New Owner with Charging Questions

[MartyL]

I'm a new owner and I plugged my cable into a standard 110V outlet in my garage and set my charging start time to 11:00 PM so that I could take advantage of cheaper rates. Just after 11 I went out and looked and it was charging, but very slowly at 2 to 3 miles per hour at 12V. What do I need to do to get faster charging at home?

Also with that timer set, what happens when I go to a super charger station and plug in. Will it charge?

 

[RLC3]

I'm a new owner and I plugged my cable into a standard 110V outlet in my garage and set my charging start time to 11:00 PM so that I could take advantage of cheaper rates. Just after 11 I went out and looked and it was charging, but very slowly at 2 to 3 miles per hour at 12V. What do I need to do to get faster charging at home?

Also with that timer set, what happens when I go to a super charger station and plug in. Will it charge?

Usually, the cheapest thing to do is to have a NEMA 14-50 outlet installed in your garage. (240V, 50Amps. Car will pull 40 amps while charging since it is a continuous load.) That will change your charge rate from about 3-4 to 20-24 mph. Doing that normally requires an electrical permit, and will likely cost at least several hundred dollars. I had one put in for $275, but the electrician was already onsite doing electrical for air conditioning, and was able to include the outlet in the existing permit. Probably it would have been twice that as a standalone job.

 

[GoTslaGo]

^^^
Agree. You could also go the HPWC route (Tesla charger), but the 14-50 is usually more economical to install.

The timer will not affect a supercharger visit. The superchargers will automatically charge as soon as you plug in. You may want to look at some of the other sub-forums here regarding the superchargers near you.

Welcome to TMC!

 

[MartyL]

Thanks. Having spent my kids' inheritance on this car I guess I can spring for a few hundred more What about the second part of my question?

 

[MartyL]

We cross-posted GoTeslaGo, Thanks.

 

[Veritas1980]

Just for further clarification, the timer is location based, meaning if you set a time at home, it will only be active there.
So if you go visit a friend and borrow a plug, the charger will start immediately.

 

[ABVA]

I'm a new owner and I plugged my cable into a standard 110V outlet in my garage and set my charging start time to 11:00 PM so that I could take advantage of cheaper rates. Just after 11 I went out and looked and it was charging, but very slowly at 2 to 3 miles per hour at 12V. What do I need to do to get faster charging at home?

Also with that timer set, what happens when I go to a super charger station and plug in. Will it charge?

You are charging at 15 or 20 amps if you are plugged into 110 v outlet. This demonstrates that you can charge your Tesla anywhere. However, ideal home charging should be done over 240v 50 amp dedicated circuit allowing your car to draw 40 amps at 240v increasing the mileage to approximately 30 miles an hour. Key is a dedicated 240v circuit.

Supercharging is totally independent of what you have at home, in other words Supercharging will charge at normal supercharging speeds. Hope this helps.

 

[nagypite]

40 amps * 240v = 9.6 KW/h max charging rate (nema 14-50)

 

[Btrflyl8e]

You definitely want a 14-50. mine charges at 29-30 mph. Way better than the 3-4 on 110!

 

[Khanhvngo]

In the mean time if you want to save money and have faster charging with very little work you can to to Home Depot and get:

14-30p dryer cable around 15-35 dollars
Then
14-50r wall mount for around 12 dollars

Ask the Home Depot electrician for wire setup and you can start using the dryer outlet with your standard cable charger that is provided.

During charging just lower your amp to 25-30 amp and you should be charging around 17-20 miles per hours.

Quick easy to do and under $50. Any question feel free and ask. I made one already and it will be useful for emergencies charging also!

 

[Brass Guy]

If you charge on a 30 amp circuit, you must dial it to no more than 24 amps, yielding near 20 miles per hour charge rate. Really, have a 14-50 installed.

 

[boaterva]

The obligatory 'see the detailed FAQ link in my sig' for many more details. A 14-50 is a good answer; a 20 Amp circuit (as you tried) is rarely sufficient except perhaps when at an airport.

