Hi. Just placed an order for the M3LR this weekend. Initial estimate was dec but got updated yesterday to Mid Jan - Mid Feb. I am trying to determine safe and efficient home charging needs and wanted to see if you all could help. The previous owners at our house had an electric car (bolt, leaf, not a Tesla per neighbors) and had installed a larger outlet in the garage (pic attached) I finally looked closer today and it looks like they put in a Nema 6-50. Per our circuit breaker it looks like he crossed out electric c and put 240v. Is this safe to charge a model 3 LR and what would expected charge/cost be? If so, do I purchase the 6-50 adapter for $45 on the website? TYIA!
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Nema 6-50?
- Thread starter Newto3
- Start date
im not an expert on this, but that looks like a 240V 40 amp breaker, which means that you would charge at 32amps continuous, which for a model 3 should be around 30 miles an hour of range put back in the car. This chart is for a wall connector, but it should be the same speed in that application.
Someone will correct me if I got this wrong.
Someone will correct me if I got this wrong.
Yep, easy peasy. Just buy that adapter, and you're done.
The 50 amp outlet types are allowed to be put on either 40 or 50 amp circuits since there are no specifically 40 amp outlet types. The mobile charging cable that comes with the car can only draw 32A maximum, which is the correct allowance for a 40A circuit anyway, so that will be perfect.
There is one thing I might recommend, though. That does say on the face of the outlet that it is a Leviton brand. Those are built pretty cheaply and have had some problems with the wire connections not being held very tightly in the back and coming loose, so I would recommend to get a replacement 6-50 outlet of either Hubbel, Cooper, or Bryant. Any of those are much better.
RayK
Active Member
I would also put a label next to the 6-50 outlet saying that the current should be held to a maximum of 32A continuous. Hopefully, that way the next people who own the house will not overload it. That's assuming that you leave the original 40A breaker installed.
As indicated above, this is a perfect circuit for the Mobile Connector. You just have to buy the NEMA 6-50 adapter from Tesla for the Gen2 Mobile Connector that is supplied with the car. The adapter is coded so that the Mobile Connector will signal the car for the 32A max draw. Adapters for lesser outlets are correspondingly coded for their respective amperage at 24, 16, or 12A.
When you start using the outlet, make sure to check that the plug is not getting hot while in use. The first time you use it check it after 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours. As long as the wires are properly torqued on the back of the outlet and you don't repeatedly plug and unplug from that outlet, it should be fine. If you ever find it easy to insert or remove the plug, replace the outlet. There should be significant resistance when pushing the plug in or pulling it out. Sure, the Hubbell and Cooper outlets are better and will last many more insertions, but the Leviton ones are OK if you keep an eye on them and don't use them for frequent insertions.
When you start using the outlet, make sure to check that the plug is not getting hot while in use. The first time you use it check it after 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours. As long as the wires are properly torqued on the back of the outlet and you don't repeatedly plug and unplug from that outlet, it should be fine. If you ever find it easy to insert or remove the plug, replace the outlet. There should be significant resistance when pushing the plug in or pulling it out. Sure, the Hubbell and Cooper outlets are better and will last many more insertions, but the Leviton ones are OK if you keep an eye on them and don't use them for frequent insertions.
MY1stEV
Member
Assuming you are with GA Power and on the standard residential rate plan, your charging cost is 9.775 cents per kWh in the summer months (June thru September) and 4.787 cents per kWh all the other months.
If your battery was at almost 0% and you charged to 100% (not recommended, it's hard on the battery), it would cost you approx $7.50 to fully recharge your car in the summer, and approx $3.50 the other months.
Typically Tesla owners with access to home charging plug in every night and recharge to somewhere between 75% and 90%. For me this averages out to about 50 cents per day, but I don't really drive that much.
After you get your car, you can install the free OptiWatt app on your phone and grant it access to your car. It will show you exactly how much electricity you consumed each night recharging your car. This will be interesting for a few weeks until you get a good feel for your usage pattern and then you will probably lose interest and delete the app
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Gauss Guzzler
Safety Score = 42
Yeah, you're all set - that's perfect!
Presumably it's all working well and has been thoroughly "broken in" but you'd be wise to charge at 32A for an hour then halt it, unplug the 6-50 plug and feel the two main prongs. They should both be fairly warm but if one is noticeably warmer than the other that likely indicates a loose terminal.
Presumably it's all working well and has been thoroughly "broken in" but you'd be wise to charge at 32A for an hour then halt it, unplug the 6-50 plug and feel the two main prongs. They should both be fairly warm but if one is noticeably warmer than the other that likely indicates a loose terminal.
The Universal Mobile Connector (UMC) that comes with the car is limited to 32A, so the car will never ask for more than 32A. I use the Tesla 6-50 adapter to the UMC every day without difficulty.
Not being used for 5 years does not wear out or otherwise seriously affect the connector. Worst case is a little corrosion which can be removed by plugging and unplugging 2 or 3 times. What wears these out is lots of plugging and unplugging -- don't do that any more than you have to.
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