Charging with 110

[Masmadi]

Have only had my model S for one month and was intending to only use superchargers but have now read it is recommended to charge constantly. Will charging at home on a 110 and also using the superchargers when I want quicker charging be ok to maintain the battery?

 

[SSedan]

Only supercharging is a poor plan both for battery health and your time.

120volt charging works fine if you can plug in enough it is less efficient than a higher capacity outlet.
If you can give it a 6-20outlet instead of a 5-15 and get the adapter for that it is worth it.

 

[nwdiver]

Have only had my model S for one month and was intending to only use superchargers but have now read it is recommended to charge constantly. Will charging at home on a 110 and also using the superchargers when I want quicker charging be ok to maintain the battery?

Depending on your definition of 'ok'; 'ok' for a few months until you can get L2 installed... sure. 'ok' long-term? IMO, no. Hopefully you're using a dedicated 110v outlet. If you are you should be able to hire an electrician to upgrade your 110v outlet to 220v for ~$100 and buy a NEMA 6-20 adaptor from Tesla for $35.

 

[chargeshare]

We average ~25-30 miles a day and charge on 110V. Not ideal or the most effiecient, but it works.

 

[Masmadi]

Thanks for the replies. We have a 220 volt and I bought the adapter but were only intending on using that for a backup. I don’t drive a lot and I have time and we just thought I’d always use the supercharger .5 miles from my house. From what I’m reading this is bad for the battery? Is that correct? It is better for the battery to constantly charge at home right?

 

[Kenz]

Most people do 90% of their charging at home or work where the vehicle is parked for 8 hours or more.
Using a 110 outlet may be fine if you only drive 30 miles or less to work and back daily.
If you need more of a charge install a level 2 charger at home and ask your employer about installing an EV charge point for employees and customers to use. Most electricians can easily install it for you.
You want to do the vast majority of your charging on a level 1 or level 2 charger for the health of your battery.
Try to keep it charged between 20 - 80% for most daily use. It is fine to go above or below that on a trip.
Do not charge to 100% and let the car sit for hours or days at that charge level. It is not good for the Li-Ion battery.
SuperChargers should be used for trips. It is cheaper for you and better for the battery to charge at home.

 

[dhanson865]

Thanks for the replies. We have a 220 volt and I bought the adapter but were only intending on using that for a backup. I don’t drive a lot and I have time and we just thought I’d always use the supercharger .5 miles from my house. From what I’m reading this is bad for the battery? Is that correct? It is better for the battery to constantly charge at home right?

you've used both 110 and 220 in your posts so far so I have to ask What Country Are You In?

Your English is too good to suggest you are in a country that actually has 110v and 220v. But maybe you are just well educated linguistically.

 

[Kenz]

Charge at home and wake up with you car ready to go with a full 80% daily charge.

 

[Masmadi]

you've used both 110 and 220 in your posts so far so I have to ask What Country Are You In?

Your English is too good to suggest you are in a country that actually has 110v and 220v. But maybe you are just well educated linguistically.

I am in US. My garage had a dryer in it before we moved in. My electrician told me that it’s a 240 volt 30 amp so we bought that adapter. I also have regular 110 outlets in the garage.

 

[Masmadi]

Most people do 90% of their charging at home or work where the vehicle is parked for 8 hours or more.
Using a 110 outlet may be fine if you only drive 30 miles or less to work and back daily.
If you need more of a charge install a level 2 charger at home and ask your employer about installing an EV charge point for employees and customers to use. Most electricians can easily install it for you.
You want to do the vast majority of your charging on a level 1 or level 2 charger for the health of your battery.
Try to keep it charged between 20 - 80% for most daily use. It is fine to go above or below that on a trip.
Do not charge to 100% and let the car sit for hours or days at that charge level. It is not good for the Li-Ion battery.
SuperChargers should be used for trips. It is cheaper for you and better for the battery to charge at home.

Thank you very much for your explanation I understand it now. Superchargers are best for longer trips and day to day should be done at home.

 

[cduzz]

If you live where it gets cold overnight, you'll want to use a 240v outlet regardless of the amperage (unless you live in an RV park with a TT30 30a 120 circuit).

The reason is that you'll otherwise spend forever heating your battery pack if you happen to be in a situation where the pack is cold.

It takes about 30 minutes these days to get a pack up to charging heat on a 30a/208v charger. If you're on a 120 circuit you'll be basically running a space-heater outside and it takes a lot of energy to heat up space...

