Lots of summer road trips - how to maximize

[pshifrin]

Have you actually ever charged at 120 vac? If yes, then you know you are not likely to gain much mileage. You'll mainly be replacing the the charge that is lost through idle usage.

I only charged on 120 once, just to see how it would do because of where I was parked and not moving for a few days. All other times are on 240/50.

 

[outdoors]

I charge often in garages with just 120V 15A circuit. Even in winter. While traveling in VRBO's and hotels that don't have traditional charging. Even unplugged Christmas lights(with permission). Yes it has to be by itself on circuit for a good result, and I think most people that encounter issues away from home aren't aware of the electrical of the home they are in. Most might have tried it once and said this is crap and said it doesn't work vs. me who has had great success many a time.

I don't encounter the idle usage problem. My car sleeps, and gets a great charge. Even in winter does pretty well enough to take me from base of a ski town to the mountain and back and around town. Skiing is usually done in winter. So still cold. I pick up a little extra to get me back to the supercharger network. Call it a pretty nice thing vs gas pumps and rent a cars.

On the VRBO's I ask first. Leave whatever I calculate the $ spent on the table in an envelope. I only had one say no. Didn't like EV's. I found another place. Done at least 50-60 times. Keeps us away from always the supercharger network locations.

 

[sgalla04]

Despite the warnings against using the Mobile Connector outside in rain, there was no trouble for me last year other than tripping the GFCI in the outlet.

Of course, your mileage may vary. I have a second MC that I leave at home, so if I permanently destroy one with rain I can still charge at home without having to stretch my Clipper Creek cable messily over the car while waiting for a new MC to arrive. A wall connector of course would work the same way if you have one (or a J1772 charger in a more convenient location than mine). And honestly, if the rain from a hurricane remnant isn't enough to damage it, I think it's a pretty low risk to leave it outside in normal Maine weather (just make sure it's not lying on the ground). Most likely the rain in Maine won't strain the phantom drain.

Now, In my case we've been using our marina for literally generations, so they know me, and they're quick to do what they can for a reliable customer who doesn't trash their boats. But I would go ahead and call yours to ask if they're cool with plugging in somewhere for a little extra cash. It's Maine, where (just for example) places that sell well pumps make a little extra by selling beer too, so it's probably safe to assume that everyone is up for a little side hustle. Plus it gets them thinking about installing actual chargers, and it won't be long before that will be a selling point for them.

If you end up just leaving the car there unplugged, you should turn off sentry mode. It may drain more than 2% per day.

I appreciate the info. Also, @jcanoe I attended my local virtual Tesla Orientation tonight. Someone asked about using the mobile connector outdoors. The official Tesla response was the mobile connector is rated to be used outdoors in the rain/snow, but should not be left on the ground and should only be used with a weatherproofed receptacle. Also someone asked about surge protection. I have a whole home surge protector, but the Tesla answer was there is no need to worry about anything as the car has built in surge protection.

 

[Tman317]

I charge often in garages with just 120V 15A circuit. Even in winter. While traveling in VRBO's and hotels that don't have traditional charging. Even unplugged Christmas lights(with permission). Yes it has to be by itself on circuit for a good result, and I think most people that encounter issues away from home aren't aware of the electrical of the home they are in. Most might have tried it once and said this is crap and said it doesn't work vs. me who has had great success many a time.

I don't encounter the idle usage problem. My car sleeps, and gets a great charge. Even in winter does pretty well enough to take me from base of a ski town to the mountain and back and around town. Skiing is usually done in winter. So still cold. I pick up a little extra to get me back to the supercharger network. Call it a pretty nice thing vs gas pumps and rent a cars.

On the VRBO's I ask first. Leave whatever I calculate the $ spent on the table in an envelope. I only had one say no. Didn't like EV's. I found another place. Done at least 50-60 times. Keeps us away from always the supercharger network locations.

Outdoors,
I'm new to the Y, had mine only a week. When you say your car sleeps do you do sorting special to make sure it sleeps? Is it just shutting off the HVAC system?

 

[outdoors]

Outdoors,
I'm new to the Y, had mine only a week. When you say your car sleeps do you do sorting special to make sure it sleeps? Is it just shutting off the HVAC system?

Not in any order:

Don't constantly check the app for any reason that is unnecessary. Even more important on the 120V. This wakes the car up. Get's the connectors ready for you to drive it. Then it waits for a while to go back to sleep. Then un connects the connectors. Do this 4 or 5 times a day you are going to lose miles for no reason. I know we like to look at the app, but you get the idea. If at a hotel consider turning off bluetooth. Often I can connect from the second floor looking at parking lot. People used to complain the car took a bit to get ready. See a dark screen for a few seconds. So this is the result. It is always ready, but at a bit of a cost.

Yes sentry sucks miles. It's up to you on the value of it. I don't need sentry in a national forest to look at raccoons running around a campsite. Would be really cool however.

I also use TeslaFi. Touchy subject for some. I know the steps to make my cars sleep. Some say it keeps cars from sleeping. If you do it right it will help you monitor energy usage etc. Some say why. Most don't use the cars as much as I do/ If you do it wrong you will join the group of people that don't enjoy it. Data is cool for some for instance.

Days driving data from Tesla Fi

245 Days 22 Hours 14 Minutes

I also am hesitant to upgrade from time to time my software as I like what I have with the sleep profiles and range I get out of that software update.

 

[WattsappMTL]

That's not true at all. See all my posts above in this thread. If you're talking about winter in Canada, yeah maybe it will take the whole 1.4 kW to keep the battery warm, but in the Maine summer you gain about 4 mph with a 120 V 15 A circuit. That's with sentry mode on. Takes about 3 days for a full charge.

Speaking of winter in Canada, I had to use a 115V outlet to get a bit of extra charge back in February. Outside temp was pretty cold, and in 24 hours I got about 15% SoC added. I did the math and that works out to about 50% charging efficiency; the rest of the power went to running the car and keeping the battery warm. Unless you've got lots of time, 240V is certainly the way to go!

 

[angus[Y]oung]

Speaking of winter in Canada, I had to use a 115V outlet to get a bit of extra charge back in February. Outside temp was pretty cold, and in 24 hours I got about 15% SoC added. I did the math and that works out to about 50% charging efficiency; the rest of the power went to running the car and keeping the battery warm. Unless you've got lots of time, 240V is certainly the way to go!

@WattsappMTL actually based on my experience, that would be a little worse than 50%:

If you got 15% in 24 hours that's about 0.625 % per hour (or five eights of a percent per hour).

We have been using standard-outlet charging only so far (not driving a lot due to the pandemic--may revisit later), and my observations have been at about 1.5% per hour, in a warm (not heated, but warm) garage.

1.5% / 0.625% = 2.4x slower, meaning an efficiency of 1/2.4 * 100 = about 42% in your cold weather charging session.