Newbie: What to order with wall charger.

[eprosenx]

I would not use any adapter other than the ones that Tesla sells. The adapter that plugs into the UMC tells it how much current to draw. A NEMA 14-50 should have a 50A breaker (except in parts of Canada where it is 40A). A NEMA 14-30 has a 30A breaker and is safe to draw 24A. If you use an add on adapter to plug NEMA 14-50 into a NEMA 14-30 plug, the UMC will attempt to draw 32A which should trip the breaker. If it doesn't trip the breaker, you could be creating a dangerous situation.

The reality is that I think use of the UMC in the wild is going to be very rare.

Yes, this is a good callout. I should have been more specific about the critical need to set charging amperage properly if using these kinds of adapters. The issue I have run into is that the UMC cable by itself is often not long enough to get to the receptacles I need, so the adapters that you can buy from Tesla (which auto limit the current) won't get you far enough.

I'm pretty much in the same camp as eprosenx, above, with a few differences. I guess I'm a boy scout at heart and like to be prepared.

If you're in the other camp & want to travel light, I'd suggest to just carry the UMC and the 3 adapters that come with the car, and add a 50' standard 12 gauge extension cord.

First, absolutely no reason to not carry the J-1772 adapter that the M3 comes with. It's tiny, fits in the glove box, and gives you many Level 2 charging sites. I signed up for a ChargePoint account, which charges for free at some places, and for reasonable $$ at many other locations. There are many other EV charging providers, but ChargePoint has the most charging locations.

That 50' 14-50 extension cord that eprosenx bought weighs a ton, so I opted for this one instead:
Heavy-duty NEMA 14-50R extension cord for Tesla, 20 ft.
It's only 20 feet instead of 50, but it only weighs 10 lbs instead of 23 lbs and it plugs in directly to 14-50, 14-30, and 14-60 receptacles. I added 10-30 to 14-50 and TT-30 to 14-50 adapters. The 20 feet of this cord plus the 20 feet of the UMC gets me 40 feet total.

I added the 6-20 Tesla adapter, specifically because my brother has this 240V outlet in his garage. I built a 25' - 12 awg 240V extension cord to go with it, at a cost of about $30. I also added simple molded L6-20 and L6-30 (locking) adapters that output to the straight plug 6-20 and that will also work with this same 6-20 extension cord. These adapters are pretty cheap and very small. After I built this 240V extension cord, I discovered that evseadapters.com sells one.

I got the 5-20 Tesla adapter, for the reason quoted above by eprosenx. Pretty widespread availability of this outlet and 16 amps is a lot better than 12 at 120 volts. Added a simple molded 5-15 to 5-20 adapter, about $7. Some 20 amp circuits only have standard 120V duplex 5-15 outlets and this adapter gets you the 16 amps out of the circuit. You do have to check the breaker to verify the circuit has a 20 amp breaker before you use this adapter in a standard house duplex outlet. I have one of these outlets in my garage, the only thing on the circuit is the built-in house vac.

Lastly, I carry a 50' 12 awg standard 120V extension cord. Super slow, but plug in anywhere.

There are a handful of other possibles, mainly industrial type 6-50 and 10-50 used for welders and heavy shop equipment. I'm going to forego these adapters, as they are about $75 each and have limited charging possibilities in most situations.

Ack! I messed up and linked to the wrong cord. I have the 20' one you linked to. The 50' one actually does have a neutral and it can't plug into a 14-30 receptacle (which is likely the most common use case). Even the 20' one though is crazy heavy. I wish it was a lower gauge (since the UMC can only do 32a and not 40 I think this would be fine).

SgtTortuga is spot on.

Don't do any of this customized adapter stuff unless you fully understand exactly what you are doing! One additional BIG gotcha is that when using some of these adapters, DON'T use standard RV style adapters & extension cords, as the wiring for Tesla and other EVs is significantly different from RV wiring, and you can cause very serious electrical problems, including fires. You could also blow up the electrical system in your RV using Tesla/EV adapters.

And, you do have to manually set charging amps to no more than 24 amps whenever you are using -any- of the 30 amp to 14-50 adapters. Set the charging current before you plug in!

Yes, to do all this custom adapter stuff you really should understand what you are doing. Without the right knowledge this could be somewhat dangerous (though there are supposed to be breakers and such, but they are not foolproof). The Tesla factory adapters I think also have thermal sensors in them so they increase safety that way as well but using additional adapters or extension cords may negate some of that protection.

Note that using a standard RV extension cord would be just fine on a Tesla (assuming sufficient ampacity), just the other way around is NOT ok. I am not aware of any RV adapters that would cause a problem for a Tesla, but some just won't work (like a TT-30 to a 14-50 RV adapter for instance).

 

[Toadmanor]

I am curious about charging at an RV park.

Do you have to pay for a site to do this or do you just hop on in, plug in, have a smoke , charge, and then leave?

