Model X charging question

[Cosmacelf]

Paul, Rocky_H's suggestions (both of them) are right on. The Quick Charge Power will lengthen your UMC cord so that you won't need an extension cord. This way you are set whether you run into a household plug too far away or a modern dryer plug, or a NEMA 14-50 plug. If you instead buy an extension cord, it'll only be good for a 10-30 dryer plug and nothing else.

The automatic dryer buddy means you don't have to switch anything. Just use the dyer normally. I'd recommend to set your Tesla to charge at midnight, and then don't run any dryer loads after you go to bed.

 

[brkaus]

I do like @Rocky_H suggestion of extending the UMC/EVSE. It would be beneficial at home and when traveling, the only downside is that it is always extended, so more wire to carry with you. But, it is a single solution with less plug connections.

You mentioned the 14-30, so I assume your looking at option #1. The heavier (but shorter) extension cord is going to provide more options and the ability to charge faster if you ever find a 14-50 that needs an extension (like my parents barn).

In that case, to automatically limit, you would need to get the 14-30 and cut off or trim the neutral. If you look at this image - NEMA connector - Wikipedia - you can see why. The one on the left is the 30a version. The right is the 50a version. That little bend in the bottom pin keeps someone from plugging a 50a into a 30a (and vice-versa).

Edit to add - from the NEMA connector image, you can also see why the extension cord has left off that pin. It makes it fit in 3 outlet types.

 

[Paul2017]

Option 1 is more heavy duty. So I think it makes more sense.

I like the extension idea. I’ll call them tomorrow. Just need to figure out the logistics. Do I send them my cable? If so I won’t have a cable for about a week. So no ability to charge at home. Also want to make sure the cable looks and acts as oem.

Also I don’t really understand the price. Without selecting anything the price is $149. If I select 15 feet it’s $75. So total is 224$. And my original cable will be 35 feet?

 

[brkaus]

Option 1 is more heavy duty. So I think it makes more sense.

I like the extension idea. I’ll call them tomorrow. Just need to figure out the logistics. Do I send them my cable? If so I won’t have a cable for about a week. So no ability to charge at home. Also want to make sure the cable looks and acts as oem.

Also I don’t really understand the price. Without selecting anything the price is $149. If I select 15 feet it’s $75. So total is 224$. And my original cable will be 35 feet?

@Rocky_H may be able to answer more. I found a picture here : UMC Extension Looks like it is spliced in and heat shrunk.

I agree it would be $224 to add 15 feet based on the web page.

I'm also not sure about the warranty.

 

[Cosmacelf]

I had my UMC cord lengthened to 50 feet total. You have to ship them your UMC, so no UMC for a week or so. Maybe you can borrow one if you need it in the meantime. The pricing is odd, give them a call. The extra length doesn’t really bother me, but then I don’t use it very often.

 

[Rocky_H]

Hey, all, glad to see the suggestions are pretty well received. I do realize that having your UMC be extra long all the time may seem pretty cumbersome if you're packing it up and moving it around and don't need it long most of the time, but it's sounding like this is your long term daily charging situation, so it seems OK.

If you do want to keep your UMC short and go with an extension, then I would go for the one from EVSEadapters that @brkaus mentioned on the first page. It doesn't have the neutral pin, so it can plug into the 14-30 outlet of the Dryer Buddy, and then you should get the Tesla 14-30 and use a Dremmel or hacksaw to cut the neutral pin off of that, so it can plug in to the extension cord. That would correctly manage the current to 24A automatically.
Heavy-duty NEMA 14-50R extension cord for Tesla, 20 ft.

Regarding not having your UMC if you send it to get lengthened, they used to have part of that lengthening service that included renting a UMC while they worked on it, but I don't see that now. I do see that Quick Charge Power does have a separate item to just rent a Jesla (TM) for a month for $75. The Jesla that they make is just that they take a Tesla UMC, cut off the Tesla-specific plug and replace it with a standard J1772 handle, so it can work with any electric car.

 

[Paul2017]

The pricing is strange for the UMC extension. I called today and the person on the phone could not really explain it. I guess $149 is to do the work and they you pay on top of that for the desired length of cable. I might do the extension in the near future. Dont want to commit to the long cable if i wont need it later.

If i go with the extension cable and the Tesla UMC, i wont really need the Tesla adapter, but i should have it to automatically limit charging to 24 A correct? Also want to make sure Tesla 14-30 adapter will work with the extension cord. Thank you

 

[Cosmacelf]

Paul, your original post said you had a 10-30 receptacle. Now you’re saying 14-30. Which is it? While both 30A, they are different.

 

[Paul2017]

You are correct main outlet is 10-30. But Dryer Buddy has an option for Nema 10-30 and Nema 14-30 side by side. Brkaus said its better to get a 14-30 (stronger cable). Basically Dryer Buddy gives you an option of 2 10-30 or 10-30 and 14-30. Open to your suggestion of Dryer buddy configuration.

