Ideal or Cost Effective Home Charging

[EddyandVicky]

...it automatically sets the charge to 32amps which I hope isn't actually correct.

As others have said, all that means is the tail tells the car it can accept 32A, when charging your charging screen will report 32/32
Dial it down from the car's charging screen to whatever you want, e.g.20A, screen will report 20/32.

This is drop-shipped from China.
When you receive it open up the plug and make sure all terminal screws are done up nice and snug so this doesn't happen.

 

[Vostok]

This is drop-shipped from China.
When you receive it open up the plug and make sure all terminal screws are done up nice and snug so this doesn't happen.
View attachment 779430

Yowser… that’s not good.

 

[Nobody Famous]

As others have said, all that means is the tail tells the car it can accept 32A, when charging your charging screen will report 32/32
Dial it down from the car's charging screen to whatever you want, e.g.20A, screen will report 20/32.

This is drop-shipped from China.
When you receive it open up the plug and make sure all terminal screws are done up nice and snug so this doesn't happen.
View attachment 779430

Source: ?

Tesla Gen2 Mobile Connector Adaptor - EVchargers - EV cables and adaptors

Tesla Gen2 Mobile Connector Adaptor, with selectable 20A 3pin & 5pin and 32A 3pin & 5pin plugs to suit everyone's needs when charging at 20A or 32A outlets, single or 3 phase. Feeling tempted to buy for a few dollars cheaper from another supplier? What if this happens on your first charge? How...

evchargers.com.au

 

[schnaxxl]

I had an electrician at my place today - I had asked for a quote for installing the charger in the backyard + upgrade to 3 phase at the front
he reckoned $5k+ just for the upgrade
very sobering
my usual electrician is coming this week with another guy who has the level 2 qual, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out
I might be going with single-phase at home

 

[meloccom]

I had an electrician at my place today - I had asked for a quote for installing the charger in the backyard + upgrade to 3 phase at the front
he reckoned $5k+ just for the upgrade
very sobering
my usual electrician is coming this week with another guy who has the level 2 qual, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out
I might be going with single-phase at home

If you can get 16A or better single phase at home you should be fine.
10A single phase is a bit too slow as nearly half of it is lost to charger overhead, so 16A will in many cases charge at twice the rate.
I have been charging on 24A single phase at home for 7 years and have only needed to quick charge a couple of times to avoid a long wait.

 

[aegidius]

The 3-phase upgrade will be the killer on expense. Most people will get along fine with single phase to the EVSE, as long as it is 20A or more. My install entailed an upgrade to the service fuse and main breaker but still came in under $800. Only 20A because of the length of run from the street.

 

[Leeroy]

I’m going through the 3ph as we speak. Quotes varied by thousands and some electricians simply didn’t want to do the job. If you’re upgrading just for 1 car it probably is OTT, however you may have other considerations as I do, multi ev charging, a/c etc. My dad has a saying along the lines of ‘the first expense is usually the least ‘

As others have indicated, most people get away with 16,20 or 32amp charging on single phase. It can be an issue if you’re trying to do 2 and switch the over on however! YMMV

 

[Wol747]

I had an electrician at my place today - I had asked for a quote for installing the charger in the backyard + upgrade to 3 phase at the front
he reckoned $5k+ just for the upgrade
very sobering
my usual electrician is coming this week with another guy who has the level 2 qual, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out
I might be going with single-phase at home

I agree with the others - unless you are doing a full charge-worth's driving every single day you really don't need the extra speed.

 

[MickV]

I have 3 Phase already at home and have purchased the Wall Connector as my plan for charging.
I work from home generally and the car will be here with me almost all the time. Have 10 kWp Solar System.

I'm thinking of setting the car to charge between 10am - 2pm every day when I'm generally exporting 4-5 kWh to the grid at this time on a normal sunny day.

Any thoughts on this from people who are more educated that me?

 

[Leeroy]

Depending on your inverter, there is a free for now charge hq beta. That would work with your wall connector.

If you don’t have a supported inverter there is a zappi in both 3ph and single ph which supports sending excess solar straight to the car, but is a different wall connector and almost double the price.

 

[paulp]

I have 3 Phase already at home and have purchased the Wall Connector as my plan for charging.
I work from home generally and the car will be here with me almost all the time. Have 10 kWp Solar System.

I'm thinking of setting the car to charge between 10am - 2pm every day when I'm generally exporting 4-5 kWh to the grid at this time on a normal sunny day.

Any thoughts on this from people who are more educated that me?

