Charging time at home

[PatsFan]

OP were you able to get your money back on the ChargePoint EVSE?

I’m assuming your electrician matched your wiring and recepticle to the ChargePoint EVSE you bought and that is why you have a NEMA 6-50 recepticle and only a 40A breaker installed. Switching out the breaker probably wouldn’t be a big deal if you have the capacity but he might have used smaller guage wire. At this point I suspect your best and easiest and cost effective route would be to pick up the $32 NEMA 6-50 adapter to use with your UMC cable. Your still getting a good charge rate for overnight use.

To compare when we had our installation done when we bought our Model S, we went with a 50A breaker and a NEMA 14-50 recepticle. We decided to use Tesla’s Corded Mobile Connector for snugness to the wall because we felt with our garage we would be bumping into the HPWC. They were both about the same cost. Now we have a Model 3 in addition and use the corded connector (pretty much permanent install for all practical purposes) to charge both cars. I was getting 33 mi/hr at 36A so a little better than your recepticle connection. Overnight charging which both can easily do, doesn’t really make the difference. If you were able to get a refund for the return of the ChargePoint, I think you’re doing fine with your setup overall.

Amazon was kind enough to accept a late return. They said there might be a restocking fee, I can probably escalate and get it waived. So $635 after tax saved.
I just ordered a 6-50 Adapter, so going with easiest road. I generally charge overnight, so I’m ok with 30 miles/hr charge.

 

[Perry]

A question - How many amps does the charging display show?

I am also using a NEMA 14-50 plug and the Tesla Portable Wall charger for my Performance Model 3 (with Performance Upgrade Option). It is charging at its max of 32 amps.

6 hours to charge seems reasonable.

Should be 48 amps with wall charger if you have a proper 60amp circuit installed. NEMA 14-50 is usually a 50amp circuit so you'll only get 32 amps.

 

[Jaywlker]

Should be 48 amps with wall charger if you have a proper 60amp circuit installed. NEMA 14-50 is usually a 50amp circuit so you'll only get 32 amps.

Nema 14-50 Gen 2 cable will only give you 32 amps. A Gen 1 cable will give your M3 40 amps to charge with. I believe Tesla is throttling the amperage with the Gen 2 cable so that more customers will buy their wall unit that charges at 48 amps. Many people would be more than satisfied with a Gen 1 cable providing 40 amp charging time, but that would take away from wall unit purchases as the difference between 40 and 48 amp charge times is not significant.

 

[Msjulie]

Reason I went with non Tesla charger is just in case if I buy non Tesla EV car in future. Also Tesla charger shipping and delivery was 4 weeks

We have a (now 4 year old) JuiceBox 40 that we got when we leased our first EV. The house has a NEMA 14-50 in the garage so it's the limiting factor which was more than the first EV could ever use anyway.

The Tesla adapter is easy enough to use and since the household also has an Audi A3 eTron, the standard port on the JuiceBox is fine

It's less work *for me* to use/share the JuiceBox even using the Tesla adapter than dealing with plugging/unplugging things.

Just another data point

 

[TexasEV]

Nema 14-50 Gen 2 cable will only give you 32 amps. A Gen 1 cable will give your M3 40 amps to charge with. I believe Tesla is throttling the amperage with the Gen 2 cable so that more customers will buy their wall unit that charges at 48 amps. Many people would be more than satisfied with a Gen 1 cable providing 40 amp charging time, but that would take away from wall unit purchases as the difference between 40 and 48 amp charge times is not significant.

No, it’s for safety as there were issues with the 14-50 adapter drawing 40A from outlets on 40A circuits (actually allowed by code though we think of it as a 50A outlet) and poorly wired outlets. Canada previously limited the 14-50 adapter to drawing 32A. I don’t believe it’s to sell more Wall Connectors and owners who buy Wall Connectors aren’t usually buying it for faster charging (except those with 72A chargers) but rather for the permanent installation.

 

[jgs]

No, it’s for safety as there were issues with the 14-50 adapter drawing 40A from outlets on 40A circuits (actually allowed by code though we think of it as a 50A outlet) and poorly wired outlets. Canada previously limited the 14-50 adapter to drawing 32A. I don’t believe it’s to sell more Wall Connectors and owners who buy Wall Connectors aren’t usually buying it for faster charging (except those with 72A chargers) but rather for the permanent installation.

I thought they were also able to use lighter-gauge conductors in the Gen 2, reducing their cost of goods.

 

[SSedan]

My UMC with my 4yo 80k mile car is a 40amp one and at 24amps it runs hotter at the plug to the car the HCWC does at 80amps, or supercharging.
I have cleaned it thoroughly with electronics cleaner and brushes which Tesla does not advocate bit did help.
They wear out from repeated plugging and unplugging, not a design flaw or anything just the way it is.
hCWC allowed me to put it in the trunk still functional and keep a 40amp, rather than run it to death and replace with 32amp.

This pervasive idea that EVs are 100% reliable with next to zero repair or maintenance costs is a lie and honestly many of those telling it are telling it to themselves too.

