Damage to the charge cable

[ladhanikarim]

Hey Guys,

This might be a silly question but how strong is the charge cable that comes with the Model S? My outlet is installed inside my garage and if I leave my car outside and charge it, my garage door will sit on the cable as the picture below. Is this ok and are others doing this? Has anyone experiencing any damage to the cable and seen a decrease in charging speed?

 

[FlasherZ]

It's never a good idea to allow a door to close on a flexible cord. Flexible cords are made using many very thin strands of copper to make them flexible and this type of stress can damage them and/or break them. The first sign would be a higher resistance, which means more power lost to heat in the cable compared to the car; at some point the cable could arc and cause a fire.

The UMC's two line conductors (the power conductors) are made up of 2 paralleled sets of qty 2 #14 AWG flexible conductors.

(The NEC expressly prohibits extension cords running through doorways for this very purpose, although there is a question as to whether extension cords can be governed by the NEC in the first place.)

I recommend having an electrician install something like this outside for you:
Eaton 50 Amp 1-Space 1-Circuit Temporary RV Power Outlet Box-CHU1S - The Home Depot

This is what I have installed for outdoor charging at our lodge.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

I dont have a picture of my garage and the mods but what i ended up doing is chisel away part of the floor to just accommodate the cable. Combine that with the soft bottom of the garage door, the cable goes under and out pretty nicely. This is for another EV charger, but i figure it concept is the same.

If i get a chance, i will post picture of my mod so you can see what i did.

 

[brucet999]

I recommend having an electrician install something like this outside for you:
Eaton 50 Amp 1-Space 1-Circuit Temporary RV Power Outlet Box-CHU1S - The Home Depot

This is what I have installed for outdoor charging at our lodge.

Thank you for posting this. I'm going to install a NEMA 14-50 at my Tahoe cabin and had intended to use a standard 2-gang box with in-use cover, but this is even better, being lockable as it is.

 

[Electricfan]

I was driving over my cable and decided to protect it. You might do something similar - until you can install an outlet or wiring to solve your problem a little more permanently. But in my garage this works well - protects the cord and also gives me an idea where my car is when I'm parking (a benefit I hadn't thought about) so I can stop at the same place every day.

 

[FlasherZ]

Thank you for posting this. I'm going to install a NEMA 14-50 at my Tahoe cabin and had intended to use a standard 2-gang box with in-use cover, but this is even better, being lockable as it is.

A 2-gang deep Bell box will work too, but I prefer the Eaton enclosure - I own quite a few of them throughout the midwest.