How low can you go?

[MountainPass]

I agree. I have had my fair share of lowered car with aftermarket shocks/springs or coilover. Although the handling can be improved by changing the suspension, you will have to pay extra attention on where you are driving. At some point you are bound to scrape the bottom when leaving a steep driveway or a higher than normal bump in a parking structure.

In a normal ICE car, you would probably scrape the exhaust, or some plastic covering on the bottom of your car. I just don't want to risk scraping the battery pack and therefore causing expensive damage.

@MountainPass, I really love the products you have developed for the Model 3. Maybe I can buy a t-shirt to support you?

Of course you can! We will throw in some stickers too!

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Can't you use the UMC on a regular 120V outlet? Something overnight is better than nothing.

 

[YisSerL]

Can't you use the UMC on a regular 120V outlet? Something overnight is better than nothing.

Only if OP has access to a garage where he can charge safely overnight.

 

[StealthP3D]

Only if OP has access to a garage where he can charge safely overnight.

I've never heard of that rule. Here's where my car charged last night:

Yes, it's on 120V 15A regular wall outlet. No, it's not ideal if you do big miles because it can take a lot longer than overnight to fill back up. And, no, you don't need a garage (or even a carport) to safely charge at night. I just have to wait for all this snow and ice to go away before I install an outdoor pedestal for a HPWC so I can charge at 240V.

 

[billh13850]

I charge outdoors at my house all of the time, I don't have the charger set up yet, but I'm running an extension cord off my dryer 240v 30a outlet to just inside the garage door - I plug in the travel charger and run the cable under the door. Works just fine.

 

[Effopec]

We have 3 EV's in the family - My 3, wife's Cmax Energi and daughter's 500E, and also only have one 240V outlet. I park in the spot with the 240 and charge every night. My wife drops my other daughter off in the morning, then moves to my spot to charge during the day, then moves back out when she picks her up in the afternoon. My daughter parks on the driveway and charges with 110 every 2-3 days, though sometimes it takes >10 hrs. It works fine, though none of us put huge miles on the cars and we don't have evening rates so we can charge at any time. If we get a Y I may get an electrician in, but again with the miles we drive we could still get by. You could get 30 miles on 110 between midnight and 6, so that could help you keep a full tank.

 

[pitabun]

Serious question though, I purchased this bad boy when leasing my wife's 500e in '17 (Nema 14-50).

How in the word would I safely connect a spitter to allow me to charge 2x cars? Does anyone have a quick recommendation? This would solve so many problems!

 

[YisSerL]

I've never heard of that rule. Here's where my car charged last night:

View attachment 377411
Yes, it's on 120V 15A regular wall outlet. No, it's not ideal if you do big miles because it can take a lot longer than overnight to fill back up. And, no, you don't need a garage (or even a carport) to safely charge at night. I just have to wait for all this snow and ice to go away before I install an outdoor pedestal for a HPWC so I can charge at 240V.

I don't see a car in that picture.

Being in the Bay Area, where there are stories of break-in by the minute, I just never thought people would want to leave charging their car outside overnight.

What if someone tries to siphon electricity out of my charger port at night?

 

[StealthP3D]

Serious question though, I purchased this bad boy when leasing my wife's 500e in '17 (Nema 14-50).

How in the word would I safely connect a spitter to allow me to charge 2x cars? Does anyone have a quick recommendation? This would solve so many problems!

That type of EVSE must be on it's own circuit (no splitter). If you bought the Tesla HPWC you could daisy chain another to it on the same circuit. As it is, your best bet for two chargers is to add another circuit. The advantage of daisy-chaining two HPWC together is that they can intelligently power share the circuit up to to 80 amps (100 amp circuit). If you only have 50 amps they can share that.

 

[StealthP3D]

I don't see a car in that picture.

You can't see the car? This was the night before:

And, no, it's not a Model X, LOL!

 

[ℬête Noire]

I've had my LR M3 since last December and have always charged it when it went under 100 miles.

Today is the first full day I've used Tesla when under 100 miles; it started at 98 in the morning and now, pushing 7PM I'm at 10% and the battery level is still yellow.

I know it will take about 5-6% getting home, and I started wondering just now how many others have gambled going past 5%? Am I the only paranoid one not wanting to hit single digits?

I figure, having the extra range is silly if you don't fully use the battery, as you would have to charge more often. I charge my car about every 2-3 days.

My wife drives a Fiat 500e, and you can get an extra 10 or so extra miles if you disable the A/C. Is Tesla similar with it's radio, A/C & so forth?

A/C will cost about an extra 4-8% of your range, depending on temps and vehicle speed. Electric heat will cost near double that.

As for being concerned with yellow? Or even red? Nah, when you run out of colour at all that is when it gets a bit tense.

 

[pitabun]

That type of EVSE must be on it's own circuit (no splitter). If you bought the Tesla HPWC you could daisy chain another to it on the same circuit. As it is, your best bet for two chargers is to add another circuit. The advantage of daisy-chaining two HPWC together is that they can intelligently power share the circuit up to to 80 amps (100 amp circuit). If you only have 50 amps they can share that.

Thanks for letting me know, I cancelled this splitter before shipping! A shame, I spent so much money on that EVSE.

 

[StealthP3D]

Thanks for letting me know, I cancelled this splitter before shipping! A shame, I spent so much money on that EVSE.

The Clipper Creek unit does seem a little more expensive for what you get vs. the Tesla HPWC but it should be a good reliable unit. If you decidee it's less money to use two HPWC's vs. adding another circuit, you can always sell the Clipper Creek unit without a huge loss.