Hello Everyone! I'm new here! Ordering a 60d Model S and I have some ?'s

[fasteddie7]

What are some things that all of you current owners wish you knew when ordering? I'm new to zero emission vehicles, and I live in western Pennsylvania, so my primary available charger will be the one I install at my home. Is the necessary hardware included with the S or will there be more for me to purchase beside cable and a new breaker box? With a 90 mile commute round trip a day, 5 days a week, are there any concerns I should have with a 60D when the weather here gets crazy cold or hot? Does the weather and road conditions affect the range for those who have one now?

Thank you everyone and I'm excited to be part of the club!!!!

 

[owen.shift]

Western Pennsylvania doesn't look so bad already as far as Superchargers go; and have a look at supercharge.info what is happening to the I-80 further west

 

[Electricfan]

Why a new breaker box? I guess if your existing one is old and you can't get breakers for it. I was fed this line by an electrician and spent a ton on a new breaker box, then found out I was lied to, as my old brand of breakers were readily available. Learn from my mistake and don't buy a new breaker box without researching it thoroughly. I installed a 14-50 outlet in my garage. Some people install Tesla's high powered wall charger, which is nicer if you want to spend the dough. Be careful where you place it keeping in mind how you park in your garage and where the plug is on the back left of the car. I bought a spare UMC so the one I use in the garage is plugged in 24/7 and the one that came with the car stays in the trunk in case I need it. How many miles do you drive in a day? Generally accepted wisdom is to keep the battery charged between 80% and 20%. Try not to run it down below 20 regularly, or charge to 100 regularly. Some people charge to 90 daily, but I'm more conservative and only charge to 80. If you're going to leave the Tesla in the garage for a couple of weeks or longer, run the battery down to 50% and set the charge limit to 50% while its sitting idle. I'm just telling you what I've read, but read for yourself and make your own decisions on battery care - there are a whole lot of different opinions! Welcome and enjoy your Model S!

 

[Footer]

On a cold day I have gotten as low as 50% of expected range.

I also installed a NEMA 14-50 in my garage. Never had a need to charge faster than 29 miles per hour.

You shouldn't need a new breaker box. You will only use 40 amps while charging. Hard to believe your current breaker box can't handle the load. Of course if you don't have 2 adjacent breaker slots in your existing box you will need a sub panel.

My electrician charged $325 to install the outlet.

 

[Hota]

I'd get a Tesla Wall Connector and keep the mobile charger in the car in case you need it somewhere. The wall charger is actually cheaper than a spare mobile charger and has the capability to charge at 48A (with a 60A breaker) which is not only faster but more efficient than the mobile charger.

 

[McMuggets]

The HPWC is only really useful if you are doing a lot of driving daily. Otherwise a 40 amp outlet NEMA 14-50 should be more than enough. $200-500 for electrician to install it.

Btw, if you need a credit off your order of $1000 use the link in my signature. Much thanks if you do so. Or click here:

Referral | Tesla

 

[fasteddie7]

I drive around 90 miles a day 4 to 5 days a week, Electricfan. Our home is only a few years old but I wasn't sure if I would need the extra power as I was going to spring for the high amperage option for faster charging. How much of the equipment is included and how much needs to be purchased? I see the $550 wall connector option with a 24 ft cable on the website, is this what I should go with? And does it come with everything I need to install? We have 100A breaker now I believe. My wife's dad wired us up as he knows way more than I do about it. I literally just began looking at charging solutions for the home and I'm glad I stumbled upon this community as I feel that everyone here plus a little research will make it a smooth installation as i'm nowhere near an expert on the subject. We didn't have a garage and are now building one so I have a clean slate. The garage will go on the opposite end of the house where the box is so it seems as if I'll have to run a line through to the other end where the car will be parked. Thank you all again for overlooking my ignorance on the subject, I'm looking forward to learning everything I can so I can pay it forward to new owners in the future!

 

[BigAirHarper]

I drive around 90 miles a day 4 to 5 days a week, Electricfan. Our home is only a few years old but I wasn't sure if I would need the extra power as I was going to spring for the high amperage option for faster charging. How much of the equipment is included and how much needs to be purchased? I see the $550 wall connector option with a 24 ft cable on the website, is this what I should go with? And does it come with everything I need to install? We have 100A breaker now I believe. My wife's dad wired us up as he knows way more than I do about it. I literally just began looking at charging solutions for the home and I'm glad I stumbled upon this community as I feel that everyone here plus a little research will make it a smooth installation as i'm nowhere near an expert on the subject. We didn't have a garage and are now building one so I have a clean slate. The garage will go on the opposite end of the house where the box is so it seems as if I'll have to run a line through to the other end where the car will be parked. Thank you all again for overlooking my ignorance on the subject, I'm looking forward to learning everything I can so I can pay it forward to new owners in the future!

So with your cummute the 14-50 NEMA would be more than enough to charge your car overnight. However, the HPWC is awesome looking and will give your car a little faster charge (48A vs 40A from the 14-50).