If you live in a warm climate, 120 will work and not be quite as terrible but still very slow.

If you have any dedicated circuits near where you plan to charge, you can have the converted to a 240v circuit inexpensively (the breaker needs to be replaced, the plug needs to be replaced, and you need to put colored electrical tape on the no-longer-neutral wire).

People often recommend 40a or 50a circuits; I've been fine on a 240v/20a (charges at 16a) even in the winter. Charging on a 120 may also work but turn a 4 hour charging session into a 12 hour charging session.

 

[dhanson865]

I am in US. My garage had a dryer in it before we moved in. My electrician told me that it’s a 240 volt 30 amp so we bought that adapter. I also have regular 110 outlets in the garage.

The US has been on 120v and 240v since sometime last century. Regular outlets are 120v unless you are in some weird sort of setup where there isn't modern electrical service. Occasionally you'll get someone that is on 3 phase power that has lower voltages on regular outlets because they are in a business setting (condos on the edge of a business district in Canada, or a loft apartment over a business in the US) but those are rare.

Any normal residential power outlet in North America should be 120v.

 

[eevee-fan]

If you have any dedicated circuits near where you plan to charge, you can have the converted to a 240v circuit inexpensively (the breaker needs to be replaced, the plug needs to be replaced, and you need to put colored electrical tape on the no-longer-neutral wire).

If you're gonna upgrade anyway, jsut do it right and run a new line - or at least replace the wiring. Old wiring with colored electrical tape is asking for trouble - for the next owner. Don't need to save a few bucks and have that in your conscience.

 

[PACEMD]

Right, modern household circuits are 120v/240v. I charge on a 120v circuit, 15 amp or 20 amp depending on where I'm charging, home or at work. No worries for the miles I drive. I get 5-7 mph as long as the temperature is over 20 degrees F. Slows below that. Last week at -10 F and the car outside I broke just above even. In the garage charges as usual. I also am always either driving or plugged in. Meaning I never let the battery cold soak in winter. I personally think a slow charge of 20-90% is better for battery life, but you can argue that while the cows wander on home..........

 

[cduzz]

If you're gonna upgrade anyway, jsut do it right and run a new line - or at least replace the wiring. Old wiring with colored electrical tape is asking for trouble - for the next owner. Don't need to save a few bucks and have that in your conscience.

It's easy to spend other people's money, I suppose.

20A/240 is all I need. It puts some range on the car overnight even with the battery well below freezing and when not fighting the cold reliably puts 11 miles an hour onto the car. Normally I charge at work 2-4 times per week (4 hours at a time).

For me at least, the difference between using an existing 12 gauge wire run and bumping a circuit from 120 to 240 vs "doing it right" means getting a new panel installed, a new feed from the utility, a new meter outside the house, and goodness knows what else. Let's say that all in I might get a new 50a/240v circuit pulled for $5000?

Prior to hiring an electrician, I verified that the wires in question are less than 15 years old (they were installed as part of an air conditioning retrofit and are modern romex 12/2 with a date stamp on it). Presumably the "next owner" would hire an electrician or would understand that a white wire with red electrical tape on it, connected to a 240v circuit breaker or a 240 v plug, is ... hot. And considering that much of the wiring in my house is 70 years old and not properly polarized, presumably they'd be in the habit of checking if a plug or wire is what the color says it is. (typically the color of the wire is correct but they're connected to the wrong pole on the plug because "back in the day" plugs were not polarized).

The electrician cheaped out and put a medium quality NEMA 6-20 plug in which I'll eventually replace with a clipper creek lcs-20, but considering that I use the whole thing 2 times every 3 months anyhow, I'm not really all that worried. Even if my workplace charging situation changed, or if my commute changed, or if my wife got an EV, I believe that 20a/240 would cover the vast majority of my needs

This is my long-winded way of saying "hey -- not everyone lives in an 8 year old house in phoenix with a 500a panel. Sometimes it is very expensive to add new wiring. Like, really really expensive. And it turns out that maybe not everyone needs to add 300 miles to their car overnight every night."

 

[nwdiver]

I personally think a slow charge of 20-90% is better for battery life, but you can argue that while the cows wander on home..........

For a battery designed to take 250kW there's no functional difference between 1.3kW (110v @ 12A) and 11.5kW (240 @ 48A). Both are ~equally 'slow' as far as the battery is concerned. The only thing 110v achieves is higher energy loss due to line losses. At a minimum daily charging should be 240v.

