Three home charging options

[darth_vad3r]

@Rocky_H this was in the OP:

I'll be getting my LR AWD M3 in a couple of weeks and from what I've been reading I've been looking at three different home charging options. My daily driving during the week will be around 40 miles per day. Of course, the first option is to stick with the basic 120V house plug in that probably gets about 2-3 mrph. Second option is to convert one of the regular garage outlets into a 5-20 NEMA outlet (20A circuit, so 80% would be 16A) which probably gets me around 5-6 mrph and, even though I haven't got an estimate for that option, I am guessing it's probably no more than $100. The third option would be the 14-50 NEMA outlet, probably 30-35 mrph, and I received an estimate for this option at around $700. So, even though I'm hearing good things about having a 14-50 NEMA installed in garages I'm thinking the 5-20 NEMA outlet may work just fine for my situation. Any other pros or cons in converting a regular 120V garage outlet into a 120V 5-20 NEMA outlet? Appreciate any info or advice for those in the know. Thanks!

OP’s thoughts coming in (pre-ownership) were tainted by wrong information:
120V = 2-3 mph (wrong info)
5-20 = 5-6 mph and “may just work fine for my situation”
14-50 = 30-35 mph

Reality is that 120V is 5mph and at zero cost may have just worked fine for the situation.

Knowing this ahead of time can influence people’s decisions as to whether to install charging equipment or not. 5 vs 3 is a massive difference and could affect decisions for a lot of common short daily commute distances.

12h x 3 = 36 rated miles
12h x 5 = 60 rated miles

Anyone with a commute that is projected to take 36-60 rated miles might dismiss 120V as a viable option when, in fact, it is totally viable for zero cost, and you can “trial” it for free and change your mind later.

I drive 44 real miles/day, and charging at 120V is completely sufficient for me. OP is only driving 40.

Not sure what the average commute is, but I feel like 25-42 miles might be pretty common, and that’s nerfing the 12hr charge add range of 36-60 by a full 30% to account for bad weather.

 

[Gordon87]

Yes. I purchased Tesla’s Cable Organizer to hold the cable. I leave my cable plugged in, which limits/avoids any phantom drain between charges. There isn’t a good reason to unplugged the car until you are ready to leave, since Tesla recommends to keep the car plugged in when not being used.

Cable Organizer

See a photo of my set-up. (The charger behind me is a neighbor that had a plug-in hybrid Chrysler minivan and now has an Audi e-tron.)



One other thing I did: I read that it isn’t a great idea to unplug and plug the 14-50 adapter in the NEMA 14-50 outlet often, so I purchased a second 14-50 adapter from Tesla. The one time I took my charging cable with me on a weekend trip, I unhooked the adapter and left it plugged into the NEMA 14-50 outlet, and used the second adapter while away from home.

 

[darth_vad3r]

I drive 44 real miles/day, and charging at 120V is completely sufficient for me. OP is only driving 40.

Not sure what the average commute is, but I feel like 25-42 miles might be pretty common, and that’s nerfing the 12hr charge add range of 36-60 by a full 30% to account for bad weather.

“According to ABC News, the average American drives 16 miles to work each way, with a daily commute totaling nearly an hour round trip.”

That’s a 32-mile round trip, right in the middle of my 25-42 mile range of people who might think 120V charging is not sufficient for them based on Tesla’s (bogus) chart

Update the chart Tesla!

 

[Rocky_H]

So, since I chose the 14-50 NEMA option let me make sure that what I've been reading for the last few weeks is good gouge. After the install, I just put my UMC ? cable into the 14-50 NEMA outlet and leave it there (maybe wrapped around a garden hose holder) until I'm ready to plug it into my M3?

Yes, the cord can stay plugged in at home--many owners do that, including me (5+ years).

And, no matter what my daily driving miles are once I get home from work, or even after drive and I pull it back into my garage, I always plug it in and leave it attached to my M3 until I'm ready to drive it out of my garage?

I would say you don't have to be too obsessive about it. Like if you get home from work and are going to go out again another one or two times in the evening, it probably doesn't make sense to plug and unplug the car three or four times a day when it's not really going to get in much charging anyway. Just when you remember and as often as you feel like--it won't hurt anything to keep it plugged in often.

If that's the process then I'm guessing that once it reaches the SoC level that I set it to (75, 80 or 90%) it'll stop on it's own and then become a "trickle type" charger since it's still plugged in after being charged up?