Equipment and what you need can vary greatly depending on your existing setup. With some electrical knowledge and the right wiring you can have a 14-50 installed yourself for $50 or less. If you need a new sub panel (entire breaker box) then costs obviously increase.

I ended up going with HPWC for the faster charging, the looks, and having a dedicated cable at the house. To do it I needed 100A service to the HPWC itself. So that meant a new 125A subpanel. #2 copper was run from a 100A breaker to the HPWC. A 14-50 NEMA was installed with #6 copper run from a 50A breaker in the same panel (as my back up if HPWC fails). Since you are building the garage this should be very easy to wire up. HTH.

 

[fasteddie7]

So with your cummute the 14-50 NEMA would be more than enough to charge your car overnight. However, the HPWC is awesome looking and will give your car a little faster charge (48A vs 40A from the 14-50).

Equipment and what you need can vary greatly depending on your existing setup. With some electrical knowledge and the right wiring you can have a 14-50 installed yourself for $50 or less. If you need a new sub panel (entire breaker box) then costs obviously increase.

I ended up going with HPWC for the faster charging, the looks, and having a dedicated cable at the house. To do it I needed 100A service to the HPWC itself. So that meant a new 125A subpanel. #2 copper was run from a 100A breaker to the HPWC. A 14-50 NEMA was installed with #6 copper run from a 50A breaker in the same panel (as my back up if HPWC fails). Since you are building the garage this should be very easy to wire up. HTH.

Thanks! So it is my understanding now that the NEMA 14-50 is just the connector and outlet, much like a dryer 240 outlet, and I would run the proper gauge wiring to it and call it a day, or order the wall charger from tesla and run the wiring to that, but I do not need both, but I certainly could set it up for both if I wanted a backup, is that correct? My wife's dad is really skilled at this so I'll talk to him today to make sure we can charge overnight and still run the air conditioning/heat and washer and dryer if needed.

 

[RichardL]

Just to clarify, since it doesn't look like you had a direct reply

The car comes with a UMC (Universal Mobile Connector) - essentially a fancy cable for charging. Most people have a 240V plug wired into the garage (NEMA 14-50). This is a 50amp outlet, so the allowable maximum continuous usage is 40 amps. This will give you a charge rate of around 29 miles per hour (by 'miles' we talk about Rated Miles, which is how Tesla describes how much charge you have - 1 kwh of energy allows you to drive (on average) around 3 miles, so when you charge the battery with 1kwh of electricity, that is roughly 3RM). In your case, with a 90 mile commute, it would take just around 3 hours to top up for a day's use. The UMC has interchangeable ends, so you can also plug it into a 120V outlet (painfully slow - around 3 miles an hour), or various dryer outlets, around 15 miles/hour.

I just use the 14-50 and leave the UMC plugged into it all the time - I only put the UMC in the car when I am going on a road trip.

Some people buy the HPWC, which is permanently wired in, instead of the 14-50 and has its own cable for the car. That way the UMC is simply stored in the car 'just in case' and it looks cool in the garage. It is also faster - but, as I mentioned, I have never had that need personally

Finally the car allows you to specify how full you want your battery to be (I set mine at 90%, to protect the battery life) and you can also specify when you want charging to start (I start just after midnight, when the cheap rate on electricity kicks in for me).

With experience, you find what suits your needs, set everything and essentially forget it!

 

[hiroshiy]

@fasteddie7 , congrats for your new S!

So it seems you already figured out how to charge. Yes you can use UMC for up to 40A charging (29 miles per hour), or if you prefer faster charging, you can opt for High Amperage Charger Upgrade AND Wall Connector for up to 72A (52 miles per hour). Wall Connector is robust and also looks stylish so you can consider that. Also there are two types of Wall Connector - with short cable and long cable.

Now for the range, 60D is rated for 210 miles, let's assume you charge regularly to 90%. Now you can use 189 miles, in a good condition without AC and speed like 65-70mph, when new. Let's now assume you get 5% degradation over 8 years. Now the best case is 179 miles.

If you regularly exceed 70mph like 75, and/or in summer with AC I would recommend to have 10% buffer - now in worst cases, you have 162 miles in summer, at 90%.
In winter I would recommend 30% buffer, thus you have 137 miles.

As you can see 90 mile round trip commute is completely doable. There are other factors that affect range, like elevation changes. I would recommend charge to 90% and go slow for the first time. When you get confidence about range you can speed up or charge to lower %.

 

[fasteddie7]

@fasteddie7 , congrats for your new S!

So it seems you already figured out how to charge. Yes you can use UMC for up to 40A charging (29 miles per hour), or if you prefer faster charging, you can opt for High Amperage Charger Upgrade AND Wall Connector for up to 72A (52 miles per hour). Wall Connector is robust and also looks stylish so you can consider that. Also there are two types of Wall Connector - with short cable and long cable.

Now for the range, 60D is rated for 210 miles, let's assume you charge regularly to 90%. Now you can use 189 miles, in a good condition without AC and speed like 65-70mph, when new. Let's now assume you get 5% degradation over 8 years. Now the best case is 179 miles.

