Could have been as above - polarity issue (live and neutral on opposite pins)
13amp plug in Polarity tester
13amp plug in Polarity tester
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Is your best friend a 3 pin plug?
- Thread starter elecTED
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WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
If you will only (ever) charge at the Relies then you could just buy the right one. I've used a 13AMP Fault Check Plug (and adaptor) [as per @NorfolkMustard post] in France to check polarity (I was adding some 13 AMP sockets to holiday home for convenience) which was how I discovered that Live/Neutral swap in France was a lottery.
If you might charge elsewhere personally I've buy both.
Nah, Car will detect that and not charge, along with a number of other "not completely safe" scenarios
My approach to that, in the past, has been to try charging at the neighbours ... and if that works give them a bottle of wine or two
If car charges and then stops after a while I dial-down the AMPs (in case it is sustained power causing some overheating/etc. that is the problem)I’m seeing 10 miles being added per hour using a normal 3 pin plug which makes the maths easy. On a 10 hour overnight charge one hundred miles are added which is more than our sufficient for our typical day-to-day needs.
Unless you are doing long daily commutes (80-100+ miles) you may not need a wall connector at all.
Unless you are doing long daily commutes (80-100+ miles) you may not need a wall connector at all.
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
I think points to consider:
If charging outside, having to coil up the UMC when wet / horrible if you want to take it with you (or any issues with leaving it "permanently connected outside")
Wear and Tear on the UMC - its an expensive cable to replace
Continuous running on 13AMP wiring.
Loss of efficiency - 13AMP not as efficient as 7kW for charging, although difference might only be pennies. If pre-conditioning the car that will eat a large percentage of the available power.
Those odd occasions when you do come home empty and need to go out on a long trip again tomorrow. Moot if a decent 3rd party charger / Supercharger nearby.
Cheap alternative might be a Commando Socket, with a "permanently attached" cable
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
I was thinking of Commando Socket plus a Commando-to-type-2 cable, looks like they are about £200 ... so maybe not much in the way of savings, but that would offset wear-and-tear on UMC (plus having to coil it up wet to put in the car when needed etc)
All good valid points.
Perhaps also make use of the OLEV grant to get a home charger installed at reasonable cost to give you that extra charging boost at home. The OLEV grant won’t be around forever.
ACarneiro
Active Member
Not having a home charger is, in my opinion, a serious compromise on one of the best things of having an EV: the never having to worry about “filling up” again.
In the grand scheme of things, the compromise you get from saving a miserly £500 (a pittance in the scheme of the whole price of the car) is just not very reasonable.
I do commute 100 miles every day, to be fair, but even for those who don’t I really can’t see that the saving justify the severe impairment in the experience.
In the grand scheme of things, the compromise you get from saving a miserly £500 (a pittance in the scheme of the whole price of the car) is just not very reasonable.
I do commute 100 miles every day, to be fair, but even for those who don’t I really can’t see that the saving justify the severe impairment in the experience.
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
For folk that do 10 - 20 miles a day then 13 AMP plug is sufficient ...
Model-S is only around 5-6 MPH on 13 AMP, but Model-3 = 9-10 MPH ... so for folk that are home for 12 hours each night they could get 120 miles charge a night off 13 AMP.
But personally I wouldn't want to do that. I would be worried whether my 13 AMP socket was going to safely deliver flat-out, night-after-night, and also there must be some loss of efficiency 13AMP vs. 7kW ... and not enough power at 13 AMP to do both Climate and Charge (if Climate ever needed to be done whilst charging continued) (and the wear-and-tear on the expensive UMC cable)
But if I only did 20 miles a day I would probably think twice about another 500-quid ... particularly as the price of EVs falls. Its one thing to spend £500 on a £100K Model-S ... doesn't seem very expensive on a £50K Model-S ... but on a £20K BEV and a low-mileage driver with no significant fuel-savings to offset against ... I'm not sure
Does anyone know the cost for a spare Tesla UMC?
Also, what is the difference between these two cables (second cable almost twice the cost)?
Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle ($275) - assuming this is equivalent to the UMC cable we get with UK M3
Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle
Corded Mobile Connector ($520)
Corded Mobile Connector
"improved charging speed" - by how much?
Also, I'm thinking of carrying around some heavy duty extension cable (and a dribox) in the car (to borrow juice on extended visits to family).
What length should I go for? 5m, 7m, 8m, 10m or 15m?
Just want to avoid lugging around unecessarly long cables as already have a umc and type2 cable in the trunk cable loot box.
What length should I go for? 5m, 7m, 8m, 10m or 15m?
Just want to avoid lugging around unecessarly long cables as already have a umc and type2 cable in the trunk cable loot box.
I am currently charging my M3 (had for 3 weeks) off a standard 13A circuit. As mentioned, it charges at between 9-10 mph. My outlet is very close to the fuse board and garage door; it charges reliably and does not get warm. It’s fine for my day-to-day use, but I do tend to do the odd 200mile+ return journey.
I would like a 7kW charger, but living in an old house my supply and main fuse are rated at only 40A. I need to get the distribution company (WPD) to upgrade my supply (including the cable) - which will involve digging up my drive. My supply company will also need to replace my meter. I have a Tesla supercharger within 5 miles and destination charges at most locations I travel to - so wondering whether to push ahead. Has anyone in a WPD region had their supply upgraded?
I would like a 7kW charger, but living in an old house my supply and main fuse are rated at only 40A. I need to get the distribution company (WPD) to upgrade my supply (including the cable) - which will involve digging up my drive. My supply company will also need to replace my meter. I have a Tesla supercharger within 5 miles and destination charges at most locations I travel to - so wondering whether to push ahead. Has anyone in a WPD region had their supply upgraded?
The length really depends what the socket arrangements are where you are going to charge. In the four years I’ve had EVs I’ve bought a 20m outdoor cable reel (only used twice) and a 5m extension (used many times). So, on that basis I now only carry the 5m in the car, and only take the 20m when I know I’ll definitely need it.
Whatever you take you can guarantee it will always be about 20cm too short.
Ta, think 10m should cover my needs. My periodic overnights are at the in-laws so that will be the main use case for the cable and top-up of (free) juice
Might be a little too cheeky to ask them to install an external 32A commando socket...
ACarneiro
Active Member
The majority of the cost will be the digging and covering it back up again.
if I may be so bold, I would enquire to the cost of upgrading to a 3 phase supply.
If it’s little more, I would consider going down that route.
The future is electric (cars, heat pumps, etc) and you may find that 3x100A will future proof you a bit more.
Thanks for the advice.
It has been suggested to me that they may be required to do a single phase upgrade to 80 or 100A for free. I plan to call them this week to find out more. If it’s not a free upgrade, then the suggestion of going to 3-phase sounds a good one.
MrBadger
Badger out
until you see the price... it rises rapidly from £3k and don't be surprised if its several times that.
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