Mobile charger

[Hotwheelzz]

Hello everyone,

Just tried my Tesla mobile charger 5-15 plug and have been getting a consistent 12A for charging. Has anyone experienced 16A when charging with the 5-15 (110v) plug? I recently tried a parallel brand charger made for J1772 vehicles with my adapter, and I was getting 16A on that. Does anyone know if Tesla chargers are limited to 12A on 5-15 plugs regardless if the breaker/system is a 20A?

Thank you

 

[E90alex]

As the naming suggests, 5-15 is for up to max 15A peak. Meaning 12A max sustained load. The Tesla 5-15 plug is hard wired to tell the UMC to only pull 12A max.

The circuit may be 20A to account for multiple devices running on the same circuit, but each receptacle is only rated for 15A.

 

[exxxviii]

Hello everyone,

Just tried my Tesla mobile charger 5-15 plug and have been getting a consistent 12A for charging. Has anyone experienced 16A when charging with the 5-15 (110v) plug? I recently tried a parallel brand charger made for J1772 vehicles with my adapter, and I was getting 16A on that. Does anyone know if Tesla chargers are limited to 12A on 5-15 plugs regardless if the breaker/system is a 20A?

Thank you

Ditto above. If you get the 5-20 pigtail, it will charge at 16A. https://shop.tesla.com/product/gen-2-nema-adapters

 

[Hotwheelzz]

As the naming suggests, 5-15 is for up to max 15A peak. Meaning 12A max sustained load. The Tesla 5-15 plug is hard wired to tell the UMC to only pull 12A max.

The circuit may be 20A to account for multiple devices running on the same circuit, but each receptacle is only rated for 15A.

Ditto above. If you get the 5-20 pigtail, it will charge at 16A. https://shop.tesla.com/product/gen-2-nema-adapters

Oh wow! This is great info!! I appreciate sharing the link for it! Too bad Tesla doesn't include the 5-20 pigtail with the original pack, as well as a small little plug adapter. I guess "creating revenue" is also a must!! Thanks again

 

[ucmndd]

as well as a small little plug adapter.

I’m not 100% sure what you mean by this, but the point of the separate adapters is safety, not revenue generation. Each one is internally configured to draw the safe and allowable amount of power from the circuit that corresponds with the receptacle.

A “small little plug adapter” works around this safety limit and potentially allows one to do something stupid (like pull 16 continuous amps on a circuit only rated for 12).

 

[Hotwheelzz]

I’m not 100% sure what you mean by this, but the point of the separate adapters is safety, not revenue generation. Each one is internally configured to draw the safe and allowable amount of power from the circuit that corresponds with the receptacle.

A “small little plug adapter” works around this safety limit and potentially allows one to do something stupid (like pull 16 continuous amps on a circuit only rated for 12).

A 12 amps circuit would most likely be the case when using a 15 amp breaker. It would be impossible to draw 16 continuous amp on a 12 rated circuit. Plus, some chargers have built in sensors that detect the amp rating automatically. The charger I originally bought had that function.

 

[ucmndd]

It would be impossible to draw 16 continuous amp on a 12 rated circuit.

Oh, it’s definitely not impossible.

Plus, some chargers have built in sensors that detect the amp rating automatically.

There is no way to electronically “detect” the amp rating of a circuit. It doesn’t work that way. That’s why we have different receptacles that correspond to amperage ratings, and why you need the correct mobile connector receptacle/pigtail for the outlet you want to use. The “sensor” that tells the EVSE how much current it can draw is in those adapters.