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Charging o/n at 120V - how many miles do you actually get?

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I'm planning a trip and may need to rely on some slow overnight 120V charging. Will turn on the "sleep" mode to reduce drain, of course.
How many miles are people actually getting back at 120V? I understand I can expect 3-4mph - but it would be helpful to know if it is closer to 3 or 4mph, since that difference becomes significant over a couple days.
thanks!
 
It would depend on the voltage sag. I've gotten 5mph with the 15 amp adapter, but the voltage sag was non existent, and maintained about 125v. Ive also had extreme voltage sag in some instances and got flickering between 2-3 Mph. If you don't already, the 20 amp 120v adapter is in-despensible. 33% faster then the 15 amp adapter when a 20 amp socket is available (almost all modern commercial locations). Plus, if staying at any hotels, you can make your own adapter to convert a 20 amp 240v air conditioner outlet so that you can plug your 20amp 120v adapter in (voltage wont matter). That will allow you to charge at 16 amps at 240v, so charge speed will be doubled.
 
I'd say it's probably right around 3.5. Will be dependent on your voltage. If you're getting a solid 120V, you'll probably get 4. If you're down below 110V while charging, you'll be more around 3.5. On my last trip, I was using a pretty heavy duty 12 gauge 25-foot extension cord and was connected to a 20-amp outlet (still using a 15-amp connector) and after a few hours, the car kept reducing charge current down to 9A - probably because the voltage was getting down to around 108V. That, of course, makes it even slower, so be sure to keep an eye on your charging to make sure it's really pulling 12A.
 
Yes, I too highly recommend the Tesla 20A adapter (NEMA 5-20) for household plugs. You see them in almost all commercial settings and I've used them in newer vacation condos as well (garage plugs). You actually get 43% faster charger into the battery as opposed to the regular 15A adapter since a certain amount of the power powers the car computers while charging.
 
it would be helpful to know if it is closer to 3 or 4mph, since that difference becomes significant over a couple days.
thanks!

It's highly dependent on ambient temperature. In warmer weather/garages, 80-90F, you'll get 4. In cooler weather, 60-70F, it's more like 3.5. At 50F it's closer to 3. Below there it continues to drop off as more energy is used for battery heating.

I don't know at what temperature above 90F battery cooling might kick in and reduce the rate as I've never charged on 120V in temperatures above 90F.
 
It would depend on the voltage sag.

^^^ THIS.

It all depends on the quality of the electricity to the socket due to various factors like voltage drop. For me, my garage is on the opposite side of the house of my circuit breaker. The length of the circuit to the socket is so long that I get a "extension cord detected" warning pop up and it fails to charge at all at 9,10,11, & 12 amps. Only when I dial it down to 8amps will it actually successfully charge at 2mph. So 10 hours overnight only nets me 20 miles. (obviously I dont use this, I only did that for a few days when I first bought the car before I ran a 50amp breaker , 120ft of 6/3 cable to a NEMA 14-50.

this goes to show you can't count on the quality of the electricity of a random socket to get you anything decent. another thing to consider is that you don't know what other outlets are on that circuit and what other devices are pulling electricity on it. somebody could have a computer or a tv or mini heater or something on the same circuit thus reducing the amount of power you can pull (you might trip the breaker here too).

so you need to have a backup plan. there are a few options.

1) like others said try to carry about a 5-20 adapter too, this will help some if you can find a 20amp outlet instead of 15amp

2) carry around a NEMA 14-50 extension cord (I got one off amazon, its like $100) (thus using the Tesla 14-50 adapter to plug into the extension cord) and a bunch of aftermarket adapters (evseadapters.com) to 10-30 (older dryer outlet), 14-30 (newer dryer outlet and cooking ranges), 6-20 (unusual in household, but my parking garages has one of these for electric vehicles), TT-30 (RV parks), etc. in these cases using these aftermarket adapters, the car will try to pull 40 amps since your using the 14-50 adapter so you need to dial down the amps properly BEFORE plugging in. 10-30, 14-30, TT-30 -> 24 amps. 6-20-> 16 amps.