 

[docdeb27]

Yes, this is a good callout. I should have been more specific about the critical need to set charging amperage properly if using these kinds of adapters. The issue I have run into is that the UMC cable by itself is often not long enough to get to the receptacles I need, so the adapters that you can buy from Tesla (which auto limit the current) won't get you far enough.



Ack! I messed up and linked to the wrong cord. I have the 20' one you linked to. The 50' one actually does have a neutral and it can't plug into a 14-30 receptacle (which is likely the most common use case). Even the 20' one though is crazy heavy. I wish it was a lower gauge (since the UMC can only do 32a and not 40 I think this would be fine).



Yes, to do all this custom adapter stuff you really should understand what you are doing. Without the right knowledge this could be somewhat dangerous (though there are supposed to be breakers and such, but they are not foolproof). The Tesla factory adapters I think also have thermal sensors in them so they increase safety that way as well but using additional adapters or extension cords may negate some of that protection.

Note that using a standard RV extension cord would be just fine on a Tesla (assuming sufficient ampacity), just the other way around is NOT ok. I am not aware of any RV adapters that would cause a problem for a Tesla, but some just won't work (like a TT-30 to a 14-50 RV adapter for instance).

And THIS is why I asked the question; despite READING the page in the manual. I really do not pretend to understand electric other than when I flip a switch, I expect stuff to go on. You all have been very helpful. I appreciate it.

 

[TexasEV]

I am curious about charging at an RV park.

Do you have to pay for a site to do this or do you just hop on in, plug in, have a smoke , charge, and then leave?

You’re kidding, right? Do you normally hop on in somewhere, steal something, have a smoke, and then leave?

I know you must be kidding because of the smoking part. I didn’t know anyone still did that.

 

[brkaus]

Personally, I didn’t bother with a backup

I am curious about charging at an RV park.

Do you have to pay for a site to do this or do you just hop on in, plug in, have a smoke , charge, and then leave?

It’s best to select an RV park next to a hotel with free breakfast. Then you can slip in the back door and grab a bite to eat before the cig.

Seriously though, your likely going to use more electricity than an RV would use in a day. They should be reimbursed at whatever rate they feel is fair.

 

[dendenyc]

Sorry for the simplistic questions. No car yet, no models available until last month here on LI to test drive then my test got crammed into 30 minutes because they double booked!

They lied to you, I picked up my car last month in Manhasset. I was one of the 4 M3 deliveries they did that day. They were so inundated there was no office space to sign documents so me and my sales rep did all the paperwork inside the showroom model X...there was strangers in the back seat playing with the falcon doors while I handed over a 50k check.

 

[Elle_H2]

The car will come with a mobile charger with NEMA 5-15 (normal wall outlet) and NEMA 14-50 which is a 240v 50amp. You will also get a J1772 to tesla adapter so that you can charge at non tesla only level 2 chargers. This should cover most of your mobile charging needs but you can also get extra connectors for the mobile charger to fit other plug types if you know you are going to be somewhere you may plug into a dryer/welder/ etc type plug.

Is this true today? Do the new model 3s come with the NEMA 14-50, and J1772 adapter? what exactly comes with the car?

 

[HelixSpiral]

The car no longer comes with the 14-50 adapter. Just the 5-15 and J1772.

 

[Carol525]

I am ordering a wall charger for my AWD, ext battery Model 3. I assumed one needed a wall charger for $500 for most efficient/quick charging. What else do I need to charge on the road and does what I need already come in the car package? The technical level in this forum is way over my head, Have an electrician with my solar company installing charger,

Make sure your electrician verifies that your home can accommodate the wall charger before ordering it. Same with the NEMA 14-50. My salesman told me to just get the NEMA 14-50 & save my money. I was surprised when my electrician told me our house couldn't handle the 14-50 & we had to either rewire our house or go with the NEMA 10-30. So we went with the 10-30 & ordered the adaptor from Tesla. Since I charge while I'm sleeping I don't mind the slower charging speed - 22 mph.

 

[docdeb27]

Luckily my house could handle both with a sub panel in the garage and I opted for the extra $50 to put the nema 14-50 right next to the wall charger in case there was a problem with a wall charger in the future.

 

[eprosenx]

Make sure your electrician verifies that your home can accommodate the wall charger before ordering it. Same with the NEMA 14-50. My salesman told me to just get the NEMA 14-50 & save my money. I was surprised when my electrician told me our house couldn't handle the 14-50 & we had to either rewire our house or go with the NEMA 10-30. So we went with the 10-30 & ordered the adaptor from Tesla. Since I charge while I'm sleeping I don't mind the slower charging speed - 22 mph.

Odd that an electrician would install a new 10-30 instead of a 14-30. It is not allowed by code since a 10-30 has no ground. You are only supposed to replace existing broken receptacles, not install new ones.

Did the electrician re-use existing wires perhaps that did not have a ground?