Hi, been thinking getting m3p, but not sure about the charging, as I have driveway but live in a mid terrace house, worried cable run for home charger may not be hidden as have laminate floor. Wandered anyone just relied on the 3pin plug option, yes it slow, but I do 15 miles a day, mon-fri, think I should be able to cope, and if I get desperate can always use supercharger, or other charge points near where I work? Thx
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Home charging
- Thread starter Davem80
- Start date
You won't get the UMC section through the letterbox I'm afraid ... depending on distance to car you may be able to get the connector through a large letterbox but possibly not. Only other option is extension through letter box and then connect ... but you need to be aware of security and weatherproofing of your UMC outside ... can be done but some planning required!
I charged only with a 3 pin plug for about 6 weeks until I had my 32A commando socket installed. By charging 7pm to 7am I could add over 100 miles range overnight. Way more than enough for my needs.
Do you have any sockets inside near the outer wall? You may be able to get an electrician to spur off one of those, through the wall to an outside socket. The UK 3-pin charger runs at 10 amps.
Possibly an electrician might fit a spur to an outdoor 16 amp commando socket which would charge at 16A with the charger supplied.
It will be less messy than running an extension lead across your floor and through the letterbox!
However note that if an electrical supply is for outdoor electric vehicle charging then the installer is obliged to install earth fault protection gadgetry that are not required by the electrical regulations for other outdoor things. A 13 amp socket has many uses. A 16 amp commando is a bit more specialised, although commonly used for caravans and motorhomes.
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Overnight charge on 3pin giving 100 miles is enough for me too, just need to see how to get it to socket inside the house, I’ll have to go into dealer and ask them about the connector type and size....
Check out free charging points where you live. I got an eo mini installed but haven’t used it in a few months because the council installed a free 50kWh charger about 2 minutes up the road in a free car park.
I stop off 2 times a week for about 20 minutes
PlugShare or Zap-Map are both good places to start looking
I stop off 2 times a week for about 20 minutes
PlugShare or Zap-Map are both good places to start looking
SimonT
Member
We have just passed the 1000 miles with our M3P. We had a large drive and garage with an ample power supply but have never charged the car at home.
There are quite a few places near us where you can charge for free and also lucky enough to have a charging point at work.
zap map is a good app - suggest you have a look around and you may be surprised.
There are quite a few places near us where you can charge for free and also lucky enough to have a charging point at work.
zap map is a good app - suggest you have a look around and you may be surprised.
If you have off-street parking can you wire something to outside? 16a commando much faster than 3 pin, cheap, better built and more convenient than running a wire through letterbox. Dedicated charge point much faster still, but not cheap.
RE letterbox, quite easy to fit a low profile connector into an extension lead, if that's the option you end up with, but a few issues you then need to be aware of:
- weather resistance of the connection you then have outside (probably 3 pin, in which case need a box)
- inherent concerns with extension leads - basically need to be big enough gauge for the length, plus house wiring issues aren't that uncommon
- constantly unplugging and winding up your umc and cable to take it with you
- Having a cable through my letterbox every night would annoy me.
I did this but only for occasional use
Extension leads and commando
RE letterbox, quite easy to fit a low profile connector into an extension lead, if that's the option you end up with, but a few issues you then need to be aware of:
- weather resistance of the connection you then have outside (probably 3 pin, in which case need a box)
- inherent concerns with extension leads - basically need to be big enough gauge for the length, plus house wiring issues aren't that uncommon
- constantly unplugging and winding up your umc and cable to take it with you
- Having a cable through my letterbox every night would annoy me.
I did this but only for occasional use
Extension leads and commando
MrBadger
Badger out
If using the Tesla UMC 13A 3-pin adaptor in a weatherproof socket, just be mindful that because the 3-pin to UMC is so thick and rigid,
1 - it may not fit in some enclosures
and more importantly
2 - any twisting motion (which is inevitable if plug does not perfectly align with the base of the UMC even when laid on flat ground) may cause the 13A plug to pull out from the socket over the course of a charge session. I have stopped using my UMC in this manner until I can find a permanent solution - can be stopped by padding the gap between plug and weatherproof enclosure lid but I have yet to find a robust yet flexible and safe solution to this that does not risk putting too much pressure on the waterproof enclosure.
1 - it may not fit in some enclosures
and more importantly
2 - any twisting motion (which is inevitable if plug does not perfectly align with the base of the UMC even when laid on flat ground) may cause the 13A plug to pull out from the socket over the course of a charge session. I have stopped using my UMC in this manner until I can find a permanent solution - can be stopped by padding the gap between plug and weatherproof enclosure lid but I have yet to find a robust yet flexible and safe solution to this that does not risk putting too much pressure on the waterproof enclosure.
Thx all for your ideas, i just need to think outside the box, but seems 3pin is really only good for occasional use...zap map is really good resource. Realised there is public charging near my work place which costs but is option, and then on way home can use supercharger, So maybe not need to charge at home.
MrBadger
Badger out
When using that lead, watch out for my point 2 above. Adrian from ToughLeads is aware of the issue and investigating. It basically will affect most enclosures and is a result of the cable rocking over the weatherproof seal.
Accelerated test (31s video)
Its likely to be even more of a problem with switched outlets as the socket itself is usually slightly to one side of the weatherproof seal and there is very little give on the UMC - 13A flying lead due to the thickness of the cable.
I used a cutdown peg (wide end on plug) to test and solved the problem but is too rigid and puts strain on the lid.
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MrBadger
Badger out
I wouldn't DC charge too frequently - may come back to bite as it has done with some Model S owners #batterygate
It won't help in the short term, but there is no harm in asking your local council to look at the 'olev on-street residential chargepoint scheme' and indicate to them that you would use on street charging if it were available and not too expensive. Most councils will be trying to enable a transition to EVs to help balance their carbon planning.
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
Why not get a decent local electrician around to have a look and quote to install either a charge point or an outdoor outlet?
It may well be that there's an easy way to spur off the ring final, to give you a dedicated outdoor outlet. As well as being handy for charging the car, having an outdoor outlet near the drive is handy to have anyway, for everything from running a pressure washer, compressor for checking the tyres or a vacuum cleaner. The only thing to watch is the issue mentioned above about the plug working loose in some of them. The one that I know for sure is immune from this problem is the BG unswitched IP68 outlet. That has a very strong cable grip, and doesn't allow movement of the flex to ease the plug up. Just make sure it's the unswitched one, though, as that has the cable outlet inline with the socket; the switched one has it offset slightly.
If the price/level of disruption is too high, then forget about it, but there are often ways to run cables that don't mean ripping up floors and making a mess. Going through the loft space often works, dropping the cable down the wall outside, for example. You may even find that you can get a proper charge point installed, with the OLEV grant bearing a chunk of the cost.
MrBadger
Badger out
Do you have a photo/link to that as I think that is the exact one I reported the issue with.
