Newbie charging question

[Amhud]

I live in a country where Tesla is currently not available.

I am exploring bringing the car from the US myself and installing the wall connector.

The standard voltage where I am is 230V/50Hz. But as far as I understand, the wiring connections from the grid here is generally set to only 20 amps, 30 amps at most for residential housing.

I can get an upgrade (requires upgraded wiring and additional permit fees) to 63 amp or 100 amp, but the fee I heard was in the 000s. Or I can connect a new line and install a new meter which would cost around $2000. Both of which is subject to bureaucratic delays.

But a local electrician told me after I showed him the Tesla Wall Connector spec via Google translate, says that the wall connector requires only 200-240V, and there is no amp "input" requirement. It just says the amp "output" is between 12-48 amp. So I would be fine with just the normal 20 amp here.

So I am confused if I need to get the electrical upgrade or not. I want the fast charging that comes with the wall connector. Can the output of the Wall Charger be 48 amp if the input line is at 20 amp?

Or is there any alternative to get fast charging in my situation? Please help.

 

[strykeroz]

Hi & welcome to the forum.

You'll be sourcing your vehicle from a left hand drive country but my understanding is Tesla does not include the EVSE as part of the purchase in every country. In Australia both a Tesla wall charger and a travel adapter are included. On a 32A single phase 220V circuit the Tesla EVSE will charge at 7kW adding around 50km range per hour, the travel adapter adds between 10-12km range per hour plugged into a 220V 10A outlet.

If you source a vehicle that's LHD with CCS2 socket that doesn't include the Tesla EVSE that's not a terrible thing. There are many 3rd party CCS2 EVSE to choose from, and your local electrician might be more familiar with one of those or even have one they recommend. The Tesla one is quite capable though, able to be setup for 110V/60Hz or 220V/50Hz, single or 3 phase depending on what you have available to your home.

Cheers, Geoff

 

[cwerdna]

I live in a country where Tesla is currently not available.

I am exploring bringing the car from the US myself and installing the wall connector.

You sure you want to do that? What if you need warranty work or repairs? How about any maintenance that you can't DIY?

Hope you can connect to wi-fi while parked so that you can get updates.

 

[notAnExpert]

Can the output of the Wall Charger be 48 amp if the input line is at 20 amp?

No. You need an electrical upgrade.

 

[Booma]

Can the output of the Wall Charger be 48 amp if the input line is at 20 amp?

I doubt the US codes are equivalent in Cambodia, but here you need a 60 amp service to use a 48 amp charger. Your electrician will know more about what is required locally, but that is a good margin for safety.

 

[bogich]

Couple of notes:
1) If you get the Long Range - the max AMPs on AC your car can take is 48A, but you can always change that from the menu and lower it down to 5A. Also (as mentioned) the mobile charger goes max to 32A anyway, which is the max charging rate of an SR+ model.
In your case - if you have 30A service, you should set your car to max 24A in order to leave 20% safety margin.
2) I am not an electrician and cannot be trusted much on this, but here in the US 110V at 60Hz is standard single phase and 208 - 240V is using 2 phases. Not sure how this will work with your grid there where I assume you have 230V 50Hz on a single phase. I doubt the differnt frequency would cause an issue, since you are converting it to DC anyway, but How much would the the US mobile charger pass on a single phase 230 is out of my competences. I believe it would work, but you might see a bit lower charging rate.

 

[CharleyBC]

Aside from the electrical (your original inquiry) and service issues mentioned above, also consider cellular connectivity. A Tesla is a very connected device: navigation, voice commands, etc. I bet a US car wouldn’t connect to Cambodian cellular service. No contract, wrong SIM card. I drive through remote areas here where I lose connectivity for a while, and I miss it! But if you can live with that...

 

[ellett]

I suggest you don't get a Tesla unless you're in a country where you can get it serviced. Teslas are very reliable, but if something happens, you'll potentially have a $40K+ brick in your yard unless you have it trucked to the nearest country with Tesla service.

With Giga Shanghai ramping up, I imagine that Teslas will spread across Asia within a few years. Have patience.