I wouldn't really say "trickle", because for safety, they don't want to have the cord energized with 240V all the time, and it's just not necessary to keep it actively passing current all the time. It will allow itself to drain down a few % or so before it would do another charging cycle to refill itself up again. Or, many people turn on the scheduled charging, so you can pick a time, like 1:00 AM or something, and the next time it gets to that time is when it will do the charging session.

But yeah, you don't need to think too hard about it. Plug in as often as you want, but if you miss a day or three, it's still not a problem if you have enough range for the driving you need to do.

 

[darth_vad3r]

Yes, the cord can stay plugged in at home--many owners do that, including me (5+ years).

I would say you don't have to be too obsessive about it. Like if you get home from work and are going to go out again another one or two times in the evening, it probably doesn't make sense to plug and unplug the car three or four times a day when it's not really going to get in much charging anyway. Just when you remember and as often as you feel like--it won't hurt anything to keep it plugged in often.

I wouldn't really say "trickle", because for safety, they don't want to have the cord energized with 240V all the time, and it's just not necessary to keep it actively passing current all the time. It will allow itself to drain down a few % or so before it would do another charging cycle to refill itself up again. Or, many people turn on the scheduled charging, so you can pick a time, like 1:00 AM or something, and the next time it gets to that time is when it will do the charging session.

But yeah, you don't need to think too hard about it. Plug in as often as you want, but if you miss a day or three, it's still not a problem if you have enough range for the driving you need to do.

^ All this.

And yes, it is NOT a trickle charge, it’s a “top-off” charge after it decides it’s seen enough of a drop-off, it will charge again back to your set limit, then turn off again.

 

[davewill]

...
One other thing I did: I read that it isn’t a great idea to unplug and plug the 14-50 adapter in the NEMA 14-50 outlet often, so I purchased a second 14-50 adapter from Tesla. The one time I took my charging cable with me on a weekend trip, I unhooked the adapter and left it plugged into the NEMA 14-50 outlet, and used the second adapter while away from home.

No reason for that. Unplugging occasionally is no big deal, and there's no reason to think that unplugging and replugging the adapter is any less prone to wear.

 

[McMoo]

Here’s my setup with the holder. I drilled in a small bracket to hold the umc but it’s probably not necessary since the plug (Bryant) is very robust. I will only be unplugging in very rare occasions.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think if charging with a standard outlet it’s supposed to be on a dedicated line and many aren’t. My garage outlet was somehow on the same line as my basement lights and refrigerator and tripped the breaker when I tried charging with it before the 14-50 was put in.

 

[srs5694]

So, since I chose the 14-50 NEMA option let me make sure that what I've been reading for the last few weeks is good gouge. After the install, I just put my UMC ? cable into the 14-50 NEMA outlet and leave it there (maybe wrapped around a garden hose holder) until I'm ready to plug it into my M3?

Basically, yes. There are various options for cable management, ranging from just dropping the cable to the ground (probably a bad idea as it's a trip hazard and the cable might get damaged by being stepped on or driven over) to the garden hose holder you suggest to Tesla-specific cable managers that include holsters for the Tesla-side plug. You'll also have to decide how to support the UMC's "box." Some people leave it dangling, but that puts stresses on various components that would make me a little nervous in the long run. Others mount it to the wall or put it on a shelf, table, etc. Pick your method based on your specific circumstances and personal preferences.

And, no matter what my daily driving miles are once I get home from work, or even after drive and I pull it back into my garage, I always plug it in and leave it attached to my M3 until I'm ready to drive it out of my garage?

There's no need to be fanatical about it. Tesla designed their cars to be used in a variety of ways, so even if you don't plug in every night, it'll probably be fine. You might see a few extra miles of range loss in ten years if you only plug in after draining the battery to 50%, vs. plugging in after the SoC drops to 65%, to pull some figure out of thin air. Of course, how much you drive each day will be a big factor here -- if you've got an SR+ and have a daily commute of 100 miles (round trip), plugging in every day is likely to be important. If you've got an LR with a daily commute of 20 miles, you could probably go a week between charges before you'd cause much range loss over years of use. Of course, for most people, plugging in daily isn't a big hassle, so you might as well do it; but if you forget one day or have a reason not to (like if you park outside and want to avoid getting wet while plugging in during a rainstorm), then that's not a big deal. (Note, however, that the UMC might not be very well weather-proofed, so if you do want to mount it outside, it's best to buy an EVSE with a NEMA 3r or 4 weather rating, like the Tesla Wall Connector.)

If that's the process then I'm guessing that once it reaches the SoC level that I set it to (75, 80 or 90%) it'll stop on it's own and then become a "trickle type" charger since it's still plugged in after being charged up?

