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Charging with standard 15amp?
- Thread starter varla
- Start date
mk677
Member
it depends on how far your normal daily driving is. if you drive under 50 miles per day it could work, if you drive 100 miles per day you will be hard pressed to make it work for you.
you can figure on adding around 3-5 miles per hour on a 120 outlet.
so assuming that you are home 10 hours per night you can add about 40-50 miles per night.
if your driving is less than 50 miles per day then it is feasible. especially if you can access a supercharger for the times you need to add range quickly.
you can figure on adding around 3-5 miles per hour on a 120 outlet.
so assuming that you are home 10 hours per night you can add about 40-50 miles per night.
if your driving is less than 50 miles per day then it is feasible. especially if you can access a supercharger for the times you need to add range quickly.
We owned a Chevy Bolt for three years and only charged via 110 which equated to approximately 4 miles/hr. We also took advantage of a tiered rate system so only charged from 9:00pm-6:00am M-F and all weekend. This was perfectly acceptable for a Bolt driven 10k miles per year. That being said, we converted to 220 soon after purchasing the Model Y. The Model Y seemed less efficient charging plus we will likely drive 15k-20k miles per year. From our experience, I would try the 15 amp for a period of time to see if it is acceptable. If not, you can always upgrade to the larger service.
PJFW8
Red Menace may hurt me
Most outdoor and garage outlets are 20 amp even if the outlet looks like a 15. For less than $2 you can get a 20 amp outlet device. First check the breaker box. If a 20 amp breaker is supplying the outlet go for it. You will need the 20 amp 120 volt plug from Tesla for the charging adapter that comes with the car. $39 last I checked. Nice bump in performance! About 10 to 15 miles more overnight. 1/3rd faster.
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I recently took a short trip where I had 120v charging for 2 days. What a joke. It was fairly cold (20-30 F), and it was a standard 15 amp outlet.
57% charge, hoping to get to 90% for extra buffer to get home. Check out how long that takes in the Teslafi screen shot below (left side of green bar).
57% charge, hoping to get to 90% for extra buffer to get home. Check out how long that takes in the Teslafi screen shot below (left side of green bar).
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I agree. 120V is pretty worthless. By the way, looks like your max range is back up to around 290 and I am dead last in Teslafi again. You’re welcome to have that spot back if u want. LOL. Not much response about my post related to ending on a hill so maybe nothing there. Hmmm. Now what? I am still in the 270s. Really bizarre.
We're only 6 weeks into ownership but 120V @ 15amp has been fine for us so far. We're in NC and work at home, so no huge shock there, but... we'll put in a more permanent setup at some point, but mainly so I can put the portable charger in the car and have it with me just in case.
I still own a Bolt. Level 1 worked ok for just the Bolt but only because I had level 2 available at the office. If my commute was much shorter I could have gotten away with Level 1 at home only, but you lose quite a bit of flexibility to use the car for anything else. We had the 240V outlet installed once we added the MY.
haggis444
Member
If your house is new-ish you probably have 12 gauge wiring behind that 15A receptacle. You can probably turn that into a NEMA 6-20 (~14 MPH), or if you only have 14 gauge wiring you can probably turn that into a NEMA 6-15 (~10 MPH) receptacle. Either way you would only have to replace a breaker(s) and receptacles--no new wiring.
Check out what this guy did here: How I upgraded from NEMA 5-15 to NEMA 6-20 for $66
Of course if you don't know what you are doing please call in an electrician to do the work.
Check out what this guy did here: How I upgraded from NEMA 5-15 to NEMA 6-20 for $66
Of course if you don't know what you are doing please call in an electrician to do the work.
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
Getting by on 120V totally depends on your personal circumstances and your tolerance for inconvenience.
Many use only a combination of 120V, Superchargers and Destination Chargers.
The length of your daily use, temperature, speeds driven, wind and the amount of time you can be plugged in.
While this can be done by many, the availability of 240V is a great convenience and luxury. Makes keeping your Tesla charged mostly a no brainer as it can usually be charged when you sleep...peacefully.