To those arguing superchargers are a backup, in costal SoCal sure in places with real winter and for folks who have be home when the school bus comes by and such no.
Cold battery can even limit power causing merging hassles, batter warming uses a lot of juice.
My car got thoroughly cold soaked, no driving more than 2 miles or charging over 8amps 120volt due to extension cord use and it was so great to see digits during the day. I got in the car after a brief warmup from the app and got straight on the highway at 75mph. Think it was set to 15mile average well at any rate it went to 730wh/mile before beginning to come back down and was warm enough to supercharger 30minutes into the drive.
Well how many days am I going to be able to commute with consumption like that and keep a safe buffer for the 25mile trip to the supercharger?

The nightly charging keeps the pack somewhat warm. You don't skip days charging in subzero weather.
The pack is 1200lbs it doesn't reach ambient temperature in 2 hours and doesn't get warm real quickly either. Those of you in warm climates have no idea the extra concerns in the cold.
Now granted the instant heat awesome app connectivity and perfect traction control are all plusses. I have a 4x4 ICE I could drive in the snow but took the P85 out in 4" unplowed today, no regrets but it does require different care in winter.

 

[TexasEV]

I'm not new here, and I've never read that. I've been using UMCs on my Teslas for years, never heard of any friends having UMC charging problems. You must know a lot of owners. I only know a few dozen. Only been driving Tesla for about 6 years.

Any idea why all these connectors are failing? Is it the plug or the actual connector? Are they charging outdoors or in? And, is there a warranty on them?

What a coincidence, look at this thread from today:
Gen 1 charger not working

 

[Eno Deb]

What a coincidence, look at this thread from today:
Gen 1 charger not working

Yeah, but that's the Gen 1 UMC which isn't relevant to this discussion. Given that the Gen 2 is limited to 32A, has a redesigned adapter connector, and only the wall charger and the corded connector allow higher currents now, it seems the adapter interface was the weak point of the Gen 1.

 

[TexasEV]

Yeah, but that's the Gen 1 UMC which isn't relevant to this discussion. Given that the Gen 2 is limited to 32A, has a redesigned adapter connector, and only the wall charger and the corded connector allow higher currents now, it seems the adapter interface was the weak point of the Gen 1.

You said you have yet to hear of a UMC failing, so I don't see this or my previous post about Gen 1 UMC failures as irrelevant to the discussion. The Gen 2 UMC hasn't been out long enough to know if it's failure rate will be lower, the same, or higher than the Gen 1 UMC. Even if you were referring specifically to the Gen 2 UMC, that's not true either, as there are several reports on TMC of early Gen 2 UMC failures due to intermittent ground fault errors. One of these was delivered with my Model 3 in March. No, it wasn't a bad circuit at home as it threw the error intermittently when plugged in at the service center also, and the replacement Gen 2 UMC they gave me has been working flawlessly for eight months.

 

[jgs]

These "UMC failures" subthreads always seem to spiral down to the same dueling anecdotes place. I for one would be a lot more interested in knowing UMC failure rates than the answer to the question "can it fail", because of course it can, anything can fail. My anecdote is that 100% of the UMCs I've used have not failed, but so what?

The probability is really quite relevant, since a rational person might choose to spend money ahead of time hedging against an event only if the product of the probability of occurrence and consequence of occurrence is severe enough. What's the probability, other than "greater than zero"? Without that, it's hard to make a rational choice.

Consider another part that can fail, that affects all Tesla drivers: the tires. Your Tesla didn't come with a spare, and it doesn't have a purpose-built well to store one. A few people choose to haul a spare around with them all the time (lucky RWD S owners can put it in their frunk) but I bet most of us don't. Probably of those of us who don't, many of us carry a patch kit, which we know is only a half-assed solution, but better than nothing in many though not all tire failure cases. We don't have to have long threads about "can tires fail?" because duh. Analogously you can purchase a second EVSE to hedge against UMC failure (that's the spare-in-the-frunk model), you can plan to use public charging (that's the can of patch goop and inflator) or you can just hope your UMC doesn't fail. Even the "hope it doesn't fail" plan isn't as crazy as it sounds -- there are plenty of other parts you don't stock spares for. Quick, how many people stock a spare drive unit just in case?

 

[TexasEV]

I'm not suggesting UMCs fail often, and I"m not recommending people buy a second one just in case. I was just responding to two posts from owners who said they never heard of a UMC failing, as if them not hearing of it means it doesn't happen.

 

[Need]

The Gen 2 UMC hasn't been out long enough to know if it's failure rate will be lower, the same, or higher than the Gen 1 UMC. Even if you were referring specifically to the Gen 2 UMC, that's not true either, as there are several reports on TMC of early Gen 2 UMC failures due to intermittent ground fault errors. One of these was delivered with my Model 3 in March. No, it wasn't a bad circuit at home as it threw the error intermittently when plugged in at the service center also, and the replacement Gen 2 UMC they gave me has been working flawlessly for eight months.

Our Model X delivered in Dec 2017 came with Gen 2 UMC and it fails as soon as I tested it at home. Mobile Tech came out and told us that he saw quite a few of these new Gen 2 (at the time) fails. So he gave us a Gen 1 UMC and it had been running fine for a year on daily uses. The Gen 2 that came with our Model 3 had been running fine since August 2018 using daily.

 

[Eno Deb]

You said you have yet to hear of a UMC failing, so I don't see this or my previous post about Gen 1 UMC failures as irrelevant to the discussion.

This thread is about Model 3 owners who all own the Gen 2 UMC. How is an old and significantly different model relevant to this discussion?

I'm not suggesting UMCs fail often

Really? You claimed that they failed for "many" owners.