Wall charger inside, car outside?

[tkline]

I'm thinking of getting a model 3 (or maybe Y?) likely the SR or SR+. Is it safe to leave a Tesla plugged in using a wall charger inside my garage, but run the cable to the car outside under my garage door.. and charge 24/7 in rain, sleet or snow? Unfortunately my garage is full and I have no option to charge at work, or anywhere on the way.

Or would I have to install the wall charger outside? Kind of worried about having it hanging on the outside of my house for all to see.. and also having to mess up a portion of the siding to place it there.

I read that it's best to heat up your batteries in advance on a cold day... is it safe to keep it plugged in overnight to charge outside in the middle of a thunderstorm or snow storm? We live in southeastern PA, get pretty cold winters and pretty hot and humid summers

 

[pdp1]

I'm thinking of getting a model 3 (or maybe Y?) likely the SR or SR+. Is it safe to leave a Tesla plugged in using a wall charger inside my garage, but run the cable to the car outside under my garage door.. and charge 24/7 in rain, sleet or snow? Unfortunately my garage is full and I have no option to charge at work, or anywhere on the way.

Or would I have to install the wall charger outside? Kind of worried about having it hanging on the outside of my house for all to see.. and also having to mess up a portion of the siding to place it there.

I read that it's best to heat up your batteries in advance on a cold day... is it safe to keep it plugged in overnight to charge outside in the middle of a thunderstorm or snow storm? We live in southeastern PA, get pretty cold winters and pretty hot and humid summers

If you install the wall connector inside and close enough to the garage door and alos park your car close enough for the cable to reach your car, I don't see why that would be a problem. Most garage doors have a sweep seal on the bottom that should allow the charge cable to go under it while the door is closed. If it doesn't close you can always adjust the garage door opener closed position to be a tiny bit higher. If I were in your situation, I'd mount the wall connector inside.

Also, charging outdoors overnight shouldn't be a problem. The charge port connection is water tight from what I've read. You may have to deal with some freezing annoyances of the charger port, windows, and door handles in general for extreme cold conditions.

That said, charging in extreme temperatures, hot or cold, isn't ideal, and definitely not as efficient. It may affect the longevity of the battery pack to an extent, but probably nothing to worry too much about.

 

[glide]

Why are you worried about it being outside?

If you’re afraid someone is going to rip out a high-voltage electrical component, I wouldn’t. That’s a self-correcting problem.

If you’re worried about the siding, it only requires between 2-6 screws.

 

[tkline]

Thanks, our garage door metal part doesn't touch the ground, it has a rubber bottom so I assumed the cable could run under that.. but at the same time I wouldn't want to have it make an opening big enough for rodents to squeeze in. Maybe the outside would be better, was just worried about leaving it outside in bad weather, or it might just look bad with a hose hanging off the side of my house, don't know if it's long enough to get one of those garden hose holders and knowing me I'll be too lazy to use that anyway after a couple weeks. Guess I just thought it would look neater overall if I had the cable inside running under the door

 

[Dana1]

I'm thinking of getting a model 3 (or maybe Y?) likely the SR or SR+. Is it safe to leave a Tesla plugged in using a wall charger inside my garage, but run the cable to the car outside under my garage door.. and charge 24/7 in rain, sleet or snow? Unfortunately my garage is full and I have no option to charge at work, or anywhere on the way.

Or would I have to install the wall charger outside? Kind of worried about having it hanging on the outside of my house for all to see.. and also having to mess up a portion of the siding to place it there.

I read that it's best to heat up your batteries in advance on a cold day... is it safe to keep it plugged in overnight to charge outside in the middle of a thunderstorm or snow storm? We live in southeastern PA, get pretty cold winters and pretty hot and humid summers

Car can charge in weather (Superchargers are outside). There’s a thread from last summer about running cord under garage door to prevent damage. Might be useful for you.

 

[SpudLime]

wall *connector

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Don’t squish the cable but other than that we occasionally do it. Our 40 amp Juice Box is inside. I do 80 percent of my charging outside on 120 volts. But occasionally need something quicker and just run it under the garage door. I cover the cord with a sponge and bring the door down. Works.

 

[tkline]

thanks i'll look for that old post.

I'd have to squash the cable under the garage door pretty much every day. Maybe I'll try and stick a broom stick there and test it and see if it leaves a big gap, just don't want to leave room for mice to get in. I'd never hear the end of it if we got mice "because I needed that fancy car"

I have a 70 mile round trip to work every day, no option to charge at work or on the way, so I'd want to make sure I recharge every night when I get home. Maybe if I wasn't planning to go anywhere I could use the 3 prong cable over the weekend but if I have the wall charger I may as well use that for faster charging.

