Model 3 Charging Questions. *Looking at purchasing*

[TexasIronMan]

Hello,

I am a long time Tesla fan (as I am sure most of us are). I am looking into buying my first Tesla within the next few months however I do have a few concerns with charging. The house I am renting right now only has standard outlets in the garage (no washer/dryer plugs) which means I would have to use trickle charging. Is it even worth getting one at that point knowing I would only be able to do trickle charging only?

However, I was curious if there was possibly an extension cord on the market that could connect to a washer/dryer plug to run one out to my garage. The laundry room is decently close to the garage and if possible or if need be I could run one out there.

The closest supercharger is about 20 miles from me so I was thinking if I used trickle charging when I got home and went to the supercharger at least once a week I could possibly make it work. I drive about 30 minutes to work everyday.

Just looking at getting some input/ideas. Thank you!

 

[MJP.P3D-]

I’m on my second Tesla with 4-1/2 years of ownership only charging from a standard household outlet. Short answer, with a 30 minute commute, you’ll be fine. 12 hours of charging nets 60 miles of charge....

 

[garu]

Yes you can find 14-30 or 14-50 extension cords on Amazon.
Charging on a standard outlet might also be fine if u drive less than 50 miles a day

 

[SageBrush]

Short answer, with a 30 minute commute, you’ll be fine. 12 hours of charging nets 60 miles of charge....

This
And if the 120v outlet is of the 20 Amp variety (16 Amp continuous), the miles charged per hour goes up ~ 25% to about 75 miles a day. You do need to buy the adapter from Tesla for ~ $40

 

[Shelby16]

I currently charge off my dryer plug. Bought a splitter and the whole 9 yards. Just can’t run the dryer and charge at the same time don’t have that good of a setup in my older home.

 

[TexasIronMan]

I currently charge off my dryer plug. Bought a splitter and the whole 9 yards. Just can’t run the dryer and charge at the same time don’t have that good of a setup in my older home.

How long is it taking to charge from that?

 

[augkuo]

So your 110/120V plug will give you about 3 miles per hour, a dryer plug is 240V and assuming you have a 30 amp circuit breaker 14 miles/hour. Just make sure your extension cord will be able to handle the current that you've selected to charge.

 

[SigNC]

So your 110/120V plug will give you about 3 miles per hour, a dryer plug is 240V and assuming you have a 30 amp circuit breaker 14 miles/hour. Just make sure your extension cord will be able to handle the current that you've selected to charge.

that's about right for a model X. For a model 3 you'll get more like 5 off a wall outlet and in the 20s off a dryer plug.

 

[GZDongles]

I’m on my second Tesla with 4-1/2 years of ownership only charging from a standard household outlet. Short answer, with a 30 minute commute, you’ll be fine. 12 hours of charging nets 60 miles of charge....

I also just charge from a 120V 15A circuit in my garage. Something else to keep in mind is that you don't actually need to completely make up for your commute if you have a level 2 or 3 charger to use on the weekends. Say you had a 80 mile round-trip commute and could only plug in 12 hours per day, or you had some after work errands that used some additional range. You would use 100 miles more than you could gain by charging throughout the week, but you could just fill that up with a few hours on a level 2 or a short time on a supercharger each weekend or when you have time during the week.

My town has free level 2 chargers in the parking lots and parking garages. Parking is free on Sundays so I'll go do my grocery shopping and hang out at a coffee shop for an hour or two on the weekend if I happen to use more range during the week than I can replenish from the wall outlet.

 

[ivan801]

Your location matters a lot. It appears you are in Texas, so you should be fine. If you live in Canada, then no. Because in low temps almost all of the available power will go to heating the battery. By low temps I mean -15 C (or 0 F) or something like that. If you get frost on your windows a couple of times per year then you will be OK.

Also, if you have 120V 20A outlet it will be much better that 15A. You just have to buy the correct plug from Tesla. Charger comes with 15A plug, but you can order 20A for less than $50.

 

[GZDongles]

Your location matters a lot. It appears you are in Texas, so you should be fine. If you live in Canada, then no. Because in low temps almost all of the available power will go to heating the battery. By low temps I mean -15 C (or 0 F) or something like that. If you get frost on your windows a couple of times per year then you will be OK.