Main question is ability to use Tesla adapter( to automatically tell the car to charge at 24 A) with an extension cord.

 

[Rocky_H]

Yeah, in order to avoid having to use weird kinds of extension cords with the 10-30 plugs on the ends, which are hard to find, the Tesla 14-30 would be a little easier, because you could use the one EVSEadapters sells. And yes, it's the Dryer Buddy with the 10-30 and 14-30.

 

[Paul2017]

Thank you all for the help. I bought the Dryer buddy and the extension cord.
Getting the Tesla 14-30 adapter today and noticed that the charging speed is different for Model X vs an S.
Does anyone know why? take a look at the table bottom of the page
Model S/X NEMA Adapters
I thought both cars share the same battery

 

[TexasEV]

Model X is bigger and heavier than Model S so it takes more energy to move it. That means fewer miles of range per kWh of charge.

 

[Rocky_H]

Model X is bigger and heavier than Model S so it takes more energy to move it. That means fewer miles of range per kWh of charge.

Right, this. @Paul2017 , to maybe expand the analogy further, let's say there is a gas pump that is dispensing 1 gallon per 5 seconds. That is like the power level of the electricity from the wall. That would be constant, no matter the vehicle. But if you are pumping that 1 gallon into a Ford Focus or a Ford F-150? How many miles per 5 seconds are you getting? The focus would be getting about 30 miles per 5 seconds, while the big truck is only getting about 10 miles per 5 seconds. So see how the less efficient vehicle gets fewer miles in the distance/time measurement?

 

[Paul2017]

It makes sense. Just didn’t expect it to be put that way. Charging speed depends on the circuit am using. 30A, 50A. Miles I will get will depend on many factors: Weather, my driving (speed, regen), weight. I just want to know the amount of charge I will get back after I plug in the car.

I will be using 14-30 outlet and want to know what I should expect. My innitial calculations were for 18mph and I would get about 180 miles overnight

 

[TexasEV]

The miles you get depend on many things. The RATED miles is fixed for your particular model. It’s the EPA rating for that model. If your units for charging speed are miles of RATED range per hour of charge, then it varies per car. If your units for charging speed are kWh added per hour of charging then it just depends on the volts and amps of your circuit.

 

[trumantrader]

I am in a similar (but slightly simpler) situation, and I just want to make sure that I got this right.

Situation: I only have one 10-30 outlet in the garage for the dryer. The car can be in the garage. Don't want to change the wiring of the house since it's a rental.

After reading through the thread, the simplest option for me is to get a 14-30 adapter from Tesla, and this Dryer Buddy, which would split that 10-30 outlet to one 10-30 for the dryer and one 14-30 for the car. That should be it and nothing else I need to worry about, is that correct?

Thanks!

 

[TexasEV]

Actually the simplest option may be to buy a 10-30 UMC adapter to use with the outlet, and just plug in the dryer when you’re doing laundry. Once a week, twice at most?

 

[trumantrader]

Actually the simplest option may be to buy a 10-30 UMC adapter to use with the outlet, and just plug in the dryer when you’re doing laundry. Once a week, twice at most?

I forgot to mention that the configuration of the garage makes the outlet a bit tricky to access. I was thinking of using an extension cord, but unsure about safety.

 

[Solarman004]

After reading through the thread, the simplest option for me is to get a 14-30 adapter from Tesla, and this Dryer Buddy, which would split that 10-30 outlet to one 10-30 for the dryer and one 14-30 for the car.

You are setting yourself up for trouble with this plan because it requires you to make sure the dryer isn't running when the car is charging. There's no failsafe that prevents both from running simultaneously. If you forget, or have a guest that starts the dryer when the car is charging, at best you'll trip the breaker. At worst, you could over heat the socket wires and start a fire.
The best option would be to allow only one appliance to be plugged in at a time. If the socket is hard to get to, could it be moved to a more convenient position on the wall?

 

[Rocky_H]

You are setting yourself up for trouble with this plan because it requires you to make sure the dryer isn't running when the car is charging. There's no failsafe that prevents both from running simultaneously. If you forget, or have a guest that starts the dryer when the car is charging, at best you'll trip the breaker. At worst, you could over heat the socket wires and start a fire.
The best option would be to allow only one appliance to be plugged in at a time. If the socket is hard to get to, could it be moved to a more convenient position on the wall?

You are incorrect because I guess you have never read about what that Dryer Buddy device is that he specifically linked to. Click on it and check it out. There are a couple of types, but the one he indicated is intentionally built with that lockout functionality so that it will ONLY allow one or the other outlet to be active at a time. It's like an automated toggle switch.