It's been a while since I actually went and looked at it, but we have our electric meter right outside on the side of the house by the garage door, just around the corner.. I may be able to just mount it here. It's kind of out of the way and a little out of view. I was a bit worried the electrician would have to drill through the brick wall to go from the panel on the inside, to the plug on the outside. I guess it would be OK. Guess I also just worry if it's sitting there on the side of the house some kid might think it'll be funny to mess with it.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Consider having an electrician come out and give you a quote to install a charger for you. Probably be able to give you a better opinion than this forum.

Wall units usually seem pretty weather tight, and will be hard wired. They can even be mounted inside a weatherproof box, with a shut off switch and a lock.

If you want to save some money, maybe you could install a 14/50 socket inside and use the charger that comes with the car to run the hose outside.

Good to give yourself some time to sort this all out. Some wait till the last minute and lose some options.

 

[tkline]

Is the 14/50 socket the big kind you need for a dryer? Will it charge as fast as a wall unit? I was hoping to keep a 3 prong cable in the frunk at all times so if I'm ever out anywhere and need a charge and that's my only option at least I can get some juice that way. I'm still totally new with all this, i never even knew what a kilowatt hour or regenerative braking was or even existed until a few weeks ago Been learning a lot though lately, thanks to youtube and forums like this

 

[eprosenx]

I'm thinking of getting a model 3 (or maybe Y?) likely the SR or SR+. Is it safe to leave a Tesla plugged in using a wall charger inside my garage, but run the cable to the car outside under my garage door.. and charge 24/7 in rain, sleet or snow? Unfortunately my garage is full and I have no option to charge at work, or anywhere on the way.

Or would I have to install the wall charger outside? Kind of worried about having it hanging on the outside of my house for all to see.. and also having to mess up a portion of the siding to place it there.

I read that it's best to heat up your batteries in advance on a cold day... is it safe to keep it plugged in overnight to charge outside in the middle of a thunderstorm or snow storm? We live in southeastern PA, get pretty cold winters and pretty hot and humid summers

As others have said, there should not be any concerns with charging outside. There are a number of safety features built into the EVSE (UMC or Wall Connector). I personally charge my Model 3 outside my house with a Wall Connector in Oregon and it works great.

Aesthetically if mounted properly I think it looks pretty good. A picture of mine is below. There are two size cable loops as I normally take the two large loops off to reach my car and leave the smaller one on the hook.

If you install the wall connector inside and close enough to the garage door and alos park your car close enough for the cable to reach your car, I don't see why that would be a problem. Most garage doors have a sweep seal on the bottom that should allow the charge cable to go under it while the door is closed. If it doesn't close you can always adjust the garage door opener closed position to be a tiny bit higher. If I were in your situation, I'd mount the wall connector inside.

Also, charging outdoors overnight shouldn't be a problem. The charge port connection is water tight from what I've read. You may have to deal with some freezing annoyances of the charger port, windows, and door handles in general for extreme cold conditions.

That said, charging in extreme temperatures, hot or cold, isn't ideal, and definitely not as efficient. It may affect the longevity of the battery pack to an extent, but probably nothing to worry too much about.

There are lots of threads here about running cables under garage doors. Some have built protectors to stop the door from going down all the way, others have chiseled out the concrete. I would be extremely careful if you do this to make sure the cable does not get crushed by the door. Damaging the cable would be very easy with repeated closings. The rodent issue is legit as well. I ended up doing a 14-50 in my garage plus the Wall Connector outside.

Why are you worried about it being outside?

If you’re afraid someone is going to rip out a high-voltage electrical component, I wouldn’t. That’s a self-correcting problem.

If you’re worried about the siding, it only requires between 2-6 screws.

So the damage concern is legit if you live in a bad area, but where I live I have no concerns. Some day the meth heads will figure out that the cord is not energized until hooked to a car, so you could cut and steal that. But there are a lot better public places to steal cables from I think.

thanks i'll look for that old post.

I'd have to squash the cable under the garage door pretty much every day. Maybe I'll try and stick a broom stick there and test it and see if it leaves a big gap, just don't want to leave room for mice to get in. I'd never hear the end of it if we got mice "because I needed that fancy car"

I have a 70 mile round trip to work every day, no option to charge at work or on the way, so I'd want to make sure I recharge every night when I get home. Maybe if I wasn't planning to go anywhere I could use the 3 prong cable over the weekend but if I have the wall charger I may as well use that for faster charging.

It's been a while since I actually went and looked at it, but we have our electric meter right outside on the side of the house by the garage door, just around the corner.. I may be able to just mount it here. It's kind of out of the way and a little out of view. I was a bit worried the electrician would have to drill through the brick wall to go from the panel on the inside, to the plug on the outside. I guess it would be OK. Guess I also just worry if it's sitting there on the side of the house some kid might think it'll be funny to mess with it.

I am a big fan of the Wall Connector. I have the LR on a 60a circuit which lets me charge at the full 48a rate. If you get a SR or MR you can only charge at up to 32a which requires a 40a circuit or greater. If I installed a Wall Connector I would likely install a 60a circuit anyway just for future proofing.

