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Experience with charging on 120V outlet in winter

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Hello,

First post here.

I am in southern Ontario (northern GTA). I planned on purchasing a Model 3 LR in April/May, but my current car died so I am thinking of ordering one now, which the website says December delivery (but I assume January or February).

What should be my realistic expectations with charging via the 120V socket in winter? From what I have read, I can reasonably expect ~7km of range per hour off the wall outlet in good conditions, so should I assume ~3km of range per hour in winter?

The car would be in an attached garage, but it's not heated. I also work from home so my daily driving is not much, but I do have "far destinations" like parents and friends who are about an hour (~75km) one way. There is a supercharger (V2) about 15 minutes from my house, depending on traffic.

The reason I planned on getting it in the spring is I figured I could easily get away with the 120V outlet and then wait until winter and assess if I need a 240V outlet or the wall connector (aside from the convenience). Also I would have more money for it lol.

Can anyone share their experiences with this?

Thank you.
 
The first 6 months (Mar-Aug) we had our Smart (17 kW battery) we charged on 120V in an attached garage. Overnight. My wife was doing 33 km round trips and this was fine.

But the LR has a big battery so worst case you could zip over to the SC and top up.

Don't leave the car on sentry mode ;)

hth
 
Hello,

First post here.

I am in southern Ontario (northern GTA). I planned on purchasing a Model 3 LR in April/May, but my current car died so I am thinking of ordering one now, which the website says December delivery (but I assume January or February).

What should be my realistic expectations with charging via the 120V socket in winter? From what I have read, I can reasonably expect ~7km of range per hour off the wall outlet in good conditions, so should I assume ~3km of range per hour in winter?

The car would be in an attached garage, but it's not heated. I also work from home so my daily driving is not much, but I do have "far destinations" like parents and friends who are about an hour (~75km) one way. There is a supercharger (V2) about 15 minutes from my house, depending on traffic.

The reason I planned on getting it in the spring is I figured I could easily get away with the 120V outlet and then wait until winter and assess if I need a 240V outlet or the wall connector (aside from the convenience). Also I would have more money for it lol.

Can anyone share their experiences with this?

Thank you.
I just ordered it few days ago and my deliver window is Dec 11 - 31. I am hopefully it will be in December for tax reasons...
 
Long term, you want a 240V outlet, even if it's only a 6-20. If you have to hire someone and get permits, it's probably best to go 14-50 (buy once, cry once), but if you can do it yourself, a 6-20 is super easy to install (assuming you don't have a ton of finished wall to fish through).
 
It can definitely be tricky in the cold. I’ve been doing 110V for a couple years (but I also live 5mins from a supercharger and level 2 at a shopping mall).

The biggest part is warming the battery enough to actually charge in the winter. Below zero and you are using more power to heat the battery than you are adding power to the battery. Also goes for superchargers with a cold battery. It’ll take 10-15 minutes at a supcharger just to warm the batter when -10 or below.

Mine has always been outside, so in a garage should make a big difference to not get too far below freezing.

But still, pro-tip: plug in when the battery is already warm (from driving).
 
My experience in -15 weather on 120V plug for two weeks (parent's home):
- my car does charge to 80% and 90% fine.
- my battery was never warm enough for any regen
- basically, I was at 280wh/km (130wh/km baseline for model 3 sr+)
- for my small commutes or trips, I was never short on battery or anything and could always use a supercharger.

The best way to keep regen is used scheduled departure and charge the battery using a 240v right before departure.
 
I tried the 120v outlet for about a month in Montreal(Last December/January) and truthfully, it is workable, but the range anxiety is real! If you have a low SOC and have an emergency, you don't want to be stranded at home. I'd say opt for the wall charger. I haven't thought about charging ever since I got it installed, and definitely don't need to waste time at a supercharger when not making road trips.
 
As long as you are parking in a garage you'll be fine. Even if it's not heated it will still be considerably warmer then outside, since you're close to a supercharger that will cover you in an emergency.
From a long term efficiency point of view the 240v outlet will save you power costs and will pay for itself as charging on 120v isn't as efficient due to the overhead power usage of heating and fans etc.
 
