Tesla Wall Charger only pulling 40 amps, that right?

[daviddavid]

Bought a new Tesla Wall Charger. Put a 60 amp circuit in. I have a 2016 90D. Per the manual, I would have expected the wall unit to pull 48 amps and get mid 30's MPH charging rate. Instead, it caps out at 40 amps. I double checked the settings (set to 9) and I think it is correct.

Ideas?

Dave

 

[daviddavid]

Forgot to include other chart from charger manual. I did set my unit to "9" (60 amps in, 48 amps out).....but only getting 40 out.

 

[Seven7]

I'm not sure, but can you adjust the charge from the main screen, under charging?

ETA: What charger do you have in your car?

 

[animorph]

Sounds like the old 40A charger in the car. Not sure when they switched over, but an early 2016 might be about right.

 

[markb1]

Yep, there's a reason it's called the "wall connector", not "wall charger". The charger is built into the car, so you can't charge faster than that. (The exception being superchargers, which bypass the onboard charger.)

The other possibility it the switch inside the wall connector is set incorrectly. But if the switch is correctly set for a 60A breaker, and the car shows only 40A available, you have a 40A onboard charger.

 

[ucmndd]

Like others have said, sounds like you have an early 2016 pre-refresh car with a single 40A onboard charger.

 

[Electric Denny]

I have the 72 A charger in my 2018 S100D. I installed a 90 A circuit which gets me 72 A into the vehicle and 52 mi/hr charge rate with a Tesla Wall Connector. My point is, if you're already getting 31 mi/hr charge rate that's pretty good since I'm not able to double that even with more than twice the circuit current and a 72 A onboard charger.

 

[cwerdna]

Yep, there's a reason it's called the "wall connector", not "wall charger". The charger is built into the car, so you can't charge faster than that. (The exception being superchargers, which bypass the onboard charger..

Yep on all of this. OP maybe should look at Three Things Determine EV Charge Time. Tesla's wall connectors and mobile connectors are EVSEs, not chargers. For L1 and L2 AC charging over WC, MC and J1772, the charger's on-board the car.

Like others have said, sounds like you have an early 2016 pre-refresh car with a single 40A onboard charger.

Sounds like it.

Home charging installation from Aug 2016 says

What is a charger?
The purpose of the charger is to convert Alternating Current (AC) coming from the power source into Direct Current (DC) to store in the vehicle battery. The charger hardware is built inside Tesla vehicles. Chargers can be described both in terms of their power (kilowatts) and the amperage which they can draw from the power source.

Model S charger options:

• Standard: 10 kW onboard charger, capable of drawing 40 amps AC power. Referred to as a Single Charger.
• Upgrade: Upgrade: 20 kW onboard charger, capable of drawing 80 amps AC power. Referred to as Dual Chargers, this option is only available to be installed after the Model S is shipped to the Service Center for delivery.

Onboard Charger which is unfortunately incomplete since it only includes (for the most part) vehicles sold at the time says "Note: Tap the lightning bolt icon on the touchscreen to view the max amperage of your vehicle."

Tesla has changed what OBCs come with vehicles and whether you could upgrade a whole bunch of times over the years. Now the possible OBCs (in terms of total amperage) encompassing everything after the Roadster so far (for the US market) includes these amperages: 32, 40, 48, 72 and 80.

If you really want to verify your wall connector can deliver 48 amps, you'll need another Tesla w/48 amp or above of OBC to come by to test it.

 

[daviddavid]

Well I guess it is what it is. In all honesty, I am not sure this will come into play. If I really need a charge, I have a Supercharger 3 miles from my house. If we ever get another Tesla, maybe it will still be useful

Thanks all for your input! Much appreciated.

 

[tk007]

NOTE: If Model X is charging and detects unexpected fluctuations in input power, the charging current is automatically reduced by 25%. For example, a 40 amp current is reduced to 30 amps. This automatic current reduction increases robustness and safety in situations when an external problem exists (for example, a home wiring system, receptacle, adapter or cord is unable to meet its rated current capacity). As a precaution, when Model X automatically reduces current, it saves the reduced current at the charging location. Although you can manually increase it, Tesla recommends charging at the lower current until the underlying problem is resolved and the charging location can provide consistent power.

 

[John Archuleta]

I have the exact same issue. My car is a 17 built late in the year and I only get 40A

 

[ucmndd]

I have the exact same issue. My car is a 17 built late in the year and I only get 40A

You will need to provide more information if you want someone to help you. What equipment are you using to charge?

 

[John Archuleta]

You will need to provide more information if you want someone to help you. What equipment are you using to charge?

It’s the same as poster. I have the new Tesla wall connector with 60 amp circuit breaker. The car is a 2017 100D which I think has a 48A charger. But when I go to charge settings in the car the slider will only go up to 40A.

 

[ucmndd]

It’s the same as poster. I have the new Tesla wall connector with 60 amp circuit breaker. The car is a 2017 100D which I think has a 48A charger. But when I go to charge settings in the car the slider will only go up to 40A.

In that case the first thing to check is the configuration of the wall connector via the web interface to make sure it’s commissioned for the correct circuit size.

 

[John Archuleta]

In that case the first thing to check is the configuration of the wall connector via the web interface to make sure it’s commissioned for the correct circuit size.

I did that once and it was maxed if I remember right. I need to figure out how to log into that again.

 

[John Archuleta]

In that case the first thing to check is the configuration of the wall connector via the web interface to make sure it’s commissioned for the correct circuit size.

There, thanks. I logged in and circuit breaker was set to 50A so it only allowed 40A charging. Changed it to 60A and it’s now charging at 48A. That should save about 30 minutes a day : ) I think the charger in the car is 72A but I don’t know how to check.

 

[vcor]

There, thanks. I logged in and circuit breaker was set to 50A so it only allowed 40A charging. Changed it to 60A and it’s now charging at 48A. That should save about 30 minutes a day : ) I think the charger in the car is 72A but I don’t know how to check.

Glad you solved it. I'm not sure, but select Controls -> Software -> Hardware (a link). It may show you if you have 72amp AC charging or not. I'd guess less than 5% of 2018 cars had the 72 amp charger. It was not available for very long.

 

[Rocky_H]

I think the charger in the car is 72A but I don’t know how to check.

The easy way to check is when you are not plugged into anything, just go to the charging screen in the car. It will show that number of amps available, and you can turn that number up or down, but it will show how high it can go there. That shows the max amps the onboard charger can take.