NEMA 6-15 Adapter Available

Great... Most 6-20 receptacles will also accept this plug as well!

 

Where would a 6-15 (or 6-20) outlet be found out in the wild?

Assuming this would add ~10 miles per hour of charging -- 240*15=3.6kW output...

 

I almost ordered one but the cheapest shipping is $21. That's outrageous! uSPS express is $5

I have one in my shop for a compressor.

 

I'm curious too. I don't think I have seen this config before.

 

Well, I'm thrilled that Tesla is bringing out new charging adapters. But the 6-15 is a very odd choice. I've seen 6-20 and 6-30 in the wild (air conditioners in motels, for instance), but a 6-15?? I mean, it doesn't even show up on the list of plugs people charge from when I do my surveys every 6 months or so.

Of the adapters Tesla hasn't brought out (or have discontinued), here are the most popular (as a percentage of people who responded to the survey, last done in September 2015):

NEMA 14-30: 12%
TT-30: 6%
NEMA 6-50: 4%
NEMA 6-20, 6-30 and 10-50: all 2%

 

Many people, including me, have them in their garages. They were used for table saws, compressors, welders or small air conditioners/heaters like you find in many hotel rooms.

Mine's a locking 6-20 receptacle so I'd either have to swap out the receptacle you use an additional adapter cable or plug as well. Luckily I have two 14-50 outlets so it will be a while before I need to consider using that outlet (for a 3rd EV).

Maybe they are thinking travelers could use this at their hotel/motel and charge faster than the 5-15 & 5-20 adapters?

 

Hotel air conditioning units and larger window A/C units are typically plugged into 6-20 receptacles. You'll also find them powering things like A/C compressors, food service equipment, larger water pumps, etc.

6-20 receptacles generally use a T-blade to accept 6-15 plugs as well.

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I suspect it's because 6-15 plugs can generally be plugged into 6-15 or 6-20 receptacles. Yes, you lose 4A from a 6-20. It addresses the hotel A/C outlets, whether 6-15 or 6-20.

 

Coming out with a new, relatively obscure adapter for the UMC makes it less likely that Tesla is about to replace the current UMC configuration.

 

Here's an adapter for 6-20:

NEMA 14-50R to 6-20P Adapter

I ordered one and it looks well made. Lots of other power cable options at that website also.

 

I've seen 6-20 EV charging outlets in parking garages. I used one extensively for a long time with a custom adapter I made. Now, as to why they chose to make a 6-20 EV charging outlet when no EV manufacturer makes any OEM 6-20 plug, i have no idea. but it ended up being an "exclusive" parking spot for me since nobody else could ever charge there unless they had a handmade adapter like me lol

 

The Model X is shipping with the existing Model S UMC bundle, too.

 

Take a close look at that adapter in the Tesla store page. Notice anything funny about it? Look at the raised plastic part that has the Tesla logo molded into it versus how the metal pins in the end are oriented. That raised plastic part is on the "top" of the UMC plug, and the cable hangs down at a right angle from that. The pins are rotated a quarter turn from the "top" of the adapater. Like with 5-15 and 5-20 outlets, the round ground pin of a 6-15 would be on top or bottom, depending on whether the 6-15 outlet was installed upside down or not. But with the adapter pins turned that way, the cable would always hang sideways on one side or the other, guaranteeing strain on the pins/cable. That seems like a mistake in the design.

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So you actually don’t have a 6-15. You have an L6-15.

The 6-15 does seem like a really really obscure one. However, I did actually make an adapter cable from a 6-15 plug to a 14-50 receptacle for a weird application. I bought a Quick220 box, that can combine two 120V outlets into a 240V one. I wanted to keep compatibility to be able to plug into more types of outlets in an emergency, so I went with the 5-15 plugs on the ends, rather than the 5-20 plugs, where you could only use it on 20 amp outlets. Since that box was for 5-15 outlets, it keeps that current rating for its output, so it's a 6-15 outlet. I had never seen that used anywhere, and I wanted to be able to use it with my 30 foot RV extension cord (14-50), so I built a short adapter cable. I tested it at 11A to not pull too much current, and it works fine. In hindsight, I probably could have built the adapter to get it onto a 12 gauge regular extension cord, since the current would be less than 15A, but my initial thought was that this is already slow enough charging, so I want to not have any voltage drop and 240V should probably be on a beefy cord.

 

Actually, it's an L6-20, a locking 6-20 receptacle.

 

Oh yeah, I did misread that. That does kind of illustrate the point, too. L6-20 and L6-30 are actually fairly common. There is an L6-30 in the wall of the cafeteria where I work. I think some of the industrial vacuums or something plug into them.

 

I've heard some electric water heaters use 6-20 outlets as well but I've never seen one myself.

 

It's safer to use their 5-20R to 6-20P adapter. Use the UMC 5-20 adapter with it, and you don't have to manually turn done the amps as you would with the 14-50 adapter on the UMC. That's why I suggested evseadapters.com make this one.

 

When I wired my workshop I used a 6-15 outlet for my table saw, only because I had run 14/2 romex. Had a hard time finding the outlet. Definitely obscure and much less common than the 6-20.

 

I think I just wet myself

I have been waiting forever for something like this to plug into the side of my quick220 box

Not to mention damn near every single motel in the country uses this for their HVAC units. Back the car up to the door, run the cord to the car and you are all set for a decent overnight charge.

 

See my post 17 above. The UMC might not reach the car if plugged into the hotel room outlet, but it will with this 5-20R to 6-20P extension cord.