Is my math correct?

[Dawood Salman]

My Model 3 is supposed to arrive by the holidays. An electrician quoted me $15k for the house electrical board (and service capacity) upgrade - is this too much?

I did some math and looking for confirmation from current Model 3 RWD owners that use mobile connector (regular not the NEMA 1450)

272 miles per full charge approximately

- 190 miles commute (5 days)
+ 168 miles at home charging (7 days x 8 hours a day x 3 miles an hour)

At the end of the week I should have 250 miles

Thank you!

 

[jjrandorin]

My Model 3 is supposed to arrive by the holidays. An electrician quoted me $15k for the house electrical board (and service capacity) upgrade - is this too much?

I did some math and looking for confirmation from current Model 3 RWD owners that use mobile connector (regular not the NEMA 1450)

272 miles per full charge approximately

- 190 miles commute (5 days)
+ 168 miles at home charging (7 days x 8 hours a day x 3 miles an hour)

At the end of the week I should have 250 miles

Thank you!

If you are able to charge on 5-15 (a regular outlet) and its not shared with anything / tripping, its not 3 miles an hour range, its more like 5 miles an hour range.

 

[Sophias_dad]

An electrician quoted me $15k for the house electrical board (and service capacity) upgrade - is this too much?

Yes, that's the Tesla Tax at work. It sounds like a 120V outlet is all you need. I'd be interested in hearing what 15k would buy you, and if you even need an upgrade to the panel or service capacity.

Additionally, you might be able to have an electrician convert an outlet to 240V for cheap if you either already have a dedicated 120V outlet in the garage or can decommission any other outlets on the same circuit.

 

[ay221]

for around $3400 they upgrade and moved my panel from the inside garage to outside to meet code along with all new breakers. From 100 amps to 200 amps. Included a 240V plug installed.

 

[Tronguy]

So, here's your math.

A model 3 gets about 250 W-hr per mile.

The Bog-Standard Tesla Mobile Connector (which you have to buy.. maybe) when, plugged into a 120 VAC socket, will give you 12A. (If you have a 20A circuit, common for garages, you can tell because in the socket one of the "blade" receptacles has an option for a horizontal blade), you can get the right adapter for the TMC so you can run 16A, instead.

12A @ 120 VAC = 1440 Watts.

So, 1440 Watts/(250 W-hr/mile) = 5.76 Miles of Charge per Hour.

If you have a 20A socket in the garage (true for new construction these days), you can use the funky adapter with the right-angle blade and get 16A instead. That would be 16A @ 120 VAC = 1.92 kW

So, 1920W/(250 W-hr/mile) = 7.68 Miles of Charge Per Hour.

This is true when the ambient is above 60F or so; much colder than that, and much of the power goes into heating the battery, rather than charging the car. If it gets down to 0F in the garage, the car won't actually charge much.

FWIW, my 2018 M3 LR (75 kW-hr battery) actually does charge at 5 or 6 MpH when hooked up to a L1 socket.

It also charges at 45 Miles per Hour when hooked to a Tesla Wall Connector, which supplies 48A at 240 VAC. That 11.52 kW, so the charge rate is:

11.52 kW/(250 W-hr/mile) = 46 Miles per Hour charge rate. And, at that 11.52 kW, the battery gets warmed up pretty fast, so the initial charge rate might be somewhat slower, but it gets to that 46 M/hr rate pretty fast.

Finally: In New Jersey and Maryland, there are state subsidies to expand electrical panels for the purpose of charging electric cars. (I live in NJ, and therefore saw it in the newspaper; I checked Maryland for another poster on TMC and, wowzers, they got it, too.) Virginia is one of those semi-progressive states, so you might want to see if that $15k might be possibly reimbursable.

 

[MikeGracz]

So, here's your math.

A model 3 gets about 250 W-hr per mile.

The Bog-Standard Tesla Mobile Connector (which you have to buy.. maybe) when, plugged into a 120 VAC socket, will give you 12A. (If you have a 20A circuit, common for garages, you can tell because in the socket one of the "blade" receptacles has an option for a horizontal blade), you can get the right adapter for the TMC so you can run 16A, instead.

12A @ 120 VAC = 1440 Watts.

So, 1440 Watts/(250 W-hr/mile) = 5.76 Miles of Charge per Hour.

If you have a 20A socket in the garage (true for new construction these days), you can use the funky adapter with the right-angle blade and get 16A instead. That would be 16A @ 120 VAC = 1.92 kW

So, 1920W/(250 W-hr/mile) = 7.68 Miles of Charge Per Hour.

This is true when the ambient is above 60F or so; much colder than that, and much of the power goes into heating the battery, rather than charging the car. If it gets down to 0F in the garage, the car won't actually charge much.

FWIW, my 2018 M3 LR (75 kW-hr battery) actually does charge at 5 or 6 MpH when hooked up to a L1 socket.

It also charges at 45 Miles per Hour when hooked to a Tesla Wall Connector, which supplies 48A at 240 VAC. That 11.52 kW, so the charge rate is:

11.52 kW/(250 W-hr/mile) = 46 Miles per Hour charge rate. And, at that 11.52 kW, the battery gets warmed up pretty fast, so the initial charge rate might be somewhat slower, but it gets to that 46 M/hr rate pretty fast.

Finally: In New Jersey and Maryland, there are state subsidies to expand electrical panels for the purpose of charging electric cars. (I live in NJ, and therefore saw it in the newspaper; I checked Maryland for another poster on TMC and, wowzers, they got it, too.) Virginia is one of those semi-progressive states, so you might want to see if that $15k might be possibly reimbursable.

It's probably worth getting the 200 amp service, anyway. BTW the adpater for charging at 16 amps on a circuit that is protected by a 20 amp breaker and at least 12 AWG wire, is called the NEMA 5-20 adapter.

 

[ATPMSD]

An electrician quoted me $15k for the house electrical board (and service capacity)

If I understand you correctly, you asked the electrician to upgrade your electrical service such as going from a 100 amp service to 200 amps. If this is correct this involves the utility company and the electrician, and is one of the more expensive things you can do. Generally, this is not a good idea if your only reason for doing so is to charge an EV.

A 100 amp panel can generally support a 30-amp circuit, which allows you to charge your car at 5.7 kWh. Or as noted above, you can probably convert a 120V outlet to 240V.

 

[KMCC]

My Model 3 is supposed to arrive by the holidays. An electrician quoted me $15k for the house electrical board (and service capacity) upgrade - is this too much?

I did some math and looking for confirmation from current Model 3 RWD owners that use mobile connector (regular not the NEMA 1450)

272 miles per full charge approximately

- 190 miles commute (5 days)
+ 168 miles at home charging (7 days x 8 hours a day x 3 miles an hour)

At the end of the week I should have 250 miles

Thank you!

Your good to go! But get a different electrician..

 

[3sr+buyer]

My Model 3 is supposed to arrive by the holidays. An electrician quoted me $15k for the house electrical board (and service capacity) upgrade - is this too much?

While a new main panel (e.g. to upgrade from 100A to 200A service) is one of the more expensive things an electrician can do in a house, $15,000 seems to be way more than typical, unless you have a very large or unusual house. $15,000 seems like enough to upgrade the main panel, add a 240V line for EV charging (outlet or hardwired), and get a decent amount of solar panels.