Condo owner must pay for meter or unplug electric car

[Teslawisher]

What's the max amp draw on the Roadster? How does it compare to other typical household applicances that are routinely connected to a 15A receptacle. Does a Roaster get close to maxing it out on it's own?

Edit: Presuming this is a dedicated circuit, does the Roadster max draw come close to the max safe 12A allowed for a 15A circuit?

 

[W.Petefish]

Yes. It draws 12/15A on 120V.

 

[Doug_G]

One thing to watch for: the Roadster defaults to 15A; if you're on a 15A circuit you need to drop the current to 12A using the VDS.

 

[Teslawisher]

Yes. It draws 12/15A on 120V.

Thanks.

Back to main topic... Hoping that moving into the future, condos and apartments will figure out a way to meter and bill for electrics and plug-in hybrids as popularity increases... since they apparently feel they are losing soooo much money the way things are now.

 

[zack]

BTW if anyone's curious about the Kill-A-Watt device that measures kWh allegedly at 15 A, it doesn't. First night I tