Planning to only use 110 outlet

[voucher2002]

Hi everyone! New owner here. Picked up Model 3 on 6/8 and plan to only use my existing 110 outlet in my garage to charge my car. Since I have a total commute of 40 miles 4 days a week I figure I can get about 50 charging miles each night. If I decide to take a long trip there are a number of local Superchargers available get up to 100% before I leave. My question: will I be doing any “damage” to my car’s battery by trickling in a charge for long hours at a low rate? Thanks.

 

[brkaus]

No damage.

You will be using more energy, as there appears to be some fixed overhead when charging.

I’d definitely start out this way, esp if you have other faster options like a nearby supercharger or public charging station.

You mention supercharging to 100%. Not really designed for that, unless absolutely necessary. Going from 80 to 100 is quite slow.

 

[Cosimojack]

I charge for free at work and only have 110 at home. My commute is 10 miles/each way 4 days/week. If I wasn’t able to charge at work, then I would definitely be upgrading my home charging. 110 is not efficient enough.

 

[SSedan]

Highway speeds use more energy than rated.
Heavy AC use as does as well, heater use in winter dramatically increases energy use.
Then there is vampire load.

Battery needs to warm to charge if below freezing, and if the pack itself is below about 50f Regen in limited increasing energy use.

Superchargers are a horrible way to try to get to 100% if you said you would go to the supercharger to get to 90% the night before then home charge to 100% overnight that is a little more workable but results in an extended period above 90% but if superchargers are common likely rarely needed.

You can "get by" with your plan for summer, make a plan for something of higher capacity come fall.

 

[Dre78]

My question: will I be doing any “damage” to my car’s battery by trickling in a charge for long hours at a low rate? Thanks.

No. Tesla states in the manual that a plugged in car is a happy car.

 

[SSedan]

No. Tesla states in the manual that a plugged in car is a happy car.

Plugged in does not imply always charging.

I am going to expand on this more. Why would one agree having the charging electronics possibly coolant circuit active all the time is beneficial? Plugged in gives the car the option to use shore power as needed, but as slow a charging as possible means shore power is needed almost all the time.

Now before someone tries to put words in my mouth about the cooling circuit. I would expect that the cooling pumps run at least intermittently the way temperature monitoring works on pretty much everything is just a few sensors, moving coolant a little makes sure those sensors get a big picture idea of what is going on and avoid hot spots. Not suggesting the system actually needs active cooling at this charging rate.

 

[JSergeant]

Hi everyone! New owner here. Picked up Model 3 on 6/8 and plan to only use my existing 110 outlet in my garage to charge my car. Since I have a total commute of 40 miles 4 days a week I figure I can get about 50 charging miles each night. If I decide to take a long trip there are a number of local Superchargers available get up to 100% before I leave. My question: will I be doing any “damage” to my car’s battery by trickling in a charge for long hours at a low rate? Thanks.

My wife has been charging her Model 3 for the last year and a half on a 110 outlet - she drives about the same or a little more than you. It works perfectly fine. We do have a 220 v outlet which I use for my Model S. I have only twice charged her 3 with that, when we had done a long trip in the 3 and run the battery down - it probably wasn't necessary. As to charging to 100% on a Supercharger - why would you want to do that? Don't do it unless you are about to embark on a long trip where you absolutely need the range. We charge the Model 3 to 80% which gives it more range than my S90D charged to 90%.

 

[derotam]

Hi everyone! New owner here. Picked up Model 3 on 6/8 and plan to only use my existing 110 outlet in my garage to charge my car. Since I have a total commute of 40 miles 4 days a week I figure I can get about 50 charging miles each night. If I decide to take a long trip there are a number of local Superchargers available get up to 100% before I leave. My question: will I be doing any “damage” to my car’s battery by trickling in a charge for long hours at a low rate? Thanks.

With your commute you are definitely with on 120V for the Spring/Summer/Fall, however you may run into issues in the Winter. If you have a Long Range, then you should still be ok since you will be able to charge all weekend. In the winter you will use a huge amount of energy heating the cabin. If your car is cold soaked when you charge it at 120V you will barely be able to charge as it will need to heat the battery before it can put the full current to the battery. As I said, you *SHOULD* still be able to manage in the winter with your commute an 120V charging...but I would suggest getting some kind of 240V outlet.

