raynewman
Active Member
There are already three Tesla destination chargers as well as quite a few useful J1772 and CHAdeMO chargers in Brisbane.
What I'm waiting for is the connection from Brisbane to Sydney. It's currently doable (just).
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Tesla in Australia
- Thread starter PeterW
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- Australia New Zealand
What I'm waiting for is the connection from Brisbane to Sydney. It's currently doable (just).
WhiteStar
Member
Yes I think it'll be a huge sales catalyst too. It is curious that there seems to be only one team completing only one Supercharger site at a time.
Slightly off topic, but last week I discovered that I was getting a much higher charge speed during the day rather than at night. The final conclusion was that my solar panels were increasing the voltage from 220V at the mains to 245volts. It increased the charge speed by around 8km/hr (I charge 40A single phase)
Dborn
Confirmed
The three phase wall connector was shown to us very unofficially at the billion mile event in Sydney. It was undergoing testing and certification at that time. It was powered. It has a moulded hook into the side which is very neat to hold the vehicle connector. It is not a direct replacement for the existing wall connector and will not fit directly onto the wall plate.
LGGD
Active Member
I think I'll stick with my single phase then, maybe ask for an upgrade to 40a from my existing 32a.
lennier
Member
It's the same unit, just internal configuration to match the capacity of the circuit it's on. You probably need the circuit upgraded if it's not currently been installed and configured for 40A (to the car, 50A circuit) so a sparky issue, not Tesla.
Dborn
Confirmed
Physically the 3 phase unit is the same size and general shape as the existing. However, it is the mounting to the wall that is different. If you already have 3 phase cabling to the existing box, it is not really that big a deal to convert over.
Also, the handle has an electronic button as against the mechanical one on the existing handle. Very neat!
Also, the handle has an electronic button as against the mechanical one on the existing handle. Very neat!
From my discussions with my electrician and Tesla, you can't exceed 32 Amps on a single phase in Australia.
This has the potential to unbalance the phases in your street, which I am told is important.
If you are installing a Tesla wall connector, talk to them first before setting the device to 32 Amps on a 32 amp circuit.
I have 32 Amps single phase supply at one house and my wall connector is running at 16 Amps currently at the recommendation of Tesla.
To get any more you will most likely need to go 3 phase.
Dborn
Confirmed
lennier
Member
The phase unbalancing argument doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Houses are typically wired up from sequential phases to 'balance' the phase loads (by averaging out over a similar large number of properties on each phase), but there's always going to be a lot of variation from house to house on how much they are drawing. Which circuit within the house wiring (behind your meter box) that draw is on should be both invisible and irrelevant to the balancing of the phases in the street distribution.
Your property will be rated for a certain total current draw (by the meter box) and each circuit in your house has a maximum rating (from the wiring and circuit breaker capacities). Provided both the meter box and the relevant circuit are up to the job then drawing 40A (on a single 50A circuit) should be identical to drawing a total of 40A across multiple appliances/circuits as far as balancing phases at the street is concerned (if you have 3-phase on the property balancing that might be a different issue).
Possibly there are regulations prohibiting single domestic circuits above 40A (32A to the car), I'm an elec eng not a sparky and so not up with the regs, and I'm not a power engineer so I may be missing something here. But on the other hand I've plugged in to an HPWC on a 50A circuit delivering 40A to the car (in Bairnsdale, domestic residence, no 3 phase as far as I know) so they exist.
Your property will be rated for a certain total current draw (by the meter box) and each circuit in your house has a maximum rating (from the wiring and circuit breaker capacities). Provided both the meter box and the relevant circuit are up to the job then drawing 40A (on a single 50A circuit) should be identical to drawing a total of 40A across multiple appliances/circuits as far as balancing phases at the street is concerned (if you have 3-phase on the property balancing that might be a different issue).
Possibly there are regulations prohibiting single domestic circuits above 40A (32A to the car), I'm an elec eng not a sparky and so not up with the regs, and I'm not a power engineer so I may be missing something here. But on the other hand I've plugged in to an HPWC on a 50A circuit delivering 40A to the car (in Bairnsdale, domestic residence, no 3 phase as far as I know) so they exist.
Mark E
Member
raynewman
Active Member
My HPWC supplies 40 AMP on a 50 AMP single phase circuit. We live in the CBD (i.e. not suburbia).
LGGD
Active Member
I thought all the recently delivered HPWCs were 40a and it was only the very early deliveries who got 32a.
lennier
Member
I wasn't aware that there might be two HPWC units (I thought they were all 40A max), if so then my original comment about them being the same unit is obviously wrong!
Your electrician is very wrong. Whatever size SINGLE PHASE power you have coming into your house, you are entitled to use it all. In Adelaide we can have a 64A single phase or 3 phase circuit. Furthermore, whatever size 3 phase you have coming into your house you are entitled to use it all, however your electrician is required to try and balance the phases. For example, I have 64A 3 phase, so I have a 40A HPWC on one phase, a 40A HPWC on the 2nd phase (two tesla), and our kitchen appliances on the 3rd phase.
If you only have 32A single phase going into your house, you will likely blow your service fuse (or breaker) if you use all 32A. To set at 32A you really need a 40A circuit. Tesla recommending 16A makes sense, as it leaves space for other power demands.
As far as I'm aware there is only one single phase HPWC, but you set the amperage for the circuit on it's internal dip switches. This prevents it over-drawing your circuit.
raynewman
Active Member
The documentation indicates there is only one variety in Australia. It can, however, be set using internal switches to different amperages.
I am not an electrician so I won't debate with you the ins and outs of what you are or are not able to draw from your supply.
My comment was only to reinforce that whatever you install, you do so in consultation with a suitably qualified professional.
TesAus
Member
When my HPWC was installed as part of the charger validation program (many months before our cars arrived) my electrician set the dip switches to 40A. The circuit was protected by a 50A breaker and we have a decent 3 phase supply to our property.
When Mitchell visited with the test car the charger kept throwing up a fault signal. The only way we could get it to work was to set the dip switches back to 32A. This apparently had been an issue at other locations during testing.
Not sure why this occurs or if later batches of the HPWC have overcome this issue (maybe different internal components or they have adjusted some settings). So whilst all single phase HPWC are theoretically capable of 40A (on a suitably rated circuit) there are at least some of them that won't play ball and will only work at 32A.
I haven't chased it up as will be getting a 3 phase charger as soon as they are released.
The wall connector I installed in February was one of the 'early' ones and was apparently limited to 32A (although I'm not sure why). Then I installed a second HPWC at a different location in April. It is a 'newer' one and it runs at 40A in a standard NSW house. I run it at 40A all the time. Easy peasy.
