 - SR+ built in AC converter so I didn't need to install anything higher. But I was recently visiting my brother and he offered to let me use his 30 amp welder outlet. The circuit was only rated for 30 amps and the breaker popped. I lowered the max amp draw in the car to 18 amps and it worked fine. Bottomline, you can adjust how much the car's charger pulls from the circuit. If you have any doubts, set the max current to 1/2 and start from there.

California has a variety of programs to assist with home charger installations. Check this page to see if you live in an area where they will assist with the cost to install. DriveClean - PEV Resource Center

I agree with previous comments to have an EVSE (the cable to charge your car) where you aren't constantly unplugging and plugging it back in. You can do it but eventually the outlet will weaken. Also, you can keep the original mobile connector kit in your car in case you get low and need to charge somewhere else.

If you go with the 30 amp dryer outlet, ask your electrician which outlet you have and purchase the adapter on the Tesla store for $35. That's basically all you need. The nice thing about the mobile connector is that it can handle 120 and 240 wall outlets with the addition of an adapter. The kit comes with a standard 5-15 adapter that connects to a 120 volt outlet. Again, you should only draw 80% of the rating of the circuit. If its a 15 amp circuit set the car to pull 12 amps, if it's a 20 amp circuit set the car to pull 16 amps. Remember that outlets can power different circuits in your home so you might have to adjust down from the numbers above if that outlet is being used to power something else in your home.

The ideal scenario is to have a dedicated 20 amp120 volt circuit or a 40 amp 240 volt circuit. The higher amp circuit will get you about 30-35 miles per hour. The actual numbers will depend on the temperature of the battery, if you're running any accessories, the max charge setting in the car, etc.

Good luck and feel free to post any followup questions.