Ohh also in the winter, it will help a lot to pre-heat the cabin while still plugged in before you leave...this will help a little bit on energy usage at the beginning of the drive in the winter.

 

[JSergeant]

With your commute you are definitely with on 120V for the Spring/Summer/Fall, however you may run into issues in the Winter. If you have a Long Range, then you should still be ok since you will be able to charge all weekend. In the winter you will use a huge amount of energy heating the cabin. If your car is cold soaked when you charge it at 120V you will barely be able to charge as it will need to heat the battery before it can put the full current to the battery. As I said, you *SHOULD* still be able to manage in the winter with your commute an 120V charging...but I would suggest getting some kind of 240V outlet.

Ohh also in the winter, it will help a lot to pre-heat the cabin while still plugged in before you leave...this will help a little bit on energy usage at the beginning of the drive in the winter.

My wife had no issues charging her 3 in the winter at 110v - we're in NJ so slightly colder than MD.

 

[Galve2000]

I agree that you will be fine in spring-summer-fall but might be a little inconvenienced in winter. how far away from your home is the nearest SCer or public 208/240 EVSE? any chance you can charge at 240 V at work? even a 120 V outlet at work will help you in a big, big way.

My wife had no issues charging her 3 in the winter at 110v - we're in NJ so slightly colder than MD.

with all due respect, pushing your battery to 0 miles is much easier to do when you know that there is a 240 charger at home. even if you never use it.

 

[srs5694]

One more point: Some 120v circuits are capable of delivering 20 amps rather than 15 (which equates to 16 amps rather than 12 of charging). This can improve the charge speed a little, but you'll need a NEMA 5-20 adapter for the car's stock EVSE, and the plug you use will need to match. (The plug has one T-shaped hole.) Going to 20-amp charging will help more than you might think because a significant amount of the 15 amps goes to powering the car's circuits in real-time, so the extra 33% amperage improves charge speed by more than that. If you want to go this route, be sure that nothing else is using that circuit, since charging will push it to the limit; you don't want to be charging and have a garage door opener or whatnot on the same circuit trip the breaker.

 

[Snow Drift]

Hi everyone! New owner here. Picked up Model 3 on 6/8 and plan to only use my existing 110 outlet in my garage to charge my car. Since I have a total commute of 40 miles 4 days a week I figure I can get about 50 charging miles each night. If I decide to take a long trip there are a number of local Superchargers available get up to 100% before I leave. My question: will I be doing any “damage” to my car’s battery by trickling in a charge for long hours at a low rate? Thanks.

We don't have the option of upgrading (apartment), so my wife uses a 110v in our rented garage. Her commute is about 10 miles per day and this set up as worked perfectly. The car adds about 5 miles every hour. Even on the weekends if we go for a long drive we don't feel any anxiety and just charge it at home over night or the next day. Before we got access to this 110v I had to use a supercharger every other week (or every in winter). We haven't used an SC since December.

I have the car scheduled to charge at 3 AM everyday so that it get some extra juice before her morning commute, and in the winter it allowed for the battery to warm (regains regen ability).

 

[derotam]

My wife had no issues charging her 3 in the winter at 110v - we're in NJ so slightly colder than MD.

Yeah, we were typing at the same time there... Good to hear from someone in the same area as the OP with a similar circumstance.

I was on 120V for a few months before winter last year and I know that I wouldn't have made it...but I have a slightly longer commute, about 65 miles roundtrip, 5 days a week. I was plugging in through my garage door to my stove outlet an hour 2x a week before I got a 30A outlet installed in the garage.

 

[SSedan]

On the winter use and 120volt, actual usage pattern will matter. The retiree who keeps the car in a warm garage and runs errands will not use as much energy per mile as the person who parks outdoors and the car sits outside at work 10hours and has to warm all over again on the drive home.
The two might drive the same number of miles but the energy use won't be the same.
Warming up on shore power before leaving makes a huge difference in wh/m too.

I drive a 2014 P85 being near Green Bay winters are pretty cold, once it gets sub-zero if I don't preheat my wh/m for my 7mile commute can be over 700, yesterday with no heat or AC use I saw 240. At work it is parked in a windswept lot and retains no heat.

That brings up another point, cabin overtemp protection will use battery when parked in the sun. Probably a factor for someone with a job where it sits out 8-10 hours middle of the day, but a retiree who runs errands in the mornings and had it parked in the garage by midday.

Point being there is a LOT more to consider than miles alone.

Go ahead and try to get by on 120volts but make a plan for a larger circuit.

 

[azred]

Hi everyone! New owner here. Picked up Model 3 on 6/8 and plan to only use my existing 110 outlet in my garage to charge my car. Since I have a total commute of 40 miles 4 days a week I figure I can get about 50 charging miles each night. If I decide to take a long trip there are a number of local Superchargers available get up to 100% before I leave. My question: will I be doing any “damage” to my car’s battery by trickling in a charge for long hours at a low rate? Thanks.

Don’t be a cheapskate. You bought a luxury car. The Tesla charger is awesome — 45 miles of range per hour—and you will never again need to post a thread like this one.

 

[derotam]

Don’t be a cheapskate. You bought a luxury car. The Tesla charger is awesome — 45 miles of range per hour—and you will never again need to post a thread like this one.

Or 11 miles of range per hour...all depends on wiring, breaker, and what the wall connector is set for.

 

[Ocala.Joe]

I have been charging my 3 most of the time with the 110 plug, I also have a clippercreek as we also own a leaf, my 3 charges at 6 miles per hour on the 110. If I need to charge up quicker I have the option. But mainly let the leaf use it as it is used every day.
As you mentioned, your daily commute is 40 miles, your fine. And I hope you have access to the superchargers nearby, in case you need it.

 

[neroden]

Hi everyone! New owner here. Picked up Model 3 on 6/8 and plan to only use my existing 110 outlet in my garage to charge my car. Since I have a total commute of 40 miles 4 days a week I figure I can get about 50 charging miles each night. If I decide to take a long trip there are a number of local Superchargers available get up to 100% before I leave. My question: will I be doing any “damage” to my car’s battery by trickling in a charge for long hours at a low rate? Thanks.

No damage. It ends up using more energy than you expect since there's some sort of fixed overhead. You might not actually get the 50 miles each night which you want, but your commute is only 40 miles, so you should be fine.

If it gets really really cold, a 110 outlet can't keep up with the needs of the battery heater, and you end up gaining no range overnight (which is still better than the loss of range you'd see if it were unplugged). In Maryland this is unlikely, but it's worth remembering if you get any winter cold snaps (well below freezing).

 

[Nocturnal]

I think it would take a lot of charging inefficiency at 110 to make up for the cost of installing a new 220 circuit. My commute is about 55 miles and I got by on 110 for several weeks. I was only getting 4mph so I slowly lost range on weekdays but on weekends I made up for it.

If it gets really really cold, a 110 outlet can't keep up with the needs of the battery heater, and you end up gaining no range overnight (which is still better than the loss of range you'd see if it were unplugged). In Maryland this is unlikely, but it's worth remembering if you get any winter cold snaps (well below freezing).

One data point. I was in Denver charging at a cabin overnight for 2 nights. Even at about 20 degrees I still gained a good amount of range overnight. IIRC I was still netting like 2-3 mph. ​

 

[SSedan]

On the comments about a 240volt outlet repaying it's cost thru efficiency gains .
How about the convenience of not having to make sure it is plugged in every time you get home?
Get home from work know it is just an hour or two and then have a social engagement or something do you plug in because you know every minute you are home it needs to be plugged in. My car is typically plugged in overnight but during the day if I am coming and going I don't plug it in between trips. Something especially 3 owners are not thinking about yet is plugging and unplugging does create wear. My UMC1 plug to the car is exhibiting wear, runs warm when charging, warmer at 24amps than the wall connector does at much higher charge rate. Long term I think the having to plug in every time you pull in the driveway will cost you a little extra on that end when the UMC end dies, hopefully not taking the car's port with it.

The local superchargers, are they at places you frequent? I have superchargers at a grocery store half an hour away, so if I needed to fall back on that I could at least grocery shop to kill the time, can you say the same?