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Charging the Roadster with the Yellow 120V cable...

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AEdennis

Active Member
Jul 23, 2013
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It's been a while...

IMG_20171020_091411 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr

Got to the office and realized I had a little bit of driving to do today and I didn't plug in last night. Have the CAN SR/JR in the car, but no convenient Destination or J1772 station nearby... So, out goes the Yellow cable.

so far, added 6 miles in 83 minutes and charging 114V at 15A...
 
My first five months here in the PNW, I charged my Roadster off the yellow cable. Painful, but doable. The Roadster made it through an epic winter plugged in, under an outdoor car cover. When I had bigger trips, I drove 20 m down the road to a destination charger. Then after that, I shared a TT30 between the Roadster and my X.

Now I have 70amp service in the garage and thankfully, that's behind me.
 
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I actually use the yellow charger on a regular basis in my garage because to maintain battery health I prefer to trickle charge only as much as I will need the following day. Overnight this is usually enough to replenish what I use in my daily commute. We were taught this trickle charge approach early on (circa 2012) with Model S and currently still charge at lowest rate that achieves needed charge level. The exception is for the Roadster during summer when I typically use the NEMA 14-50 (up to 40 amps) to cool down the battery when I arrive home each evening. For faster charging (up to 70 amps) I also have the option to charge with Tesla2 WC + Henry Sharp CAN Sr, but I have not needed this at home, I mostly use it at destination chargers. We have the Roadster HPWC, but have not installed it because while it would increase the charge rate from the outlet to 70 amps, it would essentially limit its use for Roadster which is not as flexible.

upload_2017-10-21_0-34-41.png


Our garage is now well prepared for being ICE-free when Model 3 arrives with 4 charging options (including the 110V). The two Tesla 2 wall connectors have a master/slave relationship so they share a 100 amp line. If anyone cares to see the garage transformation we made earlier this year, below is a link to a Flickr photo album including some before and after pictures. The S lives in the S bay; for now, the Toyota with Model 3 plates lives in the Model 3 bay; and the Roadster lives in the racing flag bay. We even matched the carbon fiber of the Roadster on part of the flooring. The red Model S belongs to friends who came to visit. The 1992 jeep seen in before pics died (but was resuscitated in an amazing way by the person who bought it for $300--and then won 1st place in car show in Jeep class-pics at end of album). https://www.flickr.com/gp/22685341@N02/j3B365
 
We were taught this trickle charge approach early on (circa 2012) with Model S and currently still charge at lowest rate that achieves needed charge level.
I'm skeptical that the "trickle charge approach" extends battery life or reduces the degradation rate in a meaningful way compared to charging with an HPWC, or HPC in the case of the Roadster, But I could be wrong, and it probably doesn't hurt anything.

Your EV garage is impressive! :)
 
it probably doesn't hurt anything

@ecarfan I agree, doesn't hurt and one benefit in cold climates is the ability to time the completion of the charging for around the time the car will be driven in the morning so that the battery is warm. This is particularly useful for Model S because on very cold days Model S takes much longer to regain regen (can be 10-15 miles) than Roadster if the battery is cold. Therefore, depending on how much charge needs to be replaced, it can be useful to charge at low amps over night. In Model S we routinely use 5-10 amps on the wall connector. Easier, than scheduling a faster charge -- as long as one has the luxury of a dedicated charger and time.
 
I actually use the yellow charger on a regular basis in my garage because to maintain battery health I prefer to trickle charge only as much as I will need the following day. ...We were taught this trickle charge approach early on (circa 2012) with Model S and currently still charge at lowest rate that achieves needed charge level. The exception is for the Roadster during summer when I typically use the NEMA 14-50 (up to 40 amps) to cool down the battery when I arrive home each evening. ...

I don't think that's the most optimal balance between charging and temperature. If anything, the Roaster Battery Life program (to which you-all should be contributing data, btw) shows that temperature is often correlated to battery life. There is no known correlation between charge rates and battery life on Roadster of which I'm aware - certainly not at 40amps or less. And I'd further be careful that anything "taught" (and from whom did this info come, btw?) for Model S battery life extension probably does not apply to the different battery chemistry and charging electronics in Roadster anyway. The only time low charging rates matter is when the battery is really really empty - If you drive Roadster's battery to a really low level, it'll tell you that it actually doesn't know how many miles of range are left. At this point when you try to charge, it may tell you to use the 110 cable to charge, particularly if you're trying to charge right after the drive.