If you regularly exceed 70mph like 75, and/or in summer with AC I would recommend to have 10% buffer - now in worst cases, you have 162 miles in summer, at 90%.
In winter I would recommend 30% buffer, thus you have 137 miles.

As you can see 90 mile round trip commute is completely doable. There are other factors that affect range, like elevation changes. I would recommend charge to 90% and go slow for the first time. When you get confidence about range you can speed up or charge to lower %.

Thank you for the reply. My understanding is that the 60D has the option to be upgraded to a 75D with a software unlock. Will be 80% charge will work the same way since essentially there is a percentage of the battery being unused or is the software smart enough to still utilize the locked portion while restraining me to 60 kilowatt hours? I felt that over time when degradation does happen I could just pay the unlock fee and then have the unused portion of the battery in the future.

 

[hiroshiy]

Thank you for the reply. My understanding is that the 60D has the option to be upgraded to a 75D with a software unlock. Will be 80% charge will work the same way since essentially there is a percentage of the battery being unused or is the software smart enough to still utilize the locked portion while restraining me to 60 kilowatt hours? I felt that over time when degradation does happen I could just pay the unlock fee and then have the unused portion of the battery in the future.

I guess so, but AFAIK it's not definitive yet. So watch the forum for a few more weeks and smart people will find out. You can tell by Supercharging new software limited 60D to 100% and record the whole session with TeslaLog (easier) or just camera. If charging speed is still high like 40-50kW, it would be that 60D is top limited like 0-80%; but Tesla might have done 10-90% in that case you'll see lower like 20-30kW.

 

[ATQuoteService]

You'll be able to use the charger that comes standard with your vehicle. Just charge it every night at home and you'll be fine. You'll see a larger electric bill but it is saving you tons of money by not paying for gas.

Using the heated seats and such doesn't use much energy, so use away.

Also, you may not have to buy a whole new breaker box. If you're sharing at night you should not need to worry about using too much energy at once. Now, if your using an electric stove, charging your car, running the dryer, and everything else in your house... it will blow the breaker, but because you'll mostly be charging at night you will not have a problem. Don't waste your money. I was worried just like yourself, but never ran into a problem and I only have a 200 amp breaker box.

 

[Beryl]

The only thing I wish I'd done differently is get air instead of coil suspension. There are way too many steep driveways in Houston.

Besides that, I have zero regrets.

I have rarely needed my 90D range, dual chargers, or HPWC but I like having them. If buying today, I'd probably go with the base MS60 with AP and upgrade the battery later, if needed.

You are going to love your car!

 

[javawolfpack]

I got my Model S 60D (software limited) yesterday, and asked my DS his thoughts charging to 100%... seems a common question and the "Tesla Engineers still recommend not charging it more than 90%"; however, due to the implementation 100% charge won't cause the battery any harm on the 60. It would lead to bad habits if you unlocked the battery or if you move to a non-software limited Tesla in the future. Also the Lithium batteries do better if they hover around 50% lifespan wise so not fully charging if you aren't going long distances makes the most sense for the battery life... so definitely still recommended.

I opted for the NEMA 14-50 outlet as no regular long drives where the faster charging makes sense... and with a starting range of 200+ miles can easily make it to superchargers, which are significantly faster. The faster than 48A charging requires a software unlock or paying more at purchase, but with the new Tesla models can get you 72A on the HWPC. This might be nice to have for destination chargers but regular daily driving for most people the 48A & NEMA 14-50 is adequate... I have read a lot on here that the HWPC is safer possibly and doesn't risk damage/strain to the NEMA 14-50 outlet/adaptor over time that's possible. I am personally considering getting a HWPC to connect to my NEMA 14-50 outlet so if I move I can take it with me but leave the NEMA 14-50 outlet for future owners.

I spent years reading (only recently joined) TMC & Tesla forums, blogs, manual, etc... waiting for the time when I could own a Model S so not much I wish I knew that I didn't learn before taking delivery. I guess the only thing I'd known was that I'd need to strengthen my smile muscles from all the smiling I'm doing driving around town in my Model S

 

[theslimshadyist]

The big benefit to dual chargers is not necessarily that you need to charge faster at home but when have to visit a SC!

 

[Hota]

The big benefit to dual chargers is not necessarily that you need to charge faster at home but when have to visit a SC!

Superchargers provide direct current to the car and bypass any onboard chargers so having dual chargers doesn't make your car charge any faster while plugged in at a SC.

 

[javawolfpack]

The big benefit to dual chargers is not necessarily that you need to charge faster at home but when have to visit a SC!

The supercharger is DC and bypasses the AC chargers altogether. Get fast SC speed regardless of if you have an older vehicle with a single charger or if you have dual chargers. All new Tesla's come with dual chargers.

 

[BigAirHarper]

Think he meant SC (service center) not SpC (supercharger). And I can attest the battery on new 60 is limited on top end. Supercharger was still blazing speed even at 197 miles of range.