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New Model 3 Owner - I Have Questions
- Thread starter summerda
- Start date
He is not correct. My tesla powerwall for example is wired as 3 phase (3 active, earth, neutral). That same powerwall is wired in other peoples houses as single phase, with the two spare phase ports left empty. (More the gateway than the battery). My installation was wired by an electrician, checked by tesla, and for a completely different reason inspected and passed by the local authority. So it complies.
But it is rare to find any device that can be wired as either as 3 phase appliances are typically 415 bolts. That isnt the case with tesla connectors which allow a 3 phase unit to be wired as single or 3 phase as the output voltage isnt any different either way. My electrician is a sticker for the rules and he was happy to wire my 3 phase connector to a single phase. (It was 4 years ago so may have changed since)
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If an appliance, approved for use in Australia, comes with instructions on how to wire it up in 1 phase or 3 phase. Then sure, that's going to be fine, and nobody will complain.
My understanding is the poster asked about the regular "32A 5-pin 3-phase" clipsal/hpm style outlet, and having that wired only as 1-phase. Even that PDF that gets posted around the place mentions that not all electricians are ok with wiring them like that for various reasons.
The only reason to do that though is to save some money on having to buy a second 3-phase tail for travelling to places that do have 3-phase.
My understanding is the poster asked about the regular "32A 5-pin 3-phase" clipsal/hpm style outlet, and having that wired only as 1-phase. Even that PDF that gets posted around the place mentions that not all electricians are ok with wiring them like that for various reasons.
The only reason to do that though is to save some money on having to buy a second 3-phase tail for travelling to places that do have 3-phase.
Yes please, can you get him to quote the relevant section, I have run this by the Electrical Safety Authority here in QLD and was told that there is no safety related reason as to why you can not
A couple of times I have stayed at holiday homes and charged overnight from a standard GPO. I use a heavy-duty 10m industrial extension lead to connect from the GPO to the UMC tail, and then hope that I can park the car close enough to the house that the UMC can be kept inside and the cable to the car run out a window or under a door.
I would not like to leave the UMC outside for the reason you state.
A power point/outlet is different to an appliance designed. For example, the Tesla charger (and battery) can run at 240 or 415V, but a power point not so. I'll ask why though. At the end of the day, you at least need to make sure you wire up the correct phase to match the input of the tail I guess.
By the way, I think the three phase wall charger actually runs at 720V (240V * 3) rather than the standard 415V you get with most three phase appliances.
Not at all. I only pay 7c/kWh between midnight at 4am. If I charge at 11kW, I get 75km/h so in 4 hours I can add 300km. If I was limited to 7.2kW and 45km/h, it would take me over 6 hours for the same charge and I'd be paying a higher rate for those extra 2+ hours.
Powershop. Also 100% green energy - although I do pay a 4c premium for that.
I charge the car from excess solar when I can but with rain we've had of late, I'll need to add at least 150km from the grid on Saturday morning.
Not sure why that is. It was only around $1000 for me to get the wall charger (that came free with my Model 3) installed with 3 phase, and I have a 30m run from the main board to my garage.
My board is full, so there is $300 worth of replacing circuit breakers with RCD protected circuit breakers to save space for the 3 phase circuit breakers. Otherwise there is a $600 increase due to the extra cable, though that was including an outlet that wouldn't be needed for a wall charger so would reduce to $450 more, so actually $750 ish more but I don't really see a $750 benefit.
I also don't have any batteries and the car isn't going to be home during the day to use the solar during the week. I've not been able to make batteries work from a cost perspective. Payoff period is too long.
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No, there's no 720V potential differences inside the wall charger.
The 415V versus 240V just arises from where you measure the voltage - the phase-to-phase voltage (so if you measure between L1 & L2, or L2 & L3, or L3 & L1) is 415VRMS, and the phase-to-neutral voltage (so if you measure between L1 & N, L2 & N or L3 & N) is 240VRMS. The insulation in a three phase circuit and device has to be capable of withstanding the 415V phase-to-phase difference.
Devices can be wired either in a "delta" arrangement (where the loads are between two phases) or a "star" arrangement (where the loads are between each phase and neutral). A delta arrangement sees a higher voltage and lower current on the load elements, and a star arrangement a lower voltage and higher current on the load elements, but in either case the maximum power delivered to the load (and the current supplied in the phases from the source) is the same.
The HPWC uses a star arrangement (which is why it requires a neutral connection), but that's just an implementation detail.
Then why does 5A on single phase give 1.2kW where as 5A on three phase gives 3.6kW (i.e. three times the single phase)?
Oh. it is because it is 240V at 5A time 3.
Wol747
Active Member
Since many of you are well up on the electrical side, may I ask: If I plug my Model S into a Tesla supercharger's model 3 cable using the adapter that comes with the car (I believe the lower two pins are DC?) will it charge at a higher rate?
No, the available rate is the same.
You will need to use that CCS2 adaptor to connect to the V3 Superchargers though, because they only have the CCS2 cable ("Model 3 cable").
Wol747
Active Member
Its really easy to work out without any technical knowledge. If the plug doesnt fit it wont charge. Try a different plug, cable, or adaptor until something fits.
If you plug into a small connector it will charge slowly.
If you plug into a big connector it will charger faster. The bigger the connector the faster it charges.
Except that is not actually true for the exact question @Wol747 asked - at at Supercharger, on the Model S, the small connector is just as fast as using the adaptor to the big connector.
My reference to connector is the big box that many call a charger. The charger is in the car so the harware outside is properly called a connector, although granted a supercharger is a charger as it bypasses the cars charger, so supercharger is correct. The bit that goes into the car is the plug.
Was just trying to give a simple explanation for those not so technically inclined…find a plug that fits and the size hardware you select impacts the speed of charge…mostly
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