The best solution is to install OVMS in your Roadster and use whatever 220 volt charger is most convenient. You can then use the Cooldown function, which will automatically kick in if the battery is above a threshold you set, and then complete the charge at a current rate you set, starting or ending at the time you set. And, you can override charging from the app for those times when you do need the higher rate of charge, or charging sooner or later.
 
every electrical outlet is an emergency back-up for charging
@NigelM Indeed! The beauty of electric cars is that there is already an electric grid all over the country!
Although, I should clarify that the 110V outlet that we use for the yellow cable had to be specially installed in the garage because all the existing outlets were GFI which the Roadster didn't like ("extension cord detected").
 
And I'd further be careful that anything "taught" (and from whom did this info come, btw?) for Model S battery life extension probably does not apply to the different battery chemistry and charging electronics in Roadster anyway.
@smorgasbord it was a Tesla service rep (in those days there were no service centers) who told us to trickle charge when possible. Data may have been anecdotal. I'll have to see if there is any supporting scientific evidence.

The best solution is to install OVMS in your Roadster and use whatever 220 volt charger is most convenient. You can then use the Cooldown function, which will automatically kick in if the battery is above a threshold you set, and then complete the charge at a current rate you set, starting or ending at the time you set. And, you can override charging from the app for those times when you do need the higher rate of charge, or charging sooner or later.

Yup, I check the battery temp when I get home with OVMS app and use COOLDOWN command if the battery temp is greater than 88 F (31 C).

@smorgasbord How does one go about contributing to the "Roaster Battery Life program?"
 
[USER=8192]@smorgasbord How does one go about contributing to the "Roaster Battery Life program?"[/USER]
You can start here for any EV: Battery Survey « Plug In America

And here's direct to the Roadster: Battery Survey « Plug In America


Yup, I check the battery temp when I get home with OVMS app and use COOLDOWN command if the battery temp is greater than 88 F (31 C).

You can set it up so that COOLDOWN is automatic - no app checking required. If you want instructions, let me know and I'll post them. Since ACC is setup via SMS, not the App, it's not as well known.[/user]
 
If you want instructions, let me know and I'll post them.

@smorgasbord, yes, please. However, because I am using Hologram sim and my cell is Verizon I do not get any response SMS messages from the car, if that is needed.

Could you also clarify the potential issue with the 110V charging -- is it that if you need to cool down the battery, the 110V does not supply enough power to do that and charge the battery so that there is the potential for heat-related degradation over time? Thanks!
 
@smorgasbord, yes, please. However, because I am using Hologram sim and my cell is Verizon I do not get any response SMS messages from the car, if that is needed.

Not quite. The potential issue with Hologram is that by default it does not have a phone number, so you can't send SMS directly to it. But, it will definitely reply to the registered phone via SMS no matter what service that phone uses.

There are 2 ways to get SMS messages to a hologram SIM. The cheapest is to use hologram's dashboard web page (select your device then select the "via SMS" tab, and don't forget to enter your registered cell phone number (with the "+1" for US) in the "From" field. The easiest is to spend $1 more per month to get a phone number assigned to the phone.


Could you also clarify the potential issue with the 110V charging -- is it that if you need to cool down the battery, the 110V does not supply enough power to do that and charge the battery so that there is the potential for heat-related degradation over time? Thanks!

There are certainly more knowledgable people here with the details on this than me. I'd recommend reading this: Charging in High Temperature environments 13A vs 32A vs 70A: cost of air conditioning
 
Not quite. The potential issue with Hologram is that by default it does not have a phone number, so you can't send SMS directly to it. But, it will definitely reply to the registered phone via SMS no matter what service that phone uses.

There are 2 ways to get SMS messages to a hologram SIM. The cheapest is to use hologram's dashboard web page (select your device then select the "via SMS" tab, and don't forget to enter your registered cell phone number (with the "+1" for US) in the "From" field. The easiest is to spend $1 more per month to get a phone number assigned to the phone.

@smorgasbord I do pay for a phone number so I can send SMS from my phone rather than having to go to the dashboard and I have done extensive troubleshooting with Mark. The issue is that the SMS sent from Hologram comes from a fake country code +88 and Verizon doesn't accept the message even though they supposedly unblocked it for my account. There is a way around this that Mark said was less secure so I have not set it up mainly because I can get along with just the app and the COOLDOWN message. I'm sorry -- I wasn't asking for help on this -- I was just stating the bottom line which is that if your automated method requires a response from SMS, I can't get one (at least right now).

I would love the instructions on how to automate the COOLDOWN.

Thank you for the link to the thread -- I will read it.
 
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