 

[TexasEV]

I'm a new owner and I plugged my cable into a standard 110V outlet in my garage and set my charging start time to 11:00 PM so that I could take advantage of cheaper rates. Just after 11 I went out and looked and it was charging, but very slowly at 2 to 3 miles per hour at 12V. What do I need to do to get faster charging at home?

Also with that timer set, what happens when I go to a super charger station and plug in. Will it charge?

Your first stop should be the Tesla charging web page:
Charging | Tesla

But didn't your Tesla sales person discuss charging with you? Or your delivery specialist? How can Tesla sell and deliver a car to someone without them understanding anything about charging?

 

[kort677]

I'm a new owner and I plugged my cable into a standard 110V outlet in my garage and set my charging start time to 11:00 PM so that I could take advantage of cheaper rates. Just after 11 I went out and looked and it was charging, but very slowly at 2 to 3 miles per hour at 12V. What do I need to do to get faster charging at home?

Also with that timer set, what happens when I go to a super charger station and plug in. Will it charge?

you need to install 220 service to achieve faster charging rates.

 

[TexasEV]

you need to install 220 service to achieve faster charging rates.

There's no such thing as 220 service. It's 240V. And all houses already have that service-- you just need to have the proper circuit breaker, wiring, and outlet installed.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I'm a new owner and I plugged my cable into a standard 110V outlet in my garage and set my charging start time to 11:00 PM so that I could take advantage of cheaper rates. Just after 11 I went out and looked and it was charging, but very slowly at 2 to 3 miles per hour at 12V. What do I need to do to get faster charging at home?

Also with that timer set, what happens when I go to a super charger station and plug in. Will it charge?

Speed of charging is directly related to the amount of current. For maximum charging speed at home, you will want to purchase Tesla's wall charger and have it wired to a dedicated 90A breaker. To compare, your 110v wall plug delivers about 1,100 watts to your car. A Tesla wall charger, on the other hand, will deliver about 17x as much power - just over 17,000 watts. I have the previous generation Tesla wall charger that delivers up to 20,000 watts and that would be the only way I would charge at home. Wall plugs, unfortunately, suffer from a lot of wear-and-tear and at high current levels can lead to overheating issues. A Tesla wall charger is fixed to the wall, fixed to your wiring, and is a high quality solution versus any wall plug (including NEMA 14-50).

Timed charging has no effect on Supercharging, your vehicle will charge immediately and to whatever level you set.

 

[kort677]

There's no such thing as 220 service. It's 240V. And all houses already have that service-- you just need to have the proper circuit breaker, wiring, and outlet installed.

not to be a pendent but all houses do not have that level of service.

 

[ThisIsTrue]

I wanted a dedicated charging plug at home so the cable that comes with the car is "always" in the trunk, so there's no getting somewhere needing a charge, and "Uh oh: it's in the garage."

Such wall-mounted charging systems cost around $550 whether it's a generic one (that needs a Tesla adapter) or the Tesla HPWC, so I just went ahead and got the Tesla HPWC. While the electrician was there putting that in, I had him ALSO install at NENA 14-50 for flexibility. Not only can Teslas plug into that, but so can other electric cars. Since my electric panel is in the garage, there was very little large-gauge wire needed (which adds to cost). In my county, no permit is needed, so the total cost, including parts (which in this case meant TWO 240V circuit breakers) was $500. Some electricians gouge Tesla owners ("They must be rich!"), so if the estimate doesn't sound reasonable, check with someone else.

 

[Lasttoy]

Put a 14.50, 220v, 50amp in house. Cost $200 if you do it, up to 1k if electrician do it. U can get all the stuff at home depot. Watch you tube. Took me 1 hour.
110v wall socket is useless, takes a month to charge
Bottom line.

 

[mspohr]

not to be a pendent but all houses do not have that level of service.

I doubt that there is any house that doesn't have 240 volt service. (Perhaps somebody out in the boonies but if they're connected to the grid, they'll have 240 volt service.)