After the car reaches its set SoC, charging stops completely, except for a couple of conditions:

• The SoC will slowly drop because of vampire drain. This is normally a minimum of about 3 miles per day, but can go up if you check your Tesla app frequently or use certain features. Sentry Mode is one of the worst of these. Also, vampire drain can go up in cold weather, as the car will try to keep the battery warm. In any event, after vampire drain causes the SoC to drop, it'll draw more power from the EVSE to bring the SoC back up to the level you've set. How often it does this depends on the extent of the vampire drain, and has also varied over time because of software changes. Soon after I got my Tesla, it was drawing power about once an hour, but Tesla changed its settings with a later software update (2019.12.x, IIRC) to do so less frequently. Now I rarely see it at all.
  
• If you use the cabin pre-heat/pre-cool feature while plugged in, the car will use wall power to run its heater or air conditioner, rather than battery power. This prevents range loss from this feature. Of course, if the car is in a garage that's temperature-controlled, this won't be a big deal; but if the car is parked outside or if the garage gets hot or cold enough for you to use the temperature pre-conditioning feature, leaving the car plugged in until you leave offers a slight advantage.

You probably won't notice either of these conditions at all unless you have a network-connected EVSE that reports when the car is drawing power or if you monitor your Tesla's charging with a third-party monitoring app or site like TeslaFi.

 

[darth_vad3r]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think if charging with a standard outlet it’s supposed to be on a dedicated line and many aren’t. My garage outlet was somehow on the same line as my basement lights and refrigerator and tripped the breaker when I tried charging with it before the 14-50 was put in.

Ya “supposed” or recommended to be a dedicated line I think, but for an existing 120V I think many in a garage are fine ... a fridge on the same line is bad news of course. I have mine on the same line as the garage lights and garage door opener. It’s not a big deal — the lights draw 0.3 amps and are not on for long, and the garage door draws a fair amount but it only runs for 10s at a time. It’s not enough to trip the breaker or cause me concern. If I sat there and opened and closed the garage door repeatedly while charging I”m sure the breaker would trip eventually

Now if you are installing a NEW outlet for charging, make it dedicated.

 

[darth_vad3r]

You probably won't notice either of these conditions at all unless you have a network-connected EVSE that reports when the car is drawing power or if you monitor your Tesla's charging with a third-party monitoring app or site like TeslaFi.

Well, you may also notice your Tesla app sending “charging started” and “charging complete” notifications overnight telling you the battery range when started and stopped

 

[srs5694]

Well, you may also notice your Tesla app sending “charging started” and “charging complete” notifications overnight telling you the battery range when started and stopped

There are people who use those options? I turned them off first thing. My phone bleeps at me enough without my car demanding attention like a toddler!

 

[darth_vad3r]

There are people who use those options? I turned them off first thing. My phone bleeps at me enough without my car demanding attention like a toddler!

I like to see how many km range the car stopped charging at (as opposed to what it is possibly many hours later after some drain) so I can judge how much to obsess over my calibration/degradation

 

[Rocky_H]

There are people who use those options? I turned them off first thing. My phone bleeps at me enough without my car demanding attention like a toddler!

Yes, that is super irritating. I did, however, leave on the one for charging interrupted. If it gets stopped unnaturally for some reason, I would usually like to know about that.

 

[darth_vad3r]

There are people who use those options? I turned them off first thing. My phone bleeps at me enough without my car demanding attention like a toddler!

Yes, that is super irritating. I did, however, leave on the one for charging interrupted. If it gets stopped unnaturally for some reason, I would usually like to know about that.

iOS has a “deliver quietly” option (per app) so you don’t see the notification unless you go open up the notifications (there’s no pop up, no banner, no sound, you don’t see it on the lock screen either). Then you can peruse all the Tesla ones and clear them all at once. You don’t actually have to get nagged by them if you don’t want to.

I also have the app setup on multiple devices and you can choose which notifications to get in the app, so not all devices need to “subscribe” to all of the notifications. For example, my wife’s phone only has the “car alarm” notification turned on.

 

[alexgr]

I'm still waiting on my car, but I installed 14-50 in my garage. The cost was a whooping $225 because I mentioned a magic word "Tesla", so Tesla is now written all over the bill (literally). I was told that the work permit (which can cost more than the work) would only make sense if I plan to sell the house soon and need an inspection. Also, a permit would be needed if I need to replace my breaker box that would be required for the installation of Tesla charger (I was quoted ~$900 for that work + I would need to get the $500 charger)