 

[eevee-fan]

It's easy to spend other people's money, I suppose.

20A/240 is all I need. It puts some range on the car overnight even with the battery well below freezing and when not fighting the cold reliably puts 11 miles an hour onto the car. Normally I charge at work 2-4 times per week (4 hours at a time).

For me at least, the difference between using an existing 12 gauge wire run and bumping a circuit from 120 to 240 vs "doing it right" means getting a new panel installed, a new feed from the utility, a new meter outside the house, and goodness knows what else. Let's say that all in I might get a new 50a/240v circuit pulled for $5000?

Prior to hiring an electrician, I verified that the wires in question are less than 15 years old (they were installed as part of an air conditioning retrofit and are modern romex 12/2 with a date stamp on it). Presumably the "next owner" would hire an electrician or would understand that a white wire with red electrical tape on it, connected to a 240v circuit breaker or a 240 v plug, is ... hot. And considering that much of the wiring in my house is 70 years old and not properly polarized, presumably they'd be in the habit of checking if a plug or wire is what the color says it is. (typically the color of the wire is correct but they're connected to the wrong pole on the plug because "back in the day" plugs were not polarized).

The electrician cheaped out and put a medium quality NEMA 6-20 plug in which I'll eventually replace with a clipper creek lcs-20, but considering that I use the whole thing 2 times every 3 months anyhow, I'm not really all that worried. Even if my workplace charging situation changed, or if my commute changed, or if my wife got an EV, I believe that 20a/240 would cover the vast majority of my needs

This is my long-winded way of saying "hey -- not everyone lives in an 8 year old house in phoenix with a 500a panel. Sometimes it is very expensive to add new wiring. Like, really really expensive. And it turns out that maybe not everyone needs to add 300 miles to their car overnight every night."

Almost everything makes sense except there is no Cllipper Creek LCS-20 with a 6-20 plug. It's either direct wire, 10-30, 6-50, or 14-50.

Level 2 EVSE 12 - 16A | ClipperCreek

 

[PACEMD]

For a battery designed to take 250kW there's no functional difference between 1.3kW (110v @ 12A) and 11.5kW (240 @ 48A). Both are ~equally 'slow' as far as the battery is concerned. The only thing 110v achieves is higher energy loss due to line losses. At a minimum daily charging should be 240v.

120 volts, not 110. And here come the cows, moseying on home. I've made no argument for 120v over 240v, that wasn't the point. Use whatever you want, what works for your situation and what is convenient. In truth, it makes no difference for battery life, 120v 16 amps or 240v 48 amps, for example, slow is slow, how patient can you afford to be? I wouldn't go out of my way to use a 120v circuit but if that's what you have and it serves your needs/works in your situation, no worries. There is no disadvantage to the 120v except speed, which as I said is exaggerated at low temperatures. The dogma here is a 240v circuit is a minimum for home charging. I don't disagree with that as a practical matter and for convenience. And if you are installing a circuit, by all means, install a 240v circuit. On the other hand if you need to use a 120v circuit and your circumstance allows, it's just fine.

 

[cduzz]

Almost everything makes sense except there is no Cllipper Creek LCS-20 with a 6-20 plug. It's either direct wire, 10-30, 6-50, or 14-50.

Level 2 EVSE 12 - 16A | ClipperCreek

Correct -- I would use the hardwired LCS-20. I don't trust plugs for this sort of application unless they're twist lock type plugs.

 

[ewoodrick]

Thanks for the replies. We have a 220 volt and I bought the adapter but were only intending on using that for a backup. I don’t drive a lot and I have time and we just thought I’d always use the supercharger .5 miles from my house. From what I’m reading this is bad for the battery? Is that correct? It is better for the battery to constantly charge at home right?

While it's not great for the battery, it's not going to kill it.
BUT, charging at home is MUCH BETTER FOR YOU.
Even 120V, depending on how many miles you drive daily, can be more than adequate. Since you have faster, then life should be great.

Having to go to a Supercharger and wait is a lousy experience. It's not the best way to experience an EV, by far. Even if it was "free" I wouldn't do it. Matter of fact, charging is free for one of my cars and it rarely gets used.

Having to NEVER (except when road tripping) go anywhere to fill the car is one of the super advantages of an EV.