Should my 3 be plugged into GFCI

[Treller]

Hi everyone, just got my Model 3 MR yesterday and 110 charging will be sufficient for our driving needs.

My question is do I need to plug the Tesla into a GFCI socket. I have both in my garage (which may not be to code) but the non GFCI is way more convenient due to where I park the car.

If it should be GFCI can I just swap out the socket?

I have it plugged in now and it is charging at 5mph and shows 118 volts and 12/12 amps if that helps in your response.

I am absolutely loving the car but don't want to burn the house down!

Thanks in advance

T

 

[thimel]

It doesn’t need to be plugged into a GFCI outlet. The charging cable that comes with the car has that built in.

 

[eprosenx]

Hi everyone, just got my Model 3 MR yesterday and 110 charging will be sufficient for our driving needs.

My question is do I need to plug the Tesla into a GFCI socket. I have both in my garage (which may not be to code) but the non GFCI is way more convenient due to where I park the car.

If it should be GFCI can I just swap out the socket?

I have it plugged in now and it is charging at 5mph and shows 118 volts and 12/12 amps if that helps in your response.

I am absolutely loving the car but don't want to burn the house down!

Thanks in advance

T

Welcome to the Tesla family!

Several comments:

The "Universal Mobile Connector" AKA UMC Gen 2 that came with your car has built in GFCI circuitry. So from that box on the end of the cable to the car (including the connection to the car) you are protected from electrical shocks by that UMC. Providing a safe way to connect your car is the whole point of the UMC (and in fact, that is *all* it does - well, that plus telling the car how much current it is allowed to draw).

So whether you plug into a GFCI outlet or not, you still have GFCI protection when connecting the end of the cable to the car in the rain.

HOWEVER: If you plug the UMC into the wall to a non GFCI protected circuit and it was wet or something, you could get shocked because the GFCI protection in the UMC does not do any good upstream of the UMC (i.e. on the connection to your house).

Now the thing is, I can virtually guarantee you that any outlet in your garage or outside your house that you plugged into at 120v is likely already GFCI protected. Even if it is not physically a GFCI receptacle itself, it likely is "downstream" daisy chained off an existing outlet, or a GFCI breaker (less common). You can test this by tripping the GFCI using the test button and then going around and observing what receptacles stopped working.

I REALLY would not worry about plugging in an outlet in (or outside) your garage if it was dry where you were plugging in (whether or not that receptacle was GFCI protected).

I should also note that a GFCI has no impact on whether you are going to burn your house down. That is what the circuit breaker is for (to open the circuit if more than the rated amount of current flows through it). It will shut off the power before something heats up and catches fire. The GFCI is intended for human safety to keep you from getting shocked.

I am curious if your garage circuit is a 20a circuit (with 12 gauge wire). If so, you might be able to at least get the Tesla 5-20 adapter (and you might have to swap out the receptacle if it is not 20a rated). That would get you like 50% faster charging since moving from 12a to 16a actually is a big bump due to the fixed overhead losses in charging (running computers and cooling pump).

But really, I would encourage you to get a 240v charging solution going! Either some kind of 240v receptacle like a NEMA 14-50, OR a Wall Connector (I am partial to the Wall Connector myself so I can leave the UMC in my car at all times).

P.S. I also think it is safer to charge from a dedicated 240v receptacle rather than a 120v 15a or 20a circuit that is daisy chained among a bunch of receptacles. Just too many points of failure for my taste. I absolutely do it when I need to, but my daily charging at home is a hard wired Wall Connector at 60a (48a) and I have a dedicated 14-50 receptacle on a 50a circuit as well. If you post pictures of your breaker panel we can probably give you an idea of how difficult or expensive it might be if you did want to go for a 240v solution.

 

[Snow Drift]

I use 110v (normal outlet, not visibly GFCI) as my wife's daily commute is only 10 miles round-trip (charges ~5miles/hour). If you need to use an extension cord make sure it is heavy duty and rated for at least 12 gauge. The shorter length the better. I got Watt's Wire 15 ft, 12 gauge heavy-duty cord, and I don't have any voltage drop.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GQ8RPGF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[ewoodrick]

Electrical code in your area may require GFCI in garages, but no, you don't want it

 

[Arizona Willie]

Hi everyone, just got my Model 3 MR yesterday and 110 charging will be sufficient for our driving needs.

My question is do I need to plug the Tesla into a GFCI socket. I have both in my garage (which may not be to code) but the non GFCI is way more convenient due to where I park the car.