3) get a quick220. if you can find two 5-15s or two 5-20s close together on different circuits this device will convert 120V to 220V thus doubling your charge rate. i don't have one of these but I know others owners do. I'm not sure what tesla adapter you use for these , i'm assuming you cant use the NEMA 5-15 or 5-20 adapters and i'm guessing the aftermarket NEMA14-50 to 6-15 or 6-20 as above? others can weigh in here to say exactly how they do this.

4) plugshare. other EV owners are usually VERY helpful to let fellow EV owners charge at their house. I've even had people offer to me their own cars or to chauffeur me back and forth from wherever their house to to where I needed to go while my car is charging. additionaly, many commercial businesses offer free charging and list their places on plugshare. I've found free chargepoint stations at Chili's restaurants and and free ClipperCreek J1772 stations at state colleges on here.

5) chargepoint. commercial EV charging network. there are quite a lot of chargepoints now. use free mobile app or website to find nearby station. You need a chargepoint card BUT I think you might be able to call an 800 number and give them CC # over the phone and their activate the station remotely.

6) charge at RV parks. pay $9.99 to get 'Allstay Camp & RV' app on your mobile phone (this app is definitely worth the $10). this is a fabulous app that shows all the RV parks in the country and all their amenities and phone numbers etc and you can filter by nearby parks that have NEMA 14-50 adapters and then you can call one to ask if you can charge there. most are very friendly to EVs. its really no different than an RV parking there because RVs use 14-50s for their power too. some parks will only have the older TT-30 plugs so if you can't find one with a 14-50 that's why the TT-30 adapter I talked about above is useful. you will probably have to pay a small fee for the spot to charge the car.

7) dealerships. you can find these stations on plugshare. I believe Nissan has been very friendly to let Tesla owners charge for free on their J1772 stations at their dealerships. the only problem with this though is that you typically can only do this during business hours when their open.

good luck.
 
Just for the record, all the above applies to warm summer conditions. In winter you can easily get a situation where you get ZERO miles per hour charging, with all power being spent on pack heating.

In warm, summer conditions without a lot of Voltage droop, I use the easy round number of 75 rated miles per day or 25 rated miles per 8 hours. I carry a 50' #10 extension cord to avoid any significant additional Voltage droop if the outlet is not near the space. If outside and it looks like rain, I try to put the UMC and connections on something that gets them off the ground and slide that under the car to get it all out of the rain and wet. Use to your app to check on the car and make sure that charging is continuing, every hour for the first few hours and a few times a day after that.

75 miles a day for a few destination days starts to add up to something interesting... :biggrin:
 
Just as an example, I went on a trip over this holiday weekend to Solon Springs, WI. I arrived with 40 miles in the battery. I wasn't sure if there was any charging at my destination, but luckily the hotel (St. Crox inn) had some 120v outlets outside. I charged using the nema 5-15 adapter (12amps) and usually using a 50' 10 gauge extension cord. I typically drove 25-35 miles every day and tried to be plugged in most of the time when not driving. I found that day time charging mostly covered the daily short trips and the overnight charging got me 30 to 40 miles. I was here for 4 nights. By the time I was ready to leave I had 180 miles in the battery, plenty to get back to Eau Claire supercharger on the way back home.
Tesla_St.Crox Inn.jpg
 
Just for the record, all the above applies to warm summer conditions. In winter you can easily get a situation where you get ZERO miles per hour charging, with all power being spent on pack heating.
Good point, while I rarely see less than 2mi/hr, even when it is near zero outside, I have seen as low as 1mi/hr. And if you preheat the cabin, even while plugged in, you may see loss of mileage in colder climates.
 
Just for the record, all the above applies to warm summer conditions. In winter you can easily get a situation where you get ZERO miles per hour charging, with all power being spent on pack heating.

I agree that weather can be a factor, but at least twice so far I've gotten 4mph in 20-30 degree (F) weather using the NEMA 5-15 adapter. It was on a 20A circuit though, on a relatively new building, and that's the reason I have since purchased the NEMA 5-20 adapter.

Long story short, you won't know the exact charging rate at your specific location till you try it. Variables include outside temperature, quality of electric service/circuit, and distance from outlet (i.e. whether you need an extension cord). Best idea is to have some alternate charging plans just in case, whether public chargers, RV parks, or individual PlugShare users who share home outlets.