Planning to only use 110 outlet

[Dmagyar]

yeah my Q is re: 110 specifically.

Where on the planet are you using 110 volts?, in the US it’s been 120 volts since the early 70’s, almost fifty years ago, and with a 21st. century vehicle, why not move on?...

 

[ReddykwRun]

Where on the planet are you using 110 volts?, in the US it’s been 120 volts since the early 70’s, almost fifty years ago, and with a 21st. century vehicle, why not move on?...

I run into this "mina bird" labeling all the time. I suspect they are just repeating what "someone" said comes out of the little holes in the wall and that's as far as they care to understand it. Maybe I should start telling folks it's actually micro "skittles" coming out the wall I know someone will repeat it. I have even asked folks to buy a VOM at a hardware store and tell me please what does it read and even if it shows 120 volts they would still call it 110 just because that is the deep of their understanding. I give up.

 

[Sophias_dad]

So, not that I didn't believe either side... so I decided to try it... my car is out in the driveway at 22f, inside is 32f, and I plugged it into the UMC on a 120V outlet(Ironically a few feet from my HPWC!) about 15 minutes ago... I had intentionally left the car sit and get its battery cold(3 hours in the 34f garage, another hour outside) before starting to charge. The tesla app says it'll be done charging in 5 minutes(!), and is taking 5amps at 118V to add 0 miles/hr to the battery. I realize 15 minutes isn't exactly a scientific test, so I'll leave it going until morning and see if it has added anything at all to the battery in the next 9 hours or so. I'm not really expecting much other a slightly increased electric bill.

While I watched, it flashed to 1mi/hr for a second or two... cooking with gas....err...electrons. Its now happened TWICE, so assuming its 2 seconds per minute, I'm getting 3 feet per minute....(5280 per hour divided by 60 minutes in an hour, divided by 30(units of 2 seconds per minute))

I've turned off the apps and stuff so it can sleep. I might check it again in an hour.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Now up to 197 miles... almost two hours elapsed. Everything else is pretty much the same... 119V/5A, 20f outside, 24f inside.

Since it started at '196', we don't really know if it was 196.9 or 196.0.... will know more in the morning.

 

[davewill]

Now up to 197 miles... almost two hours elapsed. Everything else is pretty much the same... 119V/5A, 20f outside, 24f inside.

Since it started at '196', we don't really know if it was 196.9 or 196.0.... will know more in the morning.

It should be charging at 12a. The car must either be set lower or be on a timer. Also, it probably requires longer than 3 hours for the battery to really get cold.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Here you go... 8 hours elapsed, 5A/118V. 198 miles remaining.

I'll check to make sure I haven't set it lower and retry it with a fresh-off-a-drive this evening.

[Edit] I had actually set it to 5A explicitly, although I can't imagine why... now its at 12A/112V and charging at... drum roll... 0 mi/hr... (yes, everything is off and its had a chance to shut down the heat and stuff. I'll still give it a warmed-up-battery attempt tonight.

 

[Rocky_H]

Here you go... 8 hours elapsed, 5A/118V. 198 miles remaining.

I'll check to make sure I haven't set it lower and retry it with a fresh-off-a-drive this evening.

[Edit] I had actually set it to 5A explicitly, although I can't imagine why... now its at 12A/112V and charging at... drum roll... 0 mi/hr... (yes, everything is off and its had a chance to shut down the heat and stuff. I'll still give it a warmed-up-battery attempt tonight.

Yeah, that 5A thing is going to be a problem. I wouldn't be surprised if it can't get the battery warm with that. But with 12A, it probably will run at 12A and show 0 mi/hr for possibly about an hour just heating before it will begin charging.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Yes, I'll probably try it again when its colder(with a cold battery as well), but plugged in now after a drive, at 38f(so its not really a perfect comparison), its doing 4mi/hr at 12 amps, which is all that can be expected.

 

[lighting_m3]

I too bought my M3 on June 8, 2019. I too have a 15 mile round trip daily commute and for the last 3 months have been relying on 110v charge every other night. Getting a good 12 hours of charge to add around 60 miles on each charge. I had gotten 5000K miles for the purchase and had used lot of Supercharging the first 3 months, but found that a waste of time given the 20 mins back and forth plus the extra wait while charging, not worth it for daily commute. Will save for those long trips.