Newbie Charging Advice

[apharris]

Apologize in advance, I'm sure this has been asked before but this subject is 156 pages long:

(1) Because of where I live, upgrading standard garage outlet is not feasible (landlord issues). Is overnight charging in that outlet, slow as it may be, sufficient? My car sits for about 12 hours at time in garage. Any special adapter or fuse needed?

(2) Other than Superchargers, what are the next best alternatives for charging? I live in Scottsdale, AZ, with plenty of various other charging stations around, but I'm a little confused as to which ones are best suited for S75, and if there are any special adapters I might need for these EV stations.

(3) Finally, I notice that a lot of EV charge station slots closet to me are filled, by EVs and/or ICE vehicles. If there are any Scottsdale Tesla owners reading this, any suggestions as to any less crowded stations?

 

[David29]

As you said, this topic has been addressed in considerable detail in other threads. Sounds like what you need is the definitive answer plus specific info for your area. Trouble with definitive answers is that Tesla has provided minimal guidance for some aspects and the owner population has a range of opinions.
So my suggestion is to start by buying and reading Nick Howe's book, Owning Model S," available from EVAnnex.com. It is an excellent overview of all things Tesla and will get you started on the right track.
Another excellent source of basic info is here:
OWNER'S MANUAL COMPANION | Tesla Motors

As for the Scottsdale area, someone will chime in, but you may have more luck if you also post that part of your question in the forum page for your area.

 

[techmaven]

The basic answer is that you can charge off a 110v outlet. However, the less that is shared with that outlet, the better. You may find that the most convenient outlet isn't a good option because the voltage drop is too high or that the circuit is shared with other loads which causes your charging to either be slow or worse, erratic.

In 12 hours, expect to pick up about 30 miles of range. That may be sufficient. Especially if the car sits for longer on the weekend and therefore you can charge to a higher state of charge. It all depends on the total amount of time the car charges in a week and your usage level.

If you have a 20 amp outlet, you can get an adapter for your Tesla charging cable to allow for a higher rate of charge, which might be desirable. That would get you about 55 miles in 12 hours. It may be possible to convert an outlet to a 20 amp circuit if the wiring is already sufficient. You most likely would have to contact an electrician to find out.

Your vehicle came with an adapter to plug into J1772 EVSE's, and you can use Plugshare to locate them. You can also charge off NEMA 14-50 outlets, which are common to provide electricity to RVs. As for ICEing of EVSE's, that's unfortunately common in some parts. Over time, hopefully people learn. Some people put cards on their windshields to help educate them.

 

[TexasEV]

The J1772 adapter for level 2 stations comes with the car. If there is a CHAdeMO station near you (the Japanese DC "fast" charging standard) you may want to buy Tesla's CHAdeMO adapter for $450.

In addition to the book mentioned above, the other things you should read are:
Tesla Charging | Tesla
The charging section of your owners manual
FAQ: Home Tesla charging infrastructure Q&A

 

[mikeash]

If you average 40 miles of driving per day or less, then your standard outlet should be sufficient for you. You can do more than 40 miles on any given day, as long as your average is less, and you'll make up the extra over time.

Check out plugshare.com to see what's around. They have lots of info on local charging stations, and the comments from other users can be really informative as well. Many of their entries will list approximate speed (or volts and amps, which you can easily convert to speed). For those that don't, a good assumption is about 18MPH for most public J1772 stations, and a good CHAdeMO station in good working order should get you around 150MPH until you hit the taper. Some CHAdeMO stations are NOT in good working order, or are just not very powerful, so you may see as little as 60MPH.

 

[linkster]

You may also consider having an electrician determine if the garage outlet is the sole receptacle on that particular branch circuit. If it is, it can be easily converted to either a NEMA 6-15 or 6-20 (depending on wire ga.) for less than $20 in materials where you could then deploy the Tesla UMC 6-15 adapter for an 8-9mph charge rate.

 

[apharris]

Thanks to all.