Also, if you have 120V 20A outlet it will be much better that 15A. You just have to buy the correct plug from Tesla. Charger comes with 15A plug, but you can order 20A for less than $50.

That's a great point! I'm likely getting a 6-20 outlet for this winter to help with preheating the car and faster cold weather charging.

In theory the car can use 16kW from preheating (7kW from the motor-based battery heating plus 7kW from the resistive heating plus 2kW from the air conditioning to dehumidify), but in reality it would only use that full power level for a short time unless it's well below 0F.

 

[Dmagyar]

Just to set the record straight, from a L14-30R receptacle (4 wire 30 amp 240 volt) on a thirty amp circuit, you can expect 22/miles/per hour of charge, not 14.. (charging at 24 amps).

 

[TexasIronMan]

that's about right for a model X. For a model 3 you'll get more like 5 off a wall outlet and in the 20s off a dryer plug.

So you are saying I do the whole extension cord from a dryer I could ~20 miles/hour and ~5 miles/hour off a 20V plug? Just want to make sure. If that is the case then I will definitely be going the extension cord route. However would I need more than just the extension cord to charge from a dryer plug?

 

[TexasIronMan]

Your location matters a lot. It appears you are in Texas, so you should be fine. If you live in Canada, then no. Because in low temps almost all of the available power will go to heating the battery. By low temps I mean -15 C (or 0 F) or something like that. If you get frost on your windows a couple of times per year then you will be OK.

Also, if you have 120V 20A outlet it will be much better that 15A. You just have to buy the correct plug from Tesla. Charger comes with 15A plug, but you can order 20A for less than $50.

So if the temperature is about 0F then the battery is perfectly fine and doesn’t need to warm up as much. However if I can only charge it 10 hours a day off a standard plug and my commute is about 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back then I wouldn’t be able to suffice off that?

 

[SigNC]

So you are saying I do the whole extension cord from a dryer I could ~20 miles/hour and ~5 miles/hour off a 20V plug? Just want to make sure. If that is the case then I will definitely be going the extension cord route. However would I need more than just the extension cord to charge from a dryer plug?

I would recommend you install a wall charger or a 14-50 outlet to charge off of. If your dryer is in the garage or something you will need a 14-30 or 10-30 plug for the mobile connector depending on how old your dryer plug is. Even then, unplugging and replugging your dryer will get old. A dedicated charging outlet is well worth the spend.

 

[Xambler]

So you are saying I do the whole extension cord from a dryer I could ~20 miles/hour and ~5 miles/hour off a 20V plug? Just want to make sure. If that is the case then I will definitely be going the extension cord route. However would I need more than just the extension cord to charge from a dryer plug?

I consistently got 5-6 mph charge on normal 120v, 23 on 240v 30 amp (ie your dryer outlet). You could get by easily on 120...maybe topping off to 90% at a supercharger occasionally if needed...depends more on miles driven per day than time spent driving...I get 360 miles per charge driving around town mostly 45mph traffic), less obviously on freeways.

 

[El joe]

Good thread as someone who is in the same boat. I have a Bolt (cue the boos) and I trickle charge but rent and can’t get a level two charger set up in my garage. Wondering if I’ll be ok moving to a Tesla soon and this has really helped.

 

[Sailnavy]

Tesla will be very similar to a Bolt from a charging at home perspective. With Tesla, you get to use the SuperCharging network which makes long trips much more doable.

you can get by with 110v at home, as long as you’re not doing tons of driving. I recommend 220v in the HPWC if you can swing it, just for simplicity.

 

[augkuo]

This link has the same info and some useful illustrations of plugs and charging rates -

Tesla Model 3/Y Home Charging Guide – TeslaTap

 

[El joe]

Tesla will be very similar to a Bolt from a charging at home perspective. With Tesla, you get to use the SuperCharging network which makes long trips much more doable.

you can get by with 110v at home, as long as you’re not doing tons of driving. I recommend 220v in the HPWC if you can swing it, just for simplicity.

Makes perfect sense. Thanks!