What charge rates are you observing?

[weccman]

Are you saying you only have a 60A (Or other small number) feed for your whole house?

If they upgrade your service to 150A or 200A you would need a new breaker box, but it would cost WAY more to move it than to run the mains feed to the same location as your current breaker location. Running a NEMA 14-50, and new 240VAC circuit wouldn't be a real waste of money (assuming you have room in your current breaker) because it would be easy to move it to a new breaker box.

Even if you don't have room it would probably be worth while (assuming you will upgrade your service to run the wire and put in the plug and just wait for a new breaker box to terminate in. Or have them run the new circuit when you do the electrical for the service upgrade.

No, we have a 200A box, but it is fed by a wire across our neighbor's back yard that the utility thinks it would need to upgrade in order to support high amp use, and it is also concerned about low voltage in surrounding houses when I am using the HPWC. It has very limited utility easements as well, which makes it difficult to put in new poles and transformers or to upgrade the line they have no clear right to have. I'm sure we will work it out, but for now, I will be relying on the Supercharger in Folsom more than I usually would.

 

[dsm363]

Wouldn't you be able to install the NEMA 14-50 then with 200A service? You could then use he Supercharger when that wasn't enough.

 

[mitch672]

Wouldn't you be able to install the NEMA 14-50 then with 200A service? You could then use he Supercharger when that wasn't enough.

Sounds like his utility is saying the drop wire to his house is undersized, even though he technically has a 200A service panel.
They are having a difficult time replacing/upgrading the wire, and his neighborhood transformer might need to be upgraded as well.

 

[weccman]

Sounds like his utility is saying the drop wire to his house is undersized, even though he technically has a 200A service panel.
They are having a difficult time replacing/upgrading the wire, and his neighborhood transformer might need to be upgraded as well.

This is correct. We may well be able to use a NEMA 14-50, but we wanted to be sure the utility would not insist on some new arrangement before we started installing conduit and wire. I think we will have a solution in a few weeks.

 

[FlasherZ]

This is correct. We may well be able to use a NEMA 14-50, but we wanted to be sure the utility would not insist on some new arrangement before we started installing conduit and wire. I think we will have a solution in a few weeks.

I had the same problem. My panel was a 200A panel, but my home was fed by a 15 kVA transformer and 2/0 AL wire. The PoCo's measurements on my transformer saw it at 197% of capacity, WITHOUT the Tesla, and the engineer told me "I'm surprised you didn't see lights dimming with the power draw you have". I called them just to be sure things would be okay, they came out and tugged new 350 kcmil cable through, and put a new 38 kVA transformer in place.

 

[jkirkebo]

This is correct. We may well be able to use a NEMA 14-50, but we wanted to be sure the utility would not insist on some new arrangement before we started installing conduit and wire. I think we will have a solution in a few weeks.

If 80A is too high a load the HPWC can be tuned down to a lower lever, but still higher than a 14-50. For example you might set it to 56A. You can then use smaller wires too, to go with the 70A breaker.

 

[jerry33]

If 80A is too high a load the HPWC can be tuned down to a lower lever, but still higher than a 14-50. For example you might set it to 56A. You can then use smaller wires too, to go with the 70A breaker.

Is that really true (the smaller wires bit, not the adjustment on the HPWC)? Wouldn't code require the wires to match the maximum power draw the device is capable of because once installed there is nothing to prevent someone from changing the charge level?

 

[jkirkebo]

Is that really true (the smaller wires bit, not the adjustment on the HPWC)? Wouldn't code require the wires to match the maximum power draw the device is capable of because once installed there is nothing to prevent someone from changing the charge level?

The device (HPWC) is not capable of drawing more power than you set it to. I am not talking about dialing down charging rates in the car, the HPWC can be set in hardware to not draw more than you want in 8A steps all the way down to 32A. So when you set it to 56A you need a 70A breaker and wires capable of 70A. Set it to 48A and you need a 60A breaker+wires.

To change the charge level you'd have to open the HPCW up and change the setting, it is not an accessible wheel or similar on the front.

Also the breaker would pop if you did turn it back to 80A and started charging.

