Which adapters are in your car kit?

[BigTaro]

I am awaiting the delivery of my 90D (can't wait!), and I am starting to prepare a charging kit for when I receive my car. I wanted to know if anyone here has found the need for additional adapters besides the ones that come with the car. I plan to get the CHAdeMO adapter as a few charging stations next to places I frequent have them, but was wondering if anyone have found good use for the additional NEMA adapters sold by Tesla (or are there any third party ones I should look out for). I will be mostly traveling in the Western US, but may go further depending on charger availability. Below is the information I found so far:

Comes with:

• J-1772 (EV Plug)
• NEMA 5-15 (110v, Standard US Outlet)
• NEMA 14-50 (220v, RV Hookup)

Other Adatpers:

• CHAdeMO (Leaf EV Plug)
• NEMA 6-15 (AC Units)
• NEMA 14-30 (New Dryers)
• NEMA 5-20 (110v higher current)

 

[GSP]

I found the standard kit that is included with North American cars to be incredibly versatile and useful.

I also bought the 5-20 adapter, and it is nice to have when only 110-120 V power is available.

I made a 10-50 to 14-50 adapter cable out of a replacement stove cord and an RV outlet from Amazon. Inexpensive, easy, and adds another 6' to help get from my S to the stove outlet in our cottage. I have an HPWC at the cottage now, but I have seen 10-50s elsewhere, so it might see further use.

I plan to get a 14-30 adapter from Tesla, just to have one for every available ampacity: 15, 20, 30, and 50 A. I may even get Tesla's Canadian 14-50 to have a 40 A option as well. My stove 14-50 outlet is on a 40 A breaker, which is quite common it seems. Using the adapter to limit current instead of the touchscreen is just a little safer and more fault tolerant.

GSP

P.S. Note that the charging current is limited to 80% of the breaker rating in North America. A complete set of adapters allows charging at 12, 16, 24, 32, and 40 Amps.

 

[Dax279]

I use the 14-30 adaptor from Tesla to charge at night. This gives me about 26 km per hour (approx 16 miles per hour), which is sufficient for me.

 

[grichard]

I strongly recommend the 5-20. The difference doesn't seem significant until you're staying at a place with only wall outlets available. Then the difference overnight between 3 mi/hr and 5 mi/hr is huge.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Pedantic note:

North America nominal residential service voltages are 120 V and 240 V.

"110 V" and "220 V" have not been the nominal voltage values for over 100 years.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread ...

 

[DMC-Orangeville]

snip I may even get Tesla's Canadian 14-50 to have a 40 A option as well.

Be careful on that one. In Ontario the 14-50 adapter is only rated at 32 amps. I think the rest of the country is at 40 amps, unless Tesla is now including the 32 amp rated plug as standard for Canadian models.

 

[JClu]

I strongly recommend the 5-20. The difference doesn't seem significant until you're staying at a place with only wall outlets available. Then the difference overnight between 3 mi/hr and 5 mi/hr is huge.

Really? In my mind 2 mi/hr difference doesn't seem that significant.

If the OP lives in SF Bay Area, I'd imagine there are plenty of charging stations such that (s)he wouldn't be left with 120V regular wall outlets only, especially if (s)he plans on using CHAdeMO adapter as well.

My recommendation if you anticipate on staying in an area without at least a Level 2 charging station, supercharge your battery to a much higher SOC (>90%?) at the last SC station before the destination, then use 120V 4 mi/hr overnight charging if you really don't think you'd make it back to the SC station without topping off.

 

[Rocky_H]

I can tell what I've got, but if I had to do it over again, I would do it differently. Part of that comes from the fact that I got my Model S over two and a half years ago, when there weren't even any Superchargers within driving range of where I lived, and I live in Idaho, which is not a very electric car friendly area, so there were not a lot of resources available. I wanted to be very prepared. Also, Tesla did not have any kind of 30A official adapters available for quite along while, so I was adapting 14-50 to other stuff.

I got one of the 30 foot RV extension cords. It has 14-50 plug/outlet on the ends. Then, I have other adapter pigtails to covert 14-50 to other plugs:
10-30 (old dryer)
14-30 (new dryer)
TT-30 (travel trailer at some campgrounds--120V 30A)

Now here are the downsides of this:
First off, an official RV extension has 3 thick wires for hot, hot, and neutral, and a thinner wire for ground. Since the Tesla charging doesn't use the neutral, one of those thick wires is totally unnecessary and just makes the cable more heavy, stiff, and unwieldy. So it's better to just make your own with one fewer wire.

But to take this even further, if I'm going to need to use a 14-50 or TT-30, it's at a campground or RV park where you can almost always get the car close enough to use the regular UMC. I would never need the extension for that. The only place I would need extra length is if I am at a house and need to get up the driveway, into a house, and to the laundry room for a dryer outlet (and I have done that).

So if that's the main/only use case, those dryer outlets are only 30A circuits, so I really would only need an extension that can handle 24A, not 40A. So for that, you can use thinner wire gauge that would make the cable much lighter, cheaper, and more flexible. I don't remember what the gauge is for 24A continuous, so look that up.

And yes, you should have a 5-20 adapter because almost all outdoor wall outlets are 5-20, and it's nice to be able to turn the amps up a little above 12A, even if the circuit won't quite handle 16A. Also, because it's the only official adapter for 20A, so if you want to make a cable to a 6-20 or something like that in the future, you will want that.