If it should be GFCI can I just swap out the socket?

I have it plugged in now and it is charging at 5mph and shows 118 volts and 12/12 amps if that helps in your response.

I am absolutely loving the car but don't want to burn the house down!

Thanks in advance

T

It won't hurt a bit. I plug mine into either one. No problem at all. At 12 amps you are well within the capability of the circuit so it isn't overloaded.

 

[eprosenx]

I use 110v (normal outlet, not visibly GFCI) as my wife's daily commute is only 10 miles round-trip (charges ~5miles/hour). If you need to use an extension cord make sure it is heavy duty and rated for at least 12 gauge. The shorter length the better. I got Watt's Wire 15 ft, 12 gauge heavy-duty cord, and I don't have any voltage drop.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GQ8RPGF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

FWIW, Tesla says not to use extension cords. While there is nothing technically wrong with them if you get a high quality one and of sufficient gauge, there really is no substitute for proper hard-wiring. Actually, I think they probably violate electrical code (you are not supposed to use extension cords for any fixed appliances, only temporary things like construction tools).

There are more connections when using extension cords and so more to go wrong. The UMC has a temperature sensor to make sure the receptacle you are plugging into is not overheating, but when you use an extension cord it can only alert you to issues at one end of the extension cord, not the end where you plug into the wall.

While I would use a (short) extension cord as needed for very temporary charging setups, I would never want to rely on one for my primary charging solution at home.

I personally think 120v charging is more dangerous than 240v in a lot of ways since it spreads the charging cycle out over much longer periods of time which inherently end up being while you are sleeping and it keeps the electrical wire and receptacles under load for much longer periods of time. Also, 120v receptacles are normally not on dedicated circuits so there are commonly more junctions which are points of failure in the circuit...

 

[eprosenx]

It won't hurt a bit. I plug mine into either one. No problem at all. At 12 amps you are well within the capability of the circuit so it isn't overloaded.

Just as a clarification:

If the circuit being plugged into is a 15a circuit then you drawing 12a for your Tesla means that circuit is 100% full. Because the EV is considered a "continuous load" (i.e. expected to draw current for over three hours) you have to calculate the load as if it was 125% of actual. So if you are charging an EV at 12a on a 15a circuit you are not supposed to have *any* other loads on that circuit.

If it is a 20a circuit, then yes, you have some headroom.

 

[Lansear]

The National Electrical Code would require that the receptacle in the garage be GFCI protected if:

• It's 15-amp single phase, or
• It's 20-amp single phase, or
• It's any-amp and any phase, and within 6-foot of a sink

Good to know this.

 

[yuhong]

FWIW, Tesla says not to use extension cords. While there is nothing technically wrong with them if you get a high quality one and of sufficient gauge, there really is no substitute for proper hard-wiring. Actually, I think they probably violate electrical code (you are not supposed to use extension cords for any fixed appliances, only temporary things like construction tools).

There are more connections when using extension cords and so more to go wrong. The UMC has a temperature sensor to make sure the receptacle you are plugging into is not overheating, but when you use an extension cord it can only alert you to issues at one end of the extension cord, not the end where you plug into the wall.

While I would use a (short) extension cord as needed for very temporary charging setups, I would never want to rely on one for my primary charging solution at home.

I personally think 120v charging is more dangerous than 240v in a lot of ways since it spreads the charging cycle out over much longer periods of time which inherently end up being while you are sleeping and it keeps the electrical wire and receptacles under load for much longer periods of time. Also, 120v receptacles are normally not on dedicated circuits so there are commonly more junctions which are points of failure in the circuit...

Not to mention any other loads that are on the circuit too.

 

[tga]

Now the thing is, I can virtually guarantee you that any outlet in your garage or outside your house that you plugged into at 120v is likely already GFCI protected. Even if it is not physically a GFCI receptacle itself, it likely is "downstream" daisy chained off an existing outlet, or a GFCI breaker (less common). You can test this by tripping the GFCI using the test button and then going around and observing what receptacles stopped working.

P.S. I also think it is safer to charge from a dedicated 240v receptacle rather than a 120v 15a or 20a circuit that is daisy chained among a bunch of receptacles. Just too many points of failure for my taste.

For both these reasons, if you needed to charge from 120V, I'd use the GFCI outlet, if possible. The other garage outlets are likely downstream from it, so GFCI protected anyway, and likely have more connections (more points of possible failure).