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I forgot to add I park my car underground with no charger. I only plug into a j1772 communal charger when my battery reaches 20%.
At 9 degrees (garage interior temperature, with -20 weather outside), I typically have 70% regen and a snow flake when battery is under 30%.
 
My only experience was at an AirBNB near 0C. I wanted to check if it was charging by going into the car and sitting in the driver's seat. Little did I know that this turns on the heating which eats up ALL the power from the plug and the charge rate was 0. Took me a long time to realize I had to get out of the car before it really charged.
 
You should at least put in a dryer-style 240V plug in your garage. Otherwise you will waste so much energy just heating the batteries that you will be wasting a ton of power in the winter.

I have a HPWC, but I put mine in around 7 years ago when the Ont government gave you a rebate of up to $1000 to put in the charger. And back in the good old days you could really put some current into a Tesla, not like these days!
 
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Thanks for the replies, everyone; a lot of good info. Also hope more people post their experiences.

I should have been more clear in my original post: I do plan on getting the wall connector eventually (I budgeted for it as part of the car including a panel upgrade). I was just wondering if I could reasonably get through the current winter without it or if I should plan on getting it for day 1. I know I probably don't need it (and could get away with just a 14-50 plug), but I'm looking for the full Tesla experience :p.
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone; a lot of good info. Also hope more people post their experiences.

I should have been more clear in my original post: I do plan on getting the wall connector eventually (I budgeted for it as part of the car including a panel upgrade). I was just wondering if I could reasonably get through the current winter without it or if I should plan on getting it for day 1. I know I probably don't need it (and could get away with just a 14-50 plug), but I'm looking for the full Tesla experience :p.
There is honestly nothing special about the wall connector, or even a 14-50 for that matter. Add a sub-panel if you need one, but for as much work as I did on load calculations and such to get my permit(40A 14-50), I charge at 20A or less 99% of the time and feel a bit silly about how much I worried about it.
 
Went through two winters in Edmonton area (2019 and 2020) using a 20A/120V connection. I parked my SR+ in a partially insulated garage which did create a bit of a difference in temperatures from garage and outside but the garage would still be below freezing.

I agree with all the comments but one downside of the 20A/120V connection was being unable to preheat the car without draining the battery as I wasn't getting enough juice to do both off the Mobile Connector. On really cold days when I wanted to preheat the cabin I was conflicted seeing my battery level drain, which I wanted to keep as high as possible before heading out, so didn't preheat the cabin often.

Otherwise, I also had the benefit of not driving daily, so I wasn't bothered by a 14+ hour charge time either. A 15A or 20A charge rate is doable but only if you don't have a lengthy daily commute or need to run a surprise errand in the evening and interrupt your charging.

I upgraded to a 40A/240V setup this summer so looking forward to being able to get in to a warm car with a battery that hasn't been drained.
 
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So with Montreal winters and if you were to park in a heated garage (say between 10°C and 15°C) you would be fine on a 15 amp line?
Condo association is not keen on allowing a charging station.
Unsure if the question was directed to me or another but I'll jump in. The heated garage will keep the battery warm and cabin comfortable so that eliminates my two big concerns when I was using a 20A/120V in winter. There will still be long waits for charging but at least your charging speed in winter vs. summer will be significantly similar (eg: not having to heat the battery before charging).
 
So with Montreal winters and if you were to park in a heated garage (say between 10°C and 15°C) you would be fine on a 15 amp line?
Condo association is not keen on allowing a charging station.
If the outlet is dedicated, it should be fine just not very quick and could even be converted to 208/240V. If the outlet is shared, you risk popping the breaker if anyone else plugs something in, so not exactly ideal.
 
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If the outlet is dedicated, it should be fine just not very quick and could even be converted to 208/240V. If the outlet is shared, you risk popping the breaker if anyone else plugs something in, so not exactly ideal.
It will be a shared plug unless I can convince the condo association other wise.
I do live down a street (± 1/2 km) from a level 2 charger and work within 5km's of a supercharger.
Also where I live about 1 km away I also have a Fast Charger but would need either a CCS or CHADEMO adapter.

I guess time will tell what I need once I get the car late next spring/early summer.