Home charge current limit?

[AntonM]

Thusfar my home charge has been limited to 10A max. I had an electrician out today to move the charge pod for unrelated reasons and while he was here I asked if the pod limited the charge, and he said it could handle 16A comfortably. So I adjusted the current rate on the car's screen to 15A, plugged it in, but it was back to "10A/10A" and would not let me push it any higher (lower, yes).

So, if it's not limited by the charge pod, it must be the charge cable that came supplied with the car? Is that right?

 

[Adopado]

Thusfar my home charge has been limited to 10A max. I had an electrician out today to move the charge pod for unrelated reasons and while he was here I asked if the pod limited the charge, and he said it could handle 16A comfortably. So I adjusted the current rate on the car's screen to 15A, plugged it in, but it was back to "10A/10A" and would not let me push it any higher (lower, yes).

So, if it's not limited by the charge pod, it must be the charge cable that came supplied with the car? Is that right?

No, the supplied type 2 cable should not be limiting the charge.

 

[AntonM]

Oh - is there a way of increasing the charge rate then?

 

[NorfolkMustard]

What cable are you using., and what are you plugging it into?

This one?

 

[AntonM]

Yes, that one - the big end takes an adaptor for a UK 3-pin mains plug, which plugs into the pod, which the electrician said can pump out 16A.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

ah, thought so. That, with the domestic 3-pin-plug adapter, is limited to 10 amps whatever it's plugged into.

To get more you need a commando socket or electric vehicle charging socket installed on the house. The former will let you use the other (blue) adapter for the cable in the picture above and give you 16amps. The latter will let you use the other cable supplied with the car (like the all-blue one below) which you can also use on public AC charging points like PodPoint @ Tesco etc

 

[arg]

it was back to "10A/10A"

Note that the first figure here is what the car is currently using, and the second figure is the maximum that the external equipment has told the car it can take.

So you can't turn it up with the car controls to anything bigger than the 2nd figure.

 

[ThrustSSC]

ah, thought so. That, with the domestic 3-pin-plug adapter, is limited to 10 amps whatever it's plugged into.

To get more you need a commando socket or electric vehicle charging socket installed on the house. The former will let you use the other (blue) adapter for the cable in the picture above and give you 16amps. The latter will let you use the other cable supplied with the car (like the all-blue one below) which you can also use on public AC charging points like PodPoint @ Tesco etc

Worth mentioning that you can also get a (larger) 32A blue adapter for about £17...

 

[TM3PTN]

Worth mentioning that you can also get a (larger) 32A blue adapter for about £17...

I paid £40 for mine from Tesla (including £8 postage) - wish i would have known!

 

[AntonM]

Thanks for all the comments - cleared things up very nicely. FWIW I'm going to stick with what I've got as it covers my real-world needs. Just thought I might get more out of it but if I can't, it's fine, I'll make do.

 

[TM3PTN]

I had an electrician come over today to wire up a dedicated 32A line using commando socket.

The car eventually made it to 32/32A and was giving me 28mi/hr charge rate.

I stopped the charge just to see what happened (curiosity more than anything), and when I restarted the charge via the Tesla app i can't seem to get anything above 17/32A which is around 15mi/hr.

Any ideas?

 

[AndrewGR]

Yes, that one - the big end takes an adaptor for a UK 3-pin mains plug, which plugs into the pod, which the electrician said can pump out 16A.

I can't imagine any competent electrician saying you can get 16A from a standard UK power socket. UK plugs have a maximum 13A fuse in them!

 

[WannabeOwner]

I can't imagine any competent electrician saying you can get 16A from a standard UK power socket.

I don't know what brand charger the O/P has, but some of them have both Type-2 socket and a 13-AMP socket, so if the O/P has one of those there is room for confusion

 

[AntonM]

I can't imagine any competent electrician saying you can get 16A from a standard UK power socket. UK plugs have a maximum 13A fuse in them!

It isn't a standard power socket - it's a dedicated EV charge pod, which comes directly off the distribution board.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

It's a standard (3-pin, BS1363) socket as far as the tesla mobile connector is concerned though, which are rated upto 13amps AFAIK. Above 13amps and you're into commando socket territory (the two blue adapters below)

Can you upload a picture of your wall socket for us?

 

[Adopado]

It isn't a standard power socket - it's a dedicated EV charge pod, which comes directly off the distribution board.

I'm confused. I thought you had said it was for plugging in a 13 amp plug (standard plug)? That doesn't sound like an EV charging socket. Picture and more details required!

 

[MrBadger]

Sounds like it could be something like a Podpoint with 13A socket? Hopefully there is also a Type 2 output too.

 

[navt]

It isn't a standard power socket - it's a dedicated EV charge pod, which comes directly off the distribution board.

I'm getting 32A/32A from my Rolec.

 

[AntonM]

Sorry about the confusion - the car pod's individual distribution board connection can put out 16A, but of course the plug blows at 13A - which shouldn't happen because the car's cable limits it to 10A.