Many use only a combination of 120V, Superchargers and Destination Chargers.
The length of your daily use, temperature, speeds driven, wind and the amount of time you can be plugged in.
While this can be done by many, the availability of 240V is a great convenience and luxury. Makes keeping your Tesla charged mostly a no brainer as it can usually be charged when you sleep...peacefully.
![angus[Y]oung](/tmc/data/avatars/l/141/141264.jpg?1620160343){kind=avatar}
angus[Y]oung
Active Member
@varla this is actually a good point from @Uncle Paul: you may want to check out your nearby options as there may be some public chargers nearby that wont' be as fast as a supercharger but still much quicker than your home 120v charging. You could use them as needed. You could also check stores or venues you visit frequently to see if they offer any sort of destination charging. Or of course if you have a Supercharger not too far away you can use it as needed for rapid top ups on top of your regular trickle charging at home.
This. I swapped my mother's 5-15 outlet with a 5-20 when delivering her Model 3 last year, and it's been fine for her. (Garaged, 20-75 miles/day on average.) It doesn't seem like a big jump going from 12A (1.4 kW) to 16A (1.9 kW), but it's a 33% boost, and more like a 50% jump in actual energy delivered to the battery since the ancillary energy costs (fans, computers, etc) are fixed. 100% of the additional power goes to the battery. If your home has a 20A breaker and 12ga wiring, it's a 5-minute job to swap the outlet.
Caveat: know what you're doing, use a $10 outlet tester to check your work, and ensure that if this is a circuit with multiple outlets on it, you don't actually use the other outlets while the car is charging. If you're unsure but you think it'll work (you have a 20A breaker), hire an electrician for one hour to verify and swap the outlet.
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I've been using a standard out for two years. Works great.
I get 10 hours of max charging available each day at the lowest rate with SCE. That's enough for most daily trips. But if not I always keep the car charged up high enough that I don't have to charge every day unless I want to keep it topped, which I don't.
There are plenty of FREE and paid 3rd party charging nearby as well as a half dozen SuperChargers within 10 miles. I've only used them out of novility, had free miles, or was at a store / mall that offered free charging anyway.
mk677
Member
what is good about being able to charge at home regardless of the level of charge is that the car charges during your down time, you do not need to travel to a public charger and waste time while it charges.
I just bought my Y last week and hoping I can get by with 110. I’m retired and not driving a lot. Today, with unusually cold temperatures for Atlanta its very slow charging but I think I should be okay normally.
mk677
Member
as long as you have a supercharger close by and know that you'll only get 3-5 miles of range per hour with the 110 it should work for you, however it would be wise if you could get a 50 amp 240 line installed
I've been using 110 standard outlet and get 5 miles per hour and typically charge between 10pm and 8pm when rates are at their cheapest. I've never needed to charge with a Supercharger but have a few times out of novelty and because I have those "free miles".
If someone is going to traveling more than 50-60 miles a day, 5 days a week, installing a 50/240 is going to be faster and cheaper than stopping at a SuperCharger. The SC rates are expensive compared to what you get at home. They're really intended for those trips where you'll not have enough range and need to power up part way.
If someone is going to traveling more than 50-60 miles a day, 5 days a week, installing a 50/240 is going to be faster and cheaper than stopping at a SuperCharger. The SC rates are expensive compared to what you get at home. They're really intended for those trips where you'll not have enough range and need to power up part way.
PJFW8
Red Menace may hurt me
I completely agree. Most garages and carports have 120 service using a 20 amp breaker but with a 15 amp outlet device. Simply replacing with a 20 amp 120 volt outlet device for $2 is a big improvement. A 20 amp 240 volt outlet is a simple conversion using an existing 12 gauge wire...if there there is nothing else on the breaker serving the outlet. $10 to $15 for a 20 amp 240 outlet device and 20 amp 240 breaker does it in 15 minutes. "Bigger is better" but often unnecessary!
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