 

[abasile]

In addition to some of the above-mentioned adapters, I have an L6-20 (240V 20A) adapter. This allows the use of L6-20 outlets originally installed by some LEAF owners, as well as a Quick220 unit that I originally purchased for my LEAF. (My Quick220 has an L6-20 receptacle.) With the Quick220 and two out-of-phase 120V circuits, I can charge at 240V, at either 12A or 16A depending on the circuits. This can be handy if spending a while with friends or relatives whose homes lack 240V outlets.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

In addition to some of the above-mentioned adapters, I have an L6-20 (240V 20A) adapter. This allows the use of L6-20 outlets originally installed by some LEAF owners,

Can you tell me where you got your L6-20 adapter? I have 2 14-50 outlets but may be needing to use an existing L6-20 receptacle in the near future. I have the Tesla 5-20 but haven't been able to find a pigtail to convert it to L6-20.

 

[BigTaro]

Thanks for the information everyone, its been super helpful. And about that voltage mistake, now I am feeling silly, considering I have a UPS sitting not 3 feet from me reading 121 on its front display right now

 

[abasile]

Can you tell me where you got your L6-20 adapter? I have 2 14-50 outlets but may be needing to use an existing L6-20 receptacle in the near future. I have the Tesla 5-20 but haven't been able to find a pigtail to convert it to L6-20.

Sorry for the late response. Here's what I purchased: NEMA 14-50R to L6-20P Twist-Lock Adapter

 

[Pbaker]

I use the 5-20 every day at work, on a 12 hour shift, its the difference between 24 miles of range or 60 miles of range, and the outlets here at work are actual 20 amp circuits, so I charge at a full 16 amps.

 

[sdorn]

I use the 5-20 every day at work, on a 12 hour shift, its the difference between 24 miles of range or 60 miles of range, and the outlets here at work are actual 20 amp circuits, so I charge at a full 16 amps.

Is there any way to tell whether a 110v outlet is on a 15amp or 20amp circuit just by looking at the outlet or by running some test at the outlet?

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Is there any way to tell whether a 110v outlet is on a 15amp or 20amp circuit just by looking at the outlet or by running some test at the outlet?

They are 120V outlets, not 110V.

NEMA 5-15, 15A outlet:

NEMA 5-20, 20A outlet:

Notice the "T" connection on the left (neutral) prong. 20A plugs have a horizontal neutral blade so that they can only fit in the 20A outlet.

Per National Electric Code, 20A outlets are only supposed to be installed on 20A circuits, protected with a 20A breaker, and with wire sized accordingly.

 

[sdorn]

Perfect, always wondered what those side prongs meant.

 

[David99]

I don't keep anything in my car except the EV plug adapter and the CHADeMo for public charging. For trips outside of Superchargers I bring a Nema 14-50 extension and an adapter for a dryer plug. I also think the 5-20 adapter is very useful. I used that here and there. An extension cable is really important in the wild

 

[Canuck]

I am awaiting the delivery of my 90D (can't wait!), and I am starting to prepare a charging kit for when I receive my car.

You might find this interesting. It's written by @Cosmacelf, a highly respected member here:

http://www.cosmacelf.net/Home Made Adapters.pdf

 

[Az_Rael]

Because I like to be (over) prepared, I am also putting together my adapter kit before my car arrives. I scored one of the 14-30 adapters while they were still on the website (I noticed they are gone again) and picked up a used Chademo from someone on this board. I did get the 5-20 per the recommendations here.

I also ordered a J1772 extension cord (Amazon.com: JLONG - 40 Amp, 20ft, J1772 extension cable: Car Electronics). I know this one isn't very popular here, but when trying to use Level 2 public chargers, if I had just had a little more reach on the J17772 cord, I might have been able to overcome an ICE'd spot at a public charger. Not really a factor when traveling, since I wouldn't use Level 2's on the road, but when at a destination, it might be very handy to leave the car at a Level 2 and go to a movie, etc. Especially if I am not staying at a Destination Charger program hotel, (or if I am but they only have one charger and its already reserved).

 

[Gremlin]

I am awaiting the delivery of my 90D (can't wait!), and I am starting to prepare a charging kit for when I receive my car. I wanted to know if anyone here has found the need for additional adapters besides the ones that come with the car. I plan to get the CHAdeMO adapter as a few charging stations next to places I frequent have them, but was wondering if anyone have found good use for the additional NEMA adapters sold by Tesla (or are there any third party ones I should look out for). I will be mostly traveling in the Western US, but may go further depending on charger availability. Below is the information I found so far:

Comes with:

• J-1772 (EV Plug)
• NEMA 5-15 (110v, Standard US Outlet)
• NEMA 14-50 (220v, RV Hookup)

Other Adatpers:

• CHAdeMO (Leaf EV Plug)
• NEMA 6-15 (AC Units)
• NEMA 14-30 (New Dryers)
• NEMA 5-20 (110v higher current)

I currently have a 60 model but my 90D just went into production yesterday. I have a CHAdeMO, NEMA 5-20 (used this at the Tesla Roadtrip at Ocean City to charge with all those Tesla at hotel. I was only 1 of two owners that had one so it was perfect. I also have a 14-30 if off the beaten path perfect for older RV parks. Again all this was for the 60. I'd still ge a CHademo when those Model 3 come out. I've used the Chedemo adapter in several cities no supercharger in the area at the time.