Need help understanding charging options in Bellingham area...

[cloudcover]

Hi there -

I'm a fairly new owner (P65) and use a NEMA 14-50 connector as my charging option at home. I didn't buy any special cables and as far as I know I don't have supercharger support (was planning on just driving locally). Well, turns out I need to make a trip to Bellingham tomorrow morning, which is about 90 miles from home and so the 180-ish mile roundtrip would be cutting it close to my max charge capacity. I'm thinking that even with about 30 miles of charging in Bellingham, I should be okay for getting back home.

Since this will be my first time charging away from home, I don't understand well what my best option is to get a fairly small amount of charge in the shortest time possible. I was looking at Chargepoint and notice there are several charging stations in the area, classified as Level 1, Level 2, and DC Fast. But I can't tell which of those I'd be able to use without buying additional adapters (the trip is tomorrow morning and I don't have time). Would appreciate any advice/explanation on what my best option might be.

Thanks!

 

[TurboFroggy]

I have never heard of a "P65" do you mean you have a 60Kwh Model S correct? The best option and in your words "to get a fairly small amount of change in the shortest time possible" would be to call Tesla and find out if you have Supercharging enabled or not. If you don't, pay the $2K and get it enabled. Then you can just stop for 10 minutes at the Burlington Supecharger on the way there or on the way back.
Beyond that, public charging stations will give you 18-20 miles/hour of charging. For the round trip you will need about 60 miles of added range so around 3 hours at a public charging station someplace. You will also need to start out with a range charge before you leave. You can check http://www.plugshare.com/, it looks like there are about 7 different possibilities. However seriously reconsider, you want Supercharging, say it with me S-u-p-e-r-c-h-a-r-g-i-n-g. Supercharger is 90KW where a public charging station is about 6KW at the most. Think 100 miles in about 10 minutes vs 100 miles in 5.5 hours. Single onboard charger vs dual onboard charger makes no difference at a 30 amp EVSE or the Supercharger.
Also the Level 1 is 120V plug which your UMC will do. Level 2 is a J1772 which you would use with your adapter and DC Fast needs a Chademo adapter which isn't available yet (and requires Supercharging enabled anyway).

 

[ChadS]

I agree with TurboFroggy that you will by far find Supercharging the fastest and easiest option...it's really night and day. Many people buy a Tesla assuming they will only drive it locally, but after you drive it a while you don't want to take your gas car anymore, so you end up taking the Tesla everywhere you can. Supercharging is awesome.

But if you decide not to do that, I'd probably try the Nissan dealer or a campground, depending on what's close to where you'll be:

DC: there are other "DC" charging options, but you can't use them until/unless Tesla offers an adapter so avoid those. Too bad, as DC charging is faster than AC charging.

L1: that's 120V AC charging - just a regular household outlet. That's only about 3 miles per hour, so that's not going to be fast enough. Avoid those too.

L2: that's 240V AC charging. It can be anywhere from 15 to 80 amps, and of course faster is better...to a point. You probably (?) don't have Twin Chargers, so your car can only take 40A.

• There is an 80A Suncountry charger at the Best Western (151 McLeod Road); it has a standard J1772 head and your car came with an adapter for that (it's the small 4" black roundy bit of plastic). But they prefer hotel customers and you'd be wasting half of the capacity there so it's polite to leave it open for somebody else that can use the speed if you have another good option.
• You have a NEMA 14-50, so you could get the same speed (240V at 40A, about 25 miles per hour) out of any campground in the area that has "50 amp" service - remember to take your mobile connector with the 14-50 plug!
• Or you could get 32A from most of the J1772 L2 chargers in the area, like at the Nissan dealer (1516 Iowa Street; I've charged there and they were friendly).
• There is a 70A Roadster charger in Ferndale, but you'd need a $650 adapter for that.

Good luck!

 

[cloudcover]

I agree with TurboFroggy that you will by far find Supercharging the fastest and easiest option...it's really night and day. Many people buy a Tesla assuming they will only drive it locally, but after you drive it a while you don't want to take your gas car anymore, so you end up taking the Tesla everywhere you can. Supercharging is awesome.

But if you decide not to do that, I'd probably try the Nissan dealer or a campground, depending on what's close to where you'll be:

DC: there are other "DC" charging options, but you can't use them until/unless Tesla offers an adapter so avoid those. Too bad, as DC charging is faster than AC charging.

L1: that's 120V AC charging - just a regular household outlet. That's only about 3 miles per hour, so that's not going to be fast enough. Avoid those too.

L2: that's 240V AC charging. It can be anywhere from 15 to 80 amps, and of course faster is better...to a point. You probably (?) don't have Twin Chargers, so your car can only take 40A.

• There is an 80A Suncountry charger at the Best Western (151 McLeod Road); it has a standard J1772 head and your car came with an adapter for that (it's the small 4" black roundy bit of plastic). But they prefer hotel customers and you'd be wasting half of the capacity there so it's polite to leave it open for somebody else that can use the speed if you have another good option.
• You have a NEMA 14-50, so you could get the same speed (240V at 40A, about 25 miles per hour) out of any campground in the area that has "50 amp" service - remember to take your mobile connector with the 14-50 plug!
• Or you could get 32A from most of the J1772 L2 chargers in the area, like at the Nissan dealer (1516 Iowa Street; I've charged there and they were friendly).
• There is a 70A Roadster charger in Ferndale, but you'd need a $650 adapter for that.

Good luck!

Thanks, that's a super helpful and well articulated explanation! And you're right, I didn't think I'd use it for longer trips but that's looking more likely. So I'll get the Supercharger upgrade but just don't have time to do it before the trip tomorrow. Again, really appreciate the response(s). :smile:

 

[Jackyche]

Question:

If the Model S does NOT have supercharging enabled, AND Tesla really did come out with an ChadeMo adapter, will it work?

Basically is MS DC capable without Supercharging enabled?

 

[ChadS]

No, although exactly what has to be done is not clear.

I think Tesla's page for the CHAdeMO adapter (HERE) used to say that you'd have to pay to activate DC charging, though they gave a discount over enabling Supercharging if I recall correctly. (I think it was $1,000 but I already have Supercharging so I didn't pay much attention).

However, the page now just says you have to activate "onboard hardware" and "get a vehicle software update" at a Service Center if you don't have Supercharging. No mention of cost. Hmm.

 

[Alysashley79]

Thanks, that's a super helpful and well articulated explanation! And you're right, I didn't think I'd use it for longer trips but that's looking more likely. So I'll get the Supercharger upgrade but just don't have time to do it before the trip tomorrow. Again, really appreciate the response(s). :smile:

you actually do have time. All you have to do is call tesla with a credit card in hand and they can remotely turn on supercharging. You don't have to take it in to a SC