I have a Tesla 3 and ordered a podpoint charging point. They came today to try to fit it but for a variety of technical reasons decided our property wasn’t suitable. My daily commute to work is about 60 miles. I find the trickle charge is quite adequate for this and in the morning it is always fully charged. Is there anything wrong in just sticking with the trickle charging?
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Using trickle charging
- Thread starter RichardGH
- Start date
Jason71
Well-Known Member
70% are you sure? where are you getting that figure from? Ive heard 85-88% bandied around but 70?
MrBadger
Badger out
For us, TeslaFi reports a similar efficiency range charging at 10A as it does us charging at 32A like for like.
Our average 10A / ~2.4kW charging is 90% efficiency, 32A / ~7.4kW is 97% - 10A readings will have quite a few short charges, possibly 1% or less which will be particularly inefficient, so the 90% value will be slightly more if compared like for like with the longer 32A ones.
This is TeslaFi view using values reported from the API which may not be the whole story.
First 2 rows are private charging. Last row public (PodPoint) charging.
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Drew57
Active ember
Sorry, I was wrong on the number. For me charging at 32A gives 98% efficiency, at 10A is 88-92%
The difference is explained by the car being powered up while charging, which uses about 250W, a larger percentage of the 10A is therefore lost. If you are low mileage it won't add up to a lot of cost however.
Also worth noting that when pre-heating, the car pulls a little more power than a 32A can supply, so your battery can drop a little, on a 10A UMC you'll lose a lot more miles pre-heating.
If you look at Charging Connectors | Tesla UK you'll see the statement
The difference is explained by the car being powered up while charging, which uses about 250W, a larger percentage of the 10A is therefore lost. If you are low mileage it won't add up to a lot of cost however.
Also worth noting that when pre-heating, the car pulls a little more power than a 32A can supply, so your battery can drop a little, on a 10A UMC you'll lose a lot more miles pre-heating.
If you look at Charging Connectors | Tesla UK you'll see the statement
Tesla recommends storing your Mobile Connector (6m) in the trunk of your car, to use as a backup charging solution when traveling.
I guess it's up to your own interpretation as to whether that gives you confidence to use it every day, they are expensive to replace once the warranty is done.
I personally feel if your not in a hurry, charging at 10 amp , there is nothing wrong with that.
If your not full the next day, but have enough range to do what you need, just keep charging when at home until you catch up.
Problem occurs when your doing more miles and never get to the charge level you need for the next day.
Probably not an issue under covid for most people currently.
If your not full the next day, but have enough range to do what you need, just keep charging when at home until you catch up.
Problem occurs when your doing more miles and never get to the charge level you need for the next day.
Probably not an issue under covid for most people currently.
LongRanger
Active Member
Have a look at Commando (CEE type) sockets and adaptors for your UMC / other charger options.
At the very least this would give you 16A, potentially 32 depending on your home consumer unit / fusing capability / main fuse rating.
At the very least this would give you 16A, potentially 32 depending on your home consumer unit / fusing capability / main fuse rating.
I’ve used the UMC for nearly a year now. Shorter daily commute but even on a trip out when we got back with 15% it was easily back to the usual 80-85% by the morning (SR+).
I use scheduled departure and the pre-heating only steals 1-2% as long as I actually leave within 15-20mins of my scheduled time.
So absolutely fine from my experience.
I use scheduled departure and the pre-heating only steals 1-2% as long as I actually leave within 15-20mins of my scheduled time.
So absolutely fine from my experience.
Like 1 of the other posters says, if speed is an issue, get either the 16 amp or 32 amp commando connector from tesla for the umc (about £43 from memory) then have your electrician install a 16 amp or 32 amp socket for the umc on the wall in the garage (whichever your cables can support, electrician will work that out)
Bet it would support 16 amp, which would make a fair difference to charging speed.
Bet it would support 16 amp, which would make a fair difference to charging speed.
LongRanger
Active Member
You will be charging at 10 amps, the UMC limits to this on a 3-pin 13A plug.
On the Long Range Model 3, a charge at 16 amps from 10% to 90% would take around 17 hours at 3.7kW - with your current setup it would be around 26 hours at 2.3kW
For the SR+ it obviously makes a bigger difference in convenience / speed of maintaining a daily charge target.
MrBadger
Badger out
Any socket installed in England with the intention of charging an EV outdoors, is subject to the same electrical regulations as a dedicated EV charge point, whether installed inside or out. So in most circumstances, will require significantly more than just a commando socket.
The cost difference will come down to the cost of a commando socket vs a dedicated charge point, the latter which may have some of the electrical protection devices already built in so require less external works and may benefit from the OLEV grant.
Most dedicated charge points can easily be derated to comply with reduced electrical loads.
LukeUK
Member
If you rely on the UMC with a 13A plug long-term, keep an eye on the temperature of the plug and socket. There is a very real risk of them getting hot.
This will be made worst if the connection is less than ideal. Make sure that there is no hanging load on the plug, etc. and that it is completely plugged in.
Don't use a cheap extension lead, for the same reasons.
This will be made worst if the connection is less than ideal. Make sure that there is no hanging load on the plug, etc. and that it is completely plugged in.
Don't use a cheap extension lead, for the same reasons.