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Creating THE ULTIMATE automated charging station.

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Creating an automated charging station.

Hi all,

This post describes how I plan to install a 100% remote controlled charging station in my small 1 car garage for under $400 installed. I'm not sure if I'm more excited regarding this or the arrival of my new S. Any feedback or thoughts highly appreciated.

I just finalized on a black P85 that I hope will be delivered up here in frosty Vermont on May 1st. This is my first post. I have been lurking here for about 3 weeks and am grateful for all of the information and tips regarding this amazing vehicle.

I have a small attached garage that will be used to store my four wheeled marvel. It is heavily used in the summer as a pathway from the front of our house to our patio out back. We usually keep the garage door open most of the summer. Given the arrival of the S, I wanted to create a charging methodology that would allow an easy way to charge the car, yet leave an open and free pathway whether the car is charging or not. Backing the car in was not an option. Also I needed something that would work when the garage door was open and or closed. Did I mention that the HPWC need to be installed on the right side of the garage? Oh yes and it all needs to look neat and tidy since I'm putting a new floor in and finally getting this garage to look as good as its new tenant. Sorry, no idea how to rotate these photos properly.

photo 1.JPG

I scoured the many posts regarding this topic and found some creative solutions: see saw boards, retractable cords (with questionable track records), running the cord behind the car and even one that had the cord on a swing arm. All of these were not the solution for me. I considered building an L bar, a swing bar and even just running the cord behind the car. Then it hit me, why not run a rail - a garage door opener rail (with remote) under the open (or closed) garage door. Problem solved! Here is an illustration of the entire setup .

I would install the HPWC on the right wall. I would then install a remote controlled garage door opener and rail, horizontally just past the opening of the existing garage door, 7.5 feet from the floor and about 3 inched under the open garage door. The power cord would be attached to this rail and then the nozzle would be dropped about four feet and be perfectly aligned with the post of the S. The cord would be attached at that juncture to the rail. I would then program the remote to allow for 3 feet of travel between the "charging" position and the "store" position. Confused? see illustration above ( although I'm not sure this will help).

Here is the result of this setup:
  • I open garage door with garage remote #1 and drive car into garage
  • Once parked (I plan to use a tennis ball to align the car just right), I use programmed garage opener remote #2 in car to move cord to "charge" position. Both of these BTW, will be programmed into screen.
  • I fully expect to have "charge" position be about 2" away from port and thus triggering port to open
  • Nozzle will be in presentation mode for easy insertion.
  • When done charging I will simply detach nozzle and leave hanging.
  • When in car I will use remote to move cord (and nozzle) to "store" position 3' away.

This setup will make charging, dare I say it, a pleasure. It will also allow for walkthrough from patio to front of house at any time - wether car is charging or not. My wife thinks I'm nuts spending all this time on the garage and this setup. Then again she said the same thing about the my iphone for a year before she got one. ;)

Here is a picture of the cord (this is a dummy cord) as it will look in charge position. Ignore the contraption that is holding it:
photo 3.JPG


Here is a picture of the cord as it will look in the "store" position. It is off to the right and out of the way:
photo 4.JPG



Can't wait to set this up and drive the S!
 
Last edited:
Jason,

The rail will run about 4" under the existing tracks for the garage door. This will be about 7 and a half feet off the ground. I don't expect anything to get caught anywhere as I will program the hanging cord to only 3 feet (charge and store positions) of travel space. Most of the time the cord will be in store position. The only reason I have it in a charge position is to allow a clear path for anyone walking by. Hope this is clear.

I noticed an extra image sneaked into my original post. is there a way to edit these?