Same here, but I now drive a substantial amount less than when I had a city office, so fill my cars easily and still export. I fill at 8amps 3 phase, which suggests the 3 phase isnt necessary in my circumstance. In summer I fill once a week as the days are long. In winter I tend to put a small amount in daily.

 

[MickV]

Depending on your inverter, there is a free for now charge hq beta. That would work with your wall connector.

If you don’t have a supported inverter there is a zappi in both 3ph and single ph which supports sending excess solar straight to the car, but is a different wall connector and almost double the price.

Great info. Thanks Leeroy. I have a compatible inverter so as soon as the vehicle gets here - I will jump on this and see how it goes.

 

[Leeroy]

Great info. Thanks Leeroy. I have a compatible inverter so as soon as the vehicle gets here - I will jump on this and see how it goes.

I’m guessing you’ve found the info if you know your inverter is supported, but it’s pretty active on Facebook.

 

[ianhutch1]

I drive the same round trip every day which is 70km so im wondering what the best charging solution will be for me. We have solar which tops out at 5kwh which I would prefer to use if possible but I'll be working most of the week with the exception of Friday afternoon and weekend so I'll be limited as to when I can use it and we dont have off-peak tariffs here in WA. I do have 3 phase at home and I love toys so of course I was thinking of getting the Tesla charger but now im thinking its going to be overkill so would appreciate some advice.

 

[Leeroy]

If you’re only doing 70km x4 each week plus maybe some errands you may only need to charge once a week anyway. With 3 ph and the Tesla wall charger you can get the full 11kw charge rate, but with 5kw solar you’d never use that if you were trying to stick strictly to solar.
If you did want solar only, what you’re trying to achieve could be done with a 32amp plug and supplied UMC which saves the cost of the wall charger, but doesn’t look as neat. This is usually the cheapest and would look like my setup below.
It does require manually adjusting the charge rate when the sun is out, which is not to everyone’s liking hence charge hq or zappi.

 

[Wol747]

I have 3 Phase already at home and have purchased the Wall Connector as my plan for charging.
I work from home generally and the car will be here with me almost all the time. Have 10 kWp Solar System.

I'm thinking of setting the car to charge between 10am - 2pm every day when I'm generally exporting 4-5 kWh to the grid at this time on a normal sunny day.

Any thoughts on this from people who are more educated that me?

Being retired I can charge at any time, but I do exactly what you advocate. I have a wall charger and set the current to a low amps setting, charge 10.00 daily to make most use of the sun.
Having said that (and not intending to gloat [much]) I inadvertently bought my 2020 MS when Musk must’ve been on his usual weed and it came with free supercharging, so just to feel good I call in at Heatherbrae when I’m going to Bunnings and that usually lasts me until the next trip.

 

[atj777]

If you have a Powerwall, have a look at the Autarkie Manager app (I mentioned it above). The app is just an interface to the data but they have servers that will monitor the Powerwall and any excess solar (solar not be used by the house, regardless of the SoC of the Powerwall) will be sent to the car. Now the charge current can be set remotely, Aurtakie Manager adjusts the current to just use the excess solar. As the excess solar increases, it charges faster, and if the excess solar decreases or stops (e.g. clouds), it reduces the charge rate or stops charging.

It works well.

 

[Joe__B]

Depending on your inverter, there is a free for now charge hq beta. That would work with your wall connector.

If you don’t have a supported inverter there is a zappi in both 3ph and single ph which supports sending excess solar straight to the car, but is a different wall connector and almost double the price.

I am waiting for my M3 and was looking at the Charge HQ as an alternative to Zappi - my main objective is to divert excess solar to the car as it will parked at home almost all day. I noticed on the Charge HQ site that the Tesla wall charger isn't supported (and likely won't be):

 

[Leeroy]

Have a look in the brackets, the wall connector isn’t but the car IS. So my understand of this is, you can control the start/stop via the car IF you have a supported inverter but this is only on Tesla vehicles. They have a fairly active Facebook page, so you could confirm with them there?

 

[Joe__B]

Have a look in the brackets, the wall connector isn’t but the car IS. So my understand of this is, you can control the start/stop via the car IF you have a supported inverter but this is only on Tesla vehicles. They have a fairly active Facebook page, so you could confirm with them there?

Yep good point - I will try to find out. My inverter is on the list so I just need to decide on a wall charger. The Tesla one seems to be a lot cheaper than smart ones like Zappi and Smappee so worth the time to find out. Will update here if I get a definitive answer.