Tesla Model 3/Y Question When Charging with Mobile Connector

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  chuq on 21/08/2024 - 09:56

  +1

  Nah, it should be OK - give it a go - if it's too much, the fuse will trip. Those notes are mainly to warn people if things like heaters or dryers are on the same circuit. (Typically in residential situations, several GPOs are on the same circuit)

  If it's going to be your main form of charging it's probably worth installing a dedicated 15A outlet in any case - cheap to do, especially if your switchboard is in or near your garage, gets 50% faster speed as well.

  • 

    Aerith-Waifu on 21/08/2024 - 17:54

    Thanks for the input. When you said cheap to install a 15A outlet. This is obviously needs to be done by a licensed sparky? Would $300 be enough for such an installation?

    • 

      klaw81 on 21/08/2024 - 17:56

      Depends entirely on how far and how difficult it is to run cable from the switchboard. But including labour, I doubt it would be less than $500 for a licensed sparky.

      • 

        Aerith-Waifu on 21/08/2024 - 17:59

        Oh expensive. Thanks for the input. If it’s going to be $500 might as well install the wall charging unit. As I remember someone said the labor cost is no more than $800

        • 

          klaw81 on 21/08/2024 - 18:06

          @Aerith-Waifu: I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but the cable would cost about $2 a metre from switchboard to plug, the plug itself would be $20, you need an appropriate circuit breaker installed in the switchboard at about $30, and then there's a call-out fee and labour for the installation. If the switchboard is really close, $300 might be enough but if it's a long way away or in a really awkward spot it could be triple that.

          • 

            Aerith-Waifu on 22/08/2024 - 02:17

            @klaw81: Thanks for that, will ask around. Much appreciated

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  klaw81 on 21/08/2024 - 10:09

  +9

  Tesla's language is deliberately phrased to describe best practice to remove any liability, rather than the absolute minimum requirement. Tesla are simply concerned that people will use the other plug to power another big load, like a dryer or another charger, which would almost certainly be a problem.

  An EVSE charger is not special magical equipment and it behaves much like any other load.

  A standard double GPO is rated at 10A, and Australian regulations permit 10 x 10A GPOs on a single circuit. Your TMC will be automatically limited to 10A when you use the 10A plug adaptor, so you can't accidentally overload your GPO by selecting a higher limit.

  Your garage door sits idle, not drawing any significant power, for 99.9% of every day. And even then, an extra 1A draw from operating a garage door motor for 20 seconds while it opens or closes the door isn't going to cause any issues.

  I ended up getting a dedicated 15A plug installed to enable faster charging, but this is merely a convenience thing and I used a 10A plug for months before that. It works fine, just slower.

  • 

    Aerith-Waifu on 21/08/2024 - 17:55

    Great input, what did you pay for the 15A installation if you don’t mind sharing?

    • 

      klaw81 on 21/08/2024 - 17:57

      I have an electrician friend who owed me a favour :-)

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        Aerith-Waifu on 21/08/2024 - 17:58

        Nice! I might find out about it. Hope it’s not going to be more than $300 in Perth

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          PerthectDeal on 14/09/2024 - 14:31

          @Aerith-Waifu: I got quotes in Perth, a 15A socket 15 metres from the board (space for the circuit breaker in the board). The quotes varies a lot, the large companies that advertise a lot were $600 to $700 where the small one man electrician were $250 to $300.

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            Aerith-Waifu on 15/09/2024 - 03:56

            @PerthectDeal: $300 is not a bad price at all. Did you end up have one installed? If you did can you pm me their details? Thanks

    • 

      trankillity on 22/08/2024 - 07:56

      +1

      I paid about $500 for a dedicated 15A socket/circuit + Shelly EM1 + contactor for my EVSE. Works brilliantly and allows me to automate charging based on solar generation much like a $1500+ smart charger.

      • 

        Pulse8 on 22/08/2024 - 08:53

        Mine was about the same for a dedicated line from the switchboard to the garage and install of the Tesla wall charger.

        On a single phase house the wall connector at our place charges at 7.2Kw/h. A friend of ours has one wired to 3 phase and it’s closer to 16Kw/h

        When we had the standard plug in wall connector we would get 2.4kw/h through a standard double PowerPoint. No matter what was connected to the other side - never had any issue with it tripping the switch.

        Hopefully that helps

        • 

          trankillity on 23/08/2024 - 09:36

          @Pulse8: The good thing about the 15A socket is that if you have a EVSE that supports 15A, you can get 3.6kWh out of the socket. Yes, it's only half of the dedicated single-phase line, but I only have a 5kW solar system and wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible. I certainly don't need the speed of 7.2kWh considering I work from home.

  • 

    thepigs on 22/08/2024 - 00:07

    If you set your charge amps in the app to 5a and then 15a, what sort of voltage difference do you get?

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  ihfree on 21/08/2024 - 12:46

  +2

  Considering a 3? Wouldn't Tesla 3 Struggling Going up Kerb?

  • 

    pegaxs on 21/08/2024 - 13:10

    Hehehe… I got that reference…

  • 

    JIMB0 on 21/08/2024 - 17:09

    That was another 'hey I own a Tesla' thread

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    Aerith-Waifu on 21/08/2024 - 17:55

    My dad now looking to buy the Y as h reckon it’s a bit more roomy.

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    Aerith-Waifu on 21/08/2024 - 17:57

    You got it wrong, it’s CURVE! Not curb or kerb! LOL

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  Euphemistic on 21/08/2024 - 14:37

  You dont need to unplug it, just avoid opening or closing the garage door while its charging.

  • 

    Aerith-Waifu on 21/08/2024 - 17:56

    Well it’s easy when it’s on the wall, but my dad’s outlet is on the ceiling. Consider he is in his 70s I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to unplug it every time

    • 

      Euphemistic on 22/08/2024 - 08:34

      So his charge point would be on the ceiling too? Get a new point installed.

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  randomusername2017 on 21/08/2024 - 14:43

  hodl for cyber truck… better curb management package.

  • 

    Porker on 21/08/2024 - 14:50

    Possibly also more resistant to keying…?

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  saltypete on 22/08/2024 - 08:30

  Just use the 10a plug and don’t do anything stupid like change the outlet to 15a without getting an electrician to upgrade the wiring.
  Don’t use any extension cord either.
  Time and resistance are the issues.
  When you change it will want hours at a time pulling a full 10a. Dust, dirt, moisture or loose connections can increase resistance at the switch and this will be apparent as heat after a couple of hours.
  The odd lift of drop of a garage door it likely not an issue.

  If the garage wiring is really ancient, or was done years ago by a mate of a mate, it’s worth the cost of getting a sparky out to check. Given the point is on the garage ceiling and tricky to unplug, I’d get a sparky out to check it out anyway. The added bonus of this is that they might see a way to up your wiring to give you a 15a outlet at a good price.

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  Cliche Guevara on 22/08/2024 - 10:03

  -1

  Spends $60K on an EV but then won't spend <$2K on a dedicated EVSE…

  • 

    klaw81 on 22/08/2024 - 10:49

    Who says they're spending that kind of money? You can buy a used EV for less than $10k. OP seems to be referring to Tesla vehicles, but even then there are plenty around $30k

    Also, a dedicated EVSE is just additional convenience / luxury for the average driver. 8 hours on charge overnight at 10A is more than enough to cover most people's daily commute for a day or three.

    Finally, it's pretty clear that this is not the OP's own house. Spending money on upgrading his parent's house, which he may not live in for much longer, is not necessarily a great idea.