 

[jerry33]

The device (HPWC) is not capable of drawing more power than you set it to. I am not talking about dialing down charging rates in the car, the HPWC can be set in hardware to not draw more than you want in 8A steps all the way down to 32A.

I was thinking of that too, rather than setting it in the car.

To change the charge level you'd have to open the HPCW up and change the setting, it is not an accessible wheel or similar on the front.

That I didn't know.

Also the breaker would pop if you did turn it back to 80A and started charging.

I knew that too I was thinking of what the inspector would say.

 

[FlasherZ]

I knew that too I was thinking of what the inspector would say.

AHJ will go by the nameplate rating. If the nameplate rating is variable based upon a hardware installation option (not soft, user-selectable), then it is perfectly compliant to use a smaller breaker and conductor size.

 

[slindell]

I just tested my Model S at a free county J1772 airport charge point. I was getting 18 MR/H with 220V and 30A. Six times faster than my wall outlet.

It's nice to know this free charging point is there, but I still want my NEMA 14-50 installed (scheduled for mid-Nov).

 

[fiksegts]

I'm getting 16 MPH on my 240v, drawing 40 amps.... on a 120v outlet, it does 2 MPH.... seems like 1/2 of what it should be?

 

[aviators99]

I'm getting 16 MPH on my 240v, drawing 40 amps.... on a 120v outlet, it does 2 MPH.... seems like 1/2 of what it should be?

Your 120v is about what everybody else is seeing. Your 240v is a little more than half of what I am seeing. How do you know you are "drawing" 40amps? What is your SOC when you see 16MPH? I see ~30MPH (rated) after about 1/2 hour of charging at a medium SOC.

If the plug is not inserted all the way, you will only get half rate charging (but it won't say 40amps, which is why I asked).

 

[dsm363]

Your 120v is about what everybody else is seeing. Your 240v is a little more than half of what I am seeing. How do you know you are "drawing" 40amps? What is your SOC when you see 16MPH? I see ~30MPH (rated) after about 1/2 hour of charging at a medium SOC.

If the plug is not inserted all the way, you will only get half rate charging (but it won't say 40amps, which is why I asked).

That's most likely it.

I'm getting 16 MPH on my 240v, drawing 40 amps.... on a 120v outlet, it does 2 MPH.... seems like 1/2 of what it should be?

When you plug it in, look at the small LCD screen behind the steering wheel. Does it say 16A on the right panel or 40A?

 

[fiksegts]

says 39-40 on the car?

Your 120v is about what everybody else is seeing. Your 240v is a little more than half of what I am seeing. How do you know you are "drawing" 40amps? What is your SOC when you see 16MPH? I see ~30MPH (rated) after about 1/2 hour of charging at a medium SOC.

If the plug is not inserted all the way, you will only get half rate charging (but it won't say 40amps, which is why I asked).

 

[dsm363]

says 39-40 on the car?

Not sure what is going on then. If you have your settings set to display 'rated' range then that will report a lower number than 30 but should be higher than 16. The miles added per hour does slow down closer to the end of charging. Maybe see if it continues to do this but looks like it is functioning normally.

 

[aviators99]

Not sure what is going on then.

I agree that something is wrong here.

If you have your settings set to display 'rated' range then that will report a lower number than 30 but should be higher than 16. The miles added per hour does slow down closer to the end of charging. Maybe see if it continues to do this but looks like it is functioning normally.

It is set to rated, based on the numbers. But as I've said before, mine is always set to rated and I consistently get 30 (occasionally 29).

 

[cinergi]

I'm getting 16 MPH on my 240v, drawing 40 amps.... on a 120v outlet, it does 2 MPH.... seems like 1/2 of what it should be?

What's your 30-mile average watt-hours per mile say (during this particular charge session)?

 

[aviators99]

says 39-40 on the car?

Maybe it's a bad UMC? If you want to come by, you can try mine, as well as trying my outlet with yours.

 

[dwhite]

Only had the car two weeks. It's been low (19-21), but the temperature hasn't been over 45F in that time. Got 27 on a Chargepoint station yesterday with the temp at 68F.