UMC length--stretch the length of the car?

HeartDocMD · Jul 10, 2015

Haven't bought car yet, just doing some planning.

For a variety of reasons not worth going into, it would be much easier to have NEMA 14-50 outlet installed near driver side front of car rather than back where I park.

Outlet would be approximatly even with the front of the car when parked. Is that amount of strectch going to be a problem to comfortably charge? I know I could alternatively back car in but not easy to do in our driveway and would be a pain to have to do that everytime I hooked up car.

Thanks for the advice--great forum.

Max* · Jul 10, 2015

Yes. I park nose in, my outlet is about 4' off the ground near the drivers side, I plug in, the big Tesla brick sits on a box next to the outlet, and the cord reaches the end of the car, and most of it sits on the ground.

kuttakamina · Jul 10, 2015

I have the same situation. The UMC will reach the back on the same side of the car. i.e. if the park nose in, and the outlet is towards the drivers side.
If the outlet is in the middle of the car, or on the passenger side, then it won't.

However, I find myself backing in, and plugging in more. The reason being, I don't like the cable dragging on the ground, especially since the Air conditioner will drip water. And I do see me using the AC remotely all the time (cool the car before getting in).

Water + electricity not a good idea. Forget the electricity part, the UMC will probably last longer if I didn't keep it wet all the time.

So long story short, I got a setup exactly like yours, thinking I'd do exactly what you are suggesting.
But then I ended up coiling up the wire on a hose reel thing, stick it neatly on the wall, and not have the cord laying around on the garage floor.

HeartDocMD · Jul 10, 2015

kuttakamina said:
I have the same situation. The UMC will reach the back on the same side of the car. i.e. if the park nose in, and the outlet is towards the drivers side.
If the outlet is in the middle of the car, or on the passenger side, then it won't.

However, I find myself backing in, and plugging in more. The reason being, I don't like the cable dragging on the ground, especially since the Air conditioner will drip water. And I do see me using the AC remotely all the time (cool the car before getting in).

Water + electricity not a good idea. Forget the electricity part, the UMC will probably last longer if I didn't keep it wet all the time.

So long story short, I got a setup exactly like yours, thinking I'd do exactly what you are suggesting.
But then I ended up coiling up the wire on a hose reel thing, stick it neatly on the wall, and not have the cord laying around on the garage floor.

So are you running the cord under the car (where the AC might drip on it)? I was just imaging running it along the ground on drivers side of car.

tezzla · Jul 10, 2015

HeartDocMD said:
So are you running the cord under the car (where the AC might drip on it)? I was just imaging running it along the ground on drivers side of car.

Lots of people charge in their driveways, water/rain/snow is not a problem when charging.

travwill · Jul 10, 2015

HeartDocMD said:
Haven't bought car yet, just doing some planning.

For a variety of reasons not worth going into, it would be much easier to have NEMA 14-50 outlet installed near driver side front of car rather than back where I park.

Outlet would be approximatly even with the front of the car when parked. Is that amount of strectch going to be a problem to comfortably charge? I know I could alternatively back car in but not easy to do in our driveway and would be a pain to have to do that everytime I hooked up car.

Thanks for the advice--great forum.

Like all said, the cord is 15 feet on the UMC so you should be fine as long as you don't have to go much beyond the length of the car. The car itself is 16' long to give an idea. That is why some get the HPWC instead as comes with 20 feet I believe.

-T

kuttakamina · Jul 10, 2015

HeartDocMD said:
So are you running the cord under the car (where the AC might drip on it)? I was just imaging running it along the ground on drivers side of car.

I am not running the cable under the car. I am running it on the side. The water drips and flows all over the place.

paulkva · Jul 10, 2015

I have the same setup as the OP is proposing and no problems. Outlet is at the front of the car, close to driver's side, 4' off the ground. I have 2 hooks on the wall to prevent the "brick" from pulling down too hard on the outlet and to leave one coil while charging. The cable length is perfect for me; at its lowest point it's an inch or two above the floor. Because it's against the left side of the car it hasn't been a tripping hazard, not even for my 10yo kids who use the back left door frequently.

I think I've posted photos of my setup before but can't get at them easily right now (on Tapatalk on my phone). But if you'd like me to post them here, let me know.

smilepak · Jul 10, 2015

Yup. Probably I didn't back in my garage, just straight drive in. My plug is n the wall directly in front of me. I was able to charge and have some extra length

HeartDocMD · Jul 10, 2015

paulkva said:
I have the same setup as the OP is proposing and no problems. Outlet is at the front of the car, close to driver's side, 4' off the ground. I have 2 hooks on the wall to prevent the "brick" from pulling down too hard on the outlet and to leave one coil while charging. The cable length is perfect for me; at its lowest point it's an inch or two above the floor. Because it's against the left side of the car it hasn't been a tripping hazard, not even for my 10yo kids who use the back left door frequently.

I think I've posted photos of my setup before but can't get at them easily right now (on Tapatalk on my phone). But if you'd like me to post them here, let me know.

PaulKVA--would love to see a pic of your set up, that would be really helpful. Thanks!

bjwModelS · Jul 10, 2015

travwill said:
That is why some get the HPWC instead as comes with 20 feet I believe.

-T

You get 25' with the HPWC! Tesla Accessories and Charging Adapters Wall Connector 'Connector cable is 25 feet.'

jerry33 · Jul 10, 2015

It will stretch the length of the car only if you don't mind it up in the air and pulling on things. Although it's 18' long, most receptacles are 48" off the ground and the charge port isn't on the ground either, so you really only have about ten usable feet of distance. Either get an HPWC or mount the receptacle somewhere near the middle of the car.

paulkva · Jul 10, 2015

HeartDocMD said:
PaulKVA--would love to see a pic of your set up, that would be really helpful. Thanks!

Here you go. I just took new pics instead of searching for the old ones.

Let me know if you'd like more details or other angles. As you can see, not much room up front, but it works well for my family.

roblab · Jul 10, 2015

paulkva said:
Here you go. I just took new pics instead of searching for the old ones. Let me know if you'd like more details or other angles. As you can see, not much room up front, but it works well for my family.

This looks just like my situation, except I do not see any need to "hang" the UMC from a hook. It was made to hang from the plug, believe me, and I have done so for 33 months. I charge every day, just about, and unplug it for trips, so it hangs from the plug just about all the time, and I end up having two more feet than you show.

I have shelves near my car charge port, so I zip tied a vacuum extension to the shelf and stick the charge plug into that when it's not in the car. I used to just lay it on the floor.

They replaced my entire cord when they first were having issues of the adapters showing overheating, what, months ago.

No issues. Ever. The cable lays on the concrete floor. I try not to run over it or step on it, but that's about all the respect it gets.

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UMC length--stretch the length of the car?

HeartDocMD

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Max*

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kuttakamina

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HeartDocMD

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tezzla

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travwill

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kuttakamina

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paulkva

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smilepak

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HeartDocMD

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bjwModelS

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jerry33

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paulkva

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roblab

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