Model 3/Wall Connector charge current limited to 16 Amps?

[cowana]

I'm located in the Netherlands and have a Tesla Wall connector, 32A three phase and use it to charge my Model 3.

I recently upgraded the cabling to support 32A (Initially I installed the WC as 16A 3 phase). After the new cabling was connected I change the rotary pin from pos 5 (16A) to pos 8 (32A) with power off as per the manual, then powered up. However, the Model 3 will only charge at 16A. I read on other forums that my Tesla has memorised my home location charging maximum. It seems to be the opinion that this should however recalibrate if all is installed correctly. I've tried the rotary switch on some different maximums however the Tesla only wants to charge at 16A.

Anyone able to shed some light on my problem?

 

[eprosenx]

I'm located in the Netherlands and have a Tesla Wall connector, 32A three phase and use it to charge my Model 3.

I recently upgraded the cabling to support 32A (Initially I installed the WC as 16A 3 phase). After the new cabling was connected I change the rotary pin from pos 5 (16A) to pos 8 (32A) with power off as per the manual, then powered up. However, the Model 3 will only charge at 16A. I read on other forums that my Tesla has memorised my home location charging maximum. It seems to be the opinion that this should however recalibrate if all is installed correctly. I've tried the rotary switch on some different maximums however the Tesla only wants to charge at 16A.

Anyone able to shed some light on my problem?

Which model of M3 do you have? The SR/SR+ or the long range? I am guessing the SR/SR+ based on your charge speed.

I think the subtle thing here is the (3) icon next to the 16a.

Your car either has two 16a charger modules or three 16a charger modules.

I am guessing that because you are connected to 3 phase power it will never show 32a as each of the charging modules are connected across different phase legs.

Sadly, I hate to say it, but your upgrade likely won’t benefit you at all. Even at 16a three phase your charging capability was already maxed out.

 

[cowana]

Perhaps I have found the problem... According to Tesla, model 3 maximum charging is 11 kW, which is equivalent to 3 phase at 16 A... Is my logic correct?

 

[eprosenx]

Perhaps I have found the problem... According to Tesla, model 3 maximum charging is 11 kW, which is equivalent to 3 phase at 16 A... Is my logic correct?

Yes, correct.

And I think your car may be an SR/SR+ which only has two 16a charge modules which is 7.3kW. So it only uses to of the three phase legs to charge.

 

[cowana]

Which model of M3 do you have? The SR/SR+ or the long range? I am guessing the SR/SR+ based on your charge speed.

I think the subtle thing here is the (3) icon next to the 16a.

Your car either has two 16a charger modules or three 16a charger modules.

I am guessing that because you are connected to 3 phase power it will never show 32a as each of the charging modules are connected across different phase legs.

Sadly, I hate to say it, but your upgrade likely won’t benefit you at all. Even at 16a three phase your charging capability was already maxed out.

Thanks eprosenx! I think I realise this at the same time you replied. Thanks for confirming. I guess I need a bigger Tesla ;-)

 

[cowana]

I have a LR, which has a 11kW limit according to the EU Tesla specs...

 

[eprosenx]

I have a LR, which has a 11kW limit according to the EU Tesla specs...

Hrm, 47 km/h seems slow for 11kW. I wonder if the AC running or heat running caused that to indicate low in the picture?

Or worst case one of your three 16kW modules is not working?

 

[cowana]

It seemed to start slowly with the km/h rate, now it's up to 68km/h!

Thanks for the help!

 

[640k]

i'm confused by everyone in here saying the SR+ is only rated to 16A.

 

[eprosenx]

i'm confused by everyone in here saying the SR+ is only rated to 16A.

This user is located in Europe and has a “three phase” connector on the car and he has a three phase EVSE at home.

So things work very differently.

The car still either has two or three 16a chargers just like in the US, but how they are hooked up to the phase legs varies.

That extra “3” icon on his screen I think indicates that while it is only drawing 16 amps, it is doing that across two or three different phases simultaneously.

 

[Rocky_H]

He did say it's a long range, so the 16A on 3 phases in the European cars is equivalent to our 48A single phase on the North American cars.

 

[cowana]

Yes, I think you are right 3 x 16A = 48A (11kW). We also seem to have a different wall connector model here. Maximum is 32A, but it is three phase, although you can also connect it with 1, 2 or 3 phase. Do you not have any 3 phase chargers in the US? When looking at posts from the US, I have incorrectly assume that the wall connectors were wired up to a 3 phase supply.

