Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

NEMA14-30 Charging Model 3 Base Range

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I only have a 125A panel so to add a wall connector is impossible without upgrading, according to the professional electrician quotes.

I only drive 70 miles per day so I think NEMA14-30 with around 20 mph charging should be enough for me. I have a NEMA14-30R outlet connecting to my dryer, which we only use once per week. I plan to make a hole between the garage and the lundrary room for the NEMA14-30 cord. One side connecting to the outlet and the other to the Tesla Mobile Connector. I know it is not that convenient since I have to take out the plugs twice a week, but it saves me about $4000 to upgrade the existing 125A panel and buying/installing a Gen 3 wall connector.

I am not familiar with electricity work as well as Tesla charing so I am here asking for feedback that if my plan is OK and if there is anything I should be concerned. Or upgrading the exsiting system is the best I can do. Thank you.





r/TeslaModel3 - Is my plan doable?
s1



r/TeslaModel3 - Is my plan doable?


r/TeslaModel3 - Is my plan doable?


r/TeslaModel3 - Is my plan doable?




r/TeslaModel3 - Is my plan doable?
 
I would plan on inspecting the NEMA 14-30 outlet after a couple of months of unplugging/plugging if you keep up the scheduled twice a week; one time for the car, the other for the dryer. I believe that the Cooper brand outlet is considered better than some of the cheaper residential grade outlets. Those are really not designed for repeated cycles. Keep a check on how warm/hot the plug and socket get when using the mobile connector (see next paragraph).

If you are planning to not use an extension cord, that would be the best. Using an extension is frowned upon as it can remove a safety device from doing its job; namely the temperature sensor built into the Tesla NEMA adapter. In normal (recommended) usage, the NEMA adapter is plugged into the wall and the sensor will monitor the plug for any increase in temperature. If a large enough temperature rise is detected, the mobile connector will stop charging the car.

If this is going to be a long-term solution to home charging, I would think about getting something like a Dryer Buddy. It solves the problem of repeated cycling of the plug. While it's not cheap, it is cheaper than a new 200A service panel. And if you plan on making any long distance trips, you should make sure that it's fairly easy to remove the mobile connector so you can bring it along with you. Or, buy another one to keep in the car.
 
I am sure I will hear negative comments for this, but there is a cheap splitter you can get that will let you plug in dryer cable and charge cable. This will keep from having to plug and and unplug. The other option is a $500 Dryer Buddy which would take an electrician to install.

Since you only dry once a week, just remember you cannot dry and charge at same time.

I have this setup for my wife’s plug-in hybrid. She only dries in the morning and we only charge at night during off-peak hours. So it is never an issue.

I am a EE so not just giving you bad advice. Just an option.
 
The other option is a $500 Dryer Buddy which would take an electrician to install.
It doesn't require an electrician. It plugs into the outlet and you plug your dryer and EVSE into it.

However, passing an appliance cord through the wall into the garage is likely a code violation. The doors and walls between a house and garage are supposed to be fire-resistant, and a barrier to fumes entering the house, like exterior doors and walls.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: Rocky_H
I only have a 125A panel so to add a wall connector is impossible without upgrading, according to the professional electrician quotes.
The electricians are very probably wrong. They are assuming the wall connector must have a 60A circuit. It doesn't. It can be installed and configured for many levels of circuit, all the way down to 15A, which would probably fit to be added into your existing service.

There are a couple of decent ways to do this if you want to use or share that 30A dryer circuit.

First, let's address this one:
The other option is a $500 Dryer Buddy which would take an electrician to install.
??? No. The whole point of a Dryer Buddy is that it's simply an object you plug in to an outlet. There is no installation of any kind, so there would be nothing for an electrician to do. Anyway, regarding Dryer Buddies, I would only recommend the Plus AUTO version of these, which are made to auto detect and auto switch, so you don't accidentally have both sides activate and draw on the circuit at the same time.

The other pretty decent option for this 30A circuit is to get an A/B kind of toggle throw switch upstream of it, and have one output go to the dryer outlet and the other output go out into your garage for the car connection. That should satisfy the electric code requirement of an EV charging connection being on a dedicated circuit, since only one side or the other is allowed to be connected.
 
I only have a 125A panel so to add a wall connector is impossible without upgrading, according to the professional electrician quotes.
Why? Load calcs came back too high, or not enough panel slots?

If the former, how much amperage can you get out of the existing 125A panel? You could even run 4 gauge wiring from the panel to the WC (48A capable) but downsize the breaker and configure the WC to use only the amount available through the existing breaker (80% rule). This way, if you do a service upgrade in the future, you won't have to redo the wiring.

If the latter, you could simply install a subpanel.
 
I would only recommend the Plus AUTO version of these, which are made to auto detect and auto switch, so you don't accidentally have both sides activate and draw on the circuit at the same time.
I would think that the Dryer Buddy Plus would be just fine, since it is a manual switch so only one outlet is live at a time, and it is only ~$360: Dryer Buddy™ Plus #2 Custom 30A NEMA 14-30 2-way switcher, 5' 14-30 cable to two 14-30 outlets with optional kWh/Watt/Volt/Amp meter

Though it looks like the Plus AUTO is on sale $85 off so it is only ~$365 right now: Dryer Buddy™ Plus AUTO #2 Custom 30A 2-way switcher, 5' 14-30 plug cable (1996+) to two 14-30 outlets, with kWh meter
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rocky_H
I would think that the Dryer Buddy Plus would be just fine, since it is a manual switch so only one outlet is live at a time, and it is only ~$360
Well yes, it's like two steps. The Plus is the important one for safety's sake so only one side at a time can be active. But by the time you have paid the extra for that, the other step to AUTO is simply so it's not a cumbersome pain in the ass to the user to have to remember to flip a switch back and forth all the time.
 
