Charging the Roadster

[doug]

Not rocket science: the HCP cable is just attached to an unrelated conduit by cable ties.

Heh... awesome. Looks what I did in the lab with the power cable to the Ar+ laser.

 

[SByer]

I was going to do approximately the same thing, only I was thinking of adding a pulley, rope, and counterweight at the end to pull the business end up and out of the way normally. But then, I've already got a big rectangle of dense foem dangling between the cars .

Bill, thanks for the pictures, it helps me visualize what it'll look like in my garage!

 

[Bradleybang]

same thought here... where does the plug go when car not in the garage?

 

[billarnett]

When I unplug I just let go of the cable and it hangs down between my two garage doors. It's not in the way at all. And nothing could be simpler.

 

[doug]

Got to see the 120V mobile charging cable today. Looks like it's just an off the shelf GFCI plug on one end with the Roadster power connector on the other.

 

[doug]

 

[graham]

Nice! Do you have any idea on how long the cable is?

-g

 

[shark2k]

Doug, not sure if you got to see the plug or you got that from another site, but do you know what the green and blue buttons are on the GFCI plug?

-Shark2k

 

[dpeilow]

It's just a normal circuit breaker plug, like you might get on a lawnmower. The buttons are test and reset.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/3115372670_40f93370ab_b.jpg

 

[graham]

It looks like the blue button says "TEST" and the green says "RESET"...

I assume those are for the same as the TEST/RESET buttons on a standard Ground Fault power outlet (albeit with different colors)

 

[shark2k]

Thanks dpeilow and graham. I didn't realize that image was click-able to make it bigger.

-Shark2k

 

[doug]

Nice! Do you have any idea on how long the cable is?

-g

I didn't think to check when I took the photos, but I can try to make an order of magnitude estimate from them. Looks like there are 6-8 loops in the coil; median diameter of the loops is maybe 10 inches.
8 x 10 inches x pi ~ 20 feet

20 ft is probably an upper limit, so say 15 to 20 feet.

 

[malcolm]

Nice design.

Brilliant Yellow cable.

Wonder if they're allowed to do other colours to match the cars. Probably not.

Any word on the version for the EU? Will it be rated for 240V max and be fitted with the standard wall plug for that country? I hope so. Don't want to mess about with adapters.

 

[vfx]

At this point they cannot legaly make a Dryer plug version of this.

So could you buy two and cut off the Edison plug and put on a dryer plug?

So what are there, like a million standards of these?

The wire gauge may be undersized too so limiting current could cause overheating.

So where do you buy the Tesla connector? This might be a nice little side business.

 

[malcolm]

It's one size fits all here in the UK. 240V 16A if memory serves.

 

[TEG]

So could you buy two and cut off the Edison plug and put on a dryer plug?

I suspect the cable has some sort of signal to tell the Roadster what sort of voltage is coming and how much current it can draw. If you "Frankensteined" a cable like you said you might do bad things to the Roadster... I would stick with Tesla OEM cables to be safe.

 

[doug]

I suspect the cable has some sort of signal to tell the Roadster what sort of voltage is coming and how much current it can draw. If you "Frankensteined" a cable like you said you might do bad things to the Roadster... I would stick with Tesla OEM cables to be safe.

Is that the purpose of the PCB in that box above? I forget. You can set the max current the car will draw from the VDS.

Personally, I'm in favor of owners with the appropriate skills and knowledge to make their own cables as a stop gap measure. I've had to do similar things in the lab with equipment that was much more expensive. (Then again, that wasn't my money... other than what I pay in taxes.)

 

[TEG]

Well, I "home brewed" a NEMA 14-50 on my spare RangerEV (Avcon) charger controller (so I could hook up at campgrounds and such), so I am one to talk.

Actually I have only used it on the road once as I almost always charge at stations with Avcon cables already there.

 

[Joseph]

From the Tesla FAQ,

"The standard cable for the High Power Connector is 25 ft long (762 cm). The NEC (National Electrical Code) limits this cable length to 25 ft (762 cm). The main Mobile Connector cable will be 18 ft (549 cm) with the adapter cable being an additional 2 ft (61 cm)"

This must be outdates. It doesn't really add up with the pictures.

 

[dpeilow]

I was told at the London event that there was nothing clever about that box midway along the prototype charging cables, the current limit was only set in the car.

One other question: Is that plastic connector waterproof, particularly around the long grey removal button?