I love being able to pre-heat and cool the car while plugged in before I leave. This reduces wear on the battery and keeps me from using range to heat or cool the car once I start driving.

Is the 14/50 socket the big kind you need for a dryer? Will it charge as fast as a wall unit? I was hoping to keep a 3 prong cable in the frunk at all times so if I'm ever out anywhere and need a charge and that's my only option at least I can get some juice that way. I'm still totally new with all this, i never even knew what a kilowatt hour or regenerative braking was or even existed until a few weeks ago Been learning a lot though lately, thanks to youtube and forums like this

A NEMA 14-50 is typically used for electric Ranges and for RV's. I too like keeping my UMC in the car at all times. A Wall Connector at home and a UMC in the car is a great solution.

Note that if you do a 14-50 outside there are some considerations: It is harder to secure the UMC to make sure nobody steals it. The cord is also shorter than the 24' Wall Connector. Then you need to be careful about the receptacle to UMC interface since it is not waterproof. By code you have to put that receptacle on a GFCI breaker which is about $100 than a regular breaker for a Wall Connector and they are prone to nuisance trips.

Good luck! Let us know what you end up doing!

 

[tkline]

Cool thanks for the photo. I imagine my setup will be similar. I decided I don't want to run a cable under the garage door, I don't want to risk messing it up over time. We have 3 cars for 3 people, but a 2 car garage. Since I'm the one that doesn't work from home it's just easier for me to park in the driveway. If we ever downsized to 2 cars maybe I'd see about relocating the charger inside later on.

At this point just waiting to see what the Y will be like and when it's available, I'm hoping to get a new car this summer so I wouldn't want to wait till next year. I'll probably schedule a test drive for a model 3 in a couple weeks. I have a tesla store at a mall nearby and also a service center not too far away.. i assume the do trade ins? or would I have to sell my old car privately if I'm ordering a Tesla online?

 

[Rocky_H]

i assume the do trade ins? or would I have to sell my old car privately if I'm ordering a Tesla online?

They do trade-ins, but it's going to be cheap wholesale prices. They're generally just farming that out to CarMax or something like that because Tesla isn't wanting to be in the used car business trying to sell people's old Toyotas and such. You would be better off selling it privately.

 

[ezevphl]

Cool thanks for the photo. I imagine my setup will be similar. I decided I don't want to run a cable under the garage door, I don't want to risk messing it up over time. We have 3 cars for 3 people, but a 2 car garage. Since I'm the one that doesn't work from home it's just easier for me to park in the driveway. If we ever downsized to 2 cars maybe I'd see about relocating the charger inside later on.

At this point just waiting to see what the Y will be like and when it's available, I'm hoping to get a new car this summer so I wouldn't want to wait till next year. I'll probably schedule a test drive for a model 3 in a couple weeks. I have a tesla store at a mall nearby and also a service center not too far away.. i assume the do trade ins? or would I have to sell my old car privately if I'm ordering a Tesla online?

Where in Philly are you?
We're downtown and have an outdoor charger since there is no garage. No issues with the weather in our area, although you want to make sure it can be plugged in the coldest weather.
If it gets way below freezing you lose regenerative braking and performance until the car warms up, not to mention quite a bit of range.
The trade in process is easy, but not the best deal. I did about 20% better than their offer with an easy craigslist post.
There a few groups of owners active in the area with occasional meetups, if you wanted to ask any questions or look at their cars in person.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[tkline]

Cool, I'm out in Pottstown actually. A little colder than philly but not by much.

I watched a video talking about the cold weather, I figured what I would do is tell it to start warming up the battery when I get up in the morning. Usually takes me an hour or so to get ready take care of the dogs an and leave for work, so I think that would be ample time for it to warm up? But just not sure if if I'd want to keep it plugged in when it's raining or snowing, i might skip a day charging if the weather is real bad. I'm considering maybe taking a big plunge and going for the long range, but it might be too tough for me to afford. Will see how it goes when the time comes

 

[ezevphl]

Cool, I'm out in Pottstown actually. A little colder than philly but not by much.

I watched a video talking about the cold weather, I figured what I would do is tell it to start warming up the battery when I get up in the morning. Usually takes me an hour or so to get ready take care of the dogs an and leave for work, so I think that would be ample time for it to warm up? But just not sure if if I'd want to keep it plugged in when it's raining or snowing, i might skip a day charging if the weather is real bad. I'm considering maybe taking a big plunge and going for the long range, but it might be too tough for me to afford. Will see how it goes when the time comes

Honestly I don't charge more than a few times per week in regular weather. Above 20 degrees it warms up very quickly
On those rare occasions when its close to zero it does take a while.

There is actually an event coming up pretty close to you in Boyertown on the 23rd
Meeting Of The Valleys @Boyertown Museum Of Historic Vehicles - Events - Tesla Owners Club Mid-Atlantic