Well yes, it's like two steps. The Plus is the important one for safety's sake so only one side at a time can be active. But by the time you have paid the extra for that, the other step to AUTO is simply so it's not a cumbersome pain in the ass to the user to have to remember to flip a switch back and forth all the time.
Well, the Plus with a switch is way easier/better than plugging/unplugging evey time you want to switch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rocky_H
I only have a 125A panel so to add a wall connector is impossible without upgrading, according to the professional electrician quotes.

I only drive 70 miles per day so I think NEMA14-30 with around 20 mph charging should be enough for me. I have a NEMA14-30R outlet connecting to my dryer, which we only use once per week. I plan to make a hole between the garage and the lundrary room for the NEMA14-30 cord. One side connecting to the outlet and the other to the Tesla Mobile Connector. I know it is not that convenient since I have to take out the plugs twice a week, but it saves me about $4000 to upgrade the existing 125A panel and buying/installing a Gen 3 wall connector.

I am not familiar with electricity work as well as Tesla charing so I am here asking for feedback that if my plan is OK and if there is anything I should be concerned. Or upgrading the exsiting system is the best I can do. Thank you.





r/TeslaModel3 - Is my plan doable?
s1



r/TeslaModel3 - Is my plan doable?


r/TeslaModel3 - Is my plan doable?


r/TeslaModel3 - Is my plan doable?




r/TeslaModel3 - Is my plan doable?

I would plan on inspecting the NEMA 14-30 outlet after a couple of months of unplugging/plugging if you keep up the scheduled twice a week; one time for the car, the other for the dryer. I believe that the Cooper brand outlet is considered better than some of the cheaper residential grade outlets. Those are really not designed for repeated cycles. Keep a check on how warm/hot the plug and socket get when using the mobile connector (see next paragraph).

If you are planning to not use an extension cord, that would be the best. Using an extension is frowned upon as it can remove a safety device from doing its job; namely the temperature sensor built into the Tesla NEMA adapter. In normal (recommended) usage, the NEMA adapter is plugged into the wall and the sensor will monitor the plug for any increase in temperature. If a large enough temperature rise is detected, the mobile connector will stop charging the car.

If this is going to be a long-term solution to home charging, I would think about getting something like a Dryer Buddy. It solves the problem of repeated cycling of the plug. While it's not cheap, it is cheaper than a new 200A service panel. And if you plan on making any long distance trips, you should make sure that it's fairly easy to remove the mobile connector so you can bring it along with you. Or, buy another one to keep in the car.
Thanks, Ray. Now after talking to several professionals, I realize I can just add a 30 amps breaker to my panel, which is similar to the existing 30 amps breaker used by the dryer. I also decided that to give it a try by myself before paying for someone else.

I also attached a pic for the outside panel. It seems that the perfect solution is to install the NEMA 14-50 from there just behind the wall.
 

Attachments

  • 125panel.jpeg
    125panel.jpeg
    460.6 KB · Views: 67
  • outsidepanel.jpeg
    outsidepanel.jpeg
    407.8 KB · Views: 37
I am sure I will hear negative comments for this, but there is a cheap splitter you can get that will let you plug in dryer cable and charge cable. This will keep from having to plug and and unplug. The other option is a $500 Dryer Buddy which would take an electrician to install.

Since you only dry once a week, just remember you cannot dry and charge at same time.

I have this setup for my wife’s plug-in hybrid. She only dries in the morning and we only charge at night during off-peak hours. So it is never an issue.

I am a EE so not just giving you bad advice. Just an option.
Thank you. I decide to add one more 30A breaker for the NEMA 14-30 in my garage just beneath the 30A breaker used for the dryer. I think I can make it work by not using the dryer and car charging at the same time.
 

Attachments

  • 125panel.jpeg
    125panel.jpeg
    460.6 KB · Views: 33
  • Like
Reactions: Jeremy3292
I got my M3 a few months ago at the end of Feb. My house also has 125 amp service with an electric range and dryer dryer so I wanted to be on the conservative side of things when installing a new outlet.

I installed a NEMA 14-30 Hubbell outlet for my mobil connector and it’s charge rate at 24 amps is more than fast enough for my 45 mile daily commute, it will be WAY more than fast enough for your daily 70 mile commute.

Same thing if you get a wall connector on a 30 amp circuit and are charging at 24 amps, it will replenish your 70 mile commute in a little over 3 hours.

Not everyone needs to charge at the max possible rate to meet 100% of their driving needs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tlatxm3
Can your panel not take a 50amp breaker? 14-50 would give you a faster charge rate and the outlet is nearly the same size (pins are different) and just requires thicker wiring. If you're already spending the labor in installing a 14-30, why not do a 14-50?
I decided to do the work myself. I only need to commute 70 miles per day normally so I don't need that fast charging. I will go with the 14-30 and #10 wire so save the efforts of bening the hard wires. Thanks for your inputs, though.
 
I got my M3 a few months ago at the end of Feb. My house also has 125 amp service with an electric range and dryer dryer so I wanted to be on the conservative side of things when installing a new outlet.

I installed a NEMA 14-30 Hubbell outlet for my mobil connector and it’s charge rate at 24 amps is more than fast enough for my 45 mile daily commute, it will be WAY more than fast enough for your daily 70 mile commute.

Same thing if you get a wall connector on a 30 amp circuit and are charging at 24 amps, it will replenish your 70 mile commute in a little over 3 hours.

Not everyone needs to charge at the max possible rate to meet 100% of their driving needs.
Well done.