 

[Runt8]

Yes, I think you are right 3 x 16A = 48A (11kW). We also seem to have a different wall connector model here. Maximum is 32A, but it is three phase, although you can also connect it with 1, 2 or 3 phase. Do you not have any 3 phase chargers in the US? When looking at posts from the US, I have incorrectly assume that the wall connectors were wired up to a 3 phase supply.

Sometimes commercial properties will have 3 phase service, but the vast majority of residential in the US uses 2 phase.

 

[gfunkdave]

Sometimes commercial properties will have 3 phase service, but the vast majority of residential in the US uses 2 phase.

It's actually single phase. Residences get opposite legs of the same phase, so the voltage between legs is 240 and the voltage from either leg to ground is 120.

Commercial locations, or apartment buildings with more than 2-3 units, get three phase service where the phase to phase voltage is 208 and the phase to ground voltage is 120.

 

[Runt8]

It's actually single phase. Residences get opposite legs of the same phase, so the voltage between legs is 240 and the voltage from either leg to ground is 120.

Commercial locations, or apartment buildings with more than 2-3 units, get three phase service where the phase to phase voltage is 208 and the phase to ground voltage is 120.

I stand corrected, thanks!

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

I stand corrected, thanks!

It's kinda confusing, since you appear to have two phases separated by 180 degrees. But this is a single center tapped transformer with a 240V secondary, fed by one phase off the grid. So if you ask me, residential service in the US should be called 240V and not 120V. If the neutral fails somewhere along the chain, and there's some load on the phases, you can get 240V at a '120V' outlet. The grid has 3 separate phases that are 120 degrees out of phase, so if they fed you off two of those, it would require two transformers and you would get 120/208V vs the 120/240.

And then even more confusing, the US tends to use the phase to phase voltage for 3ph service. So light commercial service is called 208V 3ph, but you're served with 3 separate 120V phases that are 120 degrees out. Europe appears to use the phase to ground voltage, so 240V 3PH is really ~400V phase to phase.

 

[darth_vad3r]

memorised my home location charging maximum.

(In general, for everyone's info, since OP 'solved' the "tiny (3) icon" issue...)

If you believe the car is memorizing the amperage setting, you only have to tap the '+' button in the car on the charge screen to change it.

If that doesn't work, then it's not a memory issue.

 

[yuhong]

This user is located in Europe and has a “three phase” connector on the car and he has a three phase EVSE at home.

So things work very differently.

The car still either has two or three 16a chargers just like in the US, but how they are hooked up to the phase legs varies.

That extra “3” icon on his screen I think indicates that while it is only drawing 16 amps, it is doing that across two or three different phases simultaneously.

I believe that the EU model 3 can do both 1x32A and 3x16A and automatically detect which one to use.

 

[eprosenx]

I believe that the EU model 3 can do both 1x32A and 3x16A and automatically detect which one to use.

That was my understanding as well. So presumably they put in some kind of switch to allow one of the chargers to switch from one phase to a different phase (so two chargers can be tied to a single phase).

My further question is: Can you charge at 48 amps single phase if you found a single phase charger that could provide that? Or is that not a "thing" in the EU? Does the standard (plugs/receptacles) even support that as an option? (my guess is no, I am guessing 32a per phase would be the limit).

Also- Tesla's in the US have a proprietary Tesla connector. Due to the fact that residential in the US is all single phase (well, split single phase) they optimized all the charging designs around large ampacity single phase charging. There are only two current carrying conductors in the cable itself. So when you install chargers in commercial locations you end up needing to split them up so they equally use all three phases. Typically in commercial installs, the phase to phase voltage is 208v and the phase to neutral is 120v. So the EV charging is nearly universally hooked up phase to phase which gives you 208v (residential setups are 240v phase to phase). You have to permute your chargers to have equal numbers on L1-L2, L2-L3, and L3-L1.

The Wall Connector in the US can take up to 80a of current and deliver it to a car (on a 100a breaker). All current production US model Tesla's though only can do 48a (except for SR/SR+ which only does 32a).

 

[darth_vad3r]

Typically in commercial installs, the phase to phase voltage is 208v and the phase to neutral is 120v. So the EV charging is nearly universally hooked up phase to phase which gives you 208v (residential setups are 240v phase to phase). You have to permute your chargers to have equal numbers on L1-L2, L2-L3, and L3-L1.

So, what about a workplace with a single 2-headed ChargePoint? Or 2 of them (4 heads)? What's the side-effect? Voltage is <208 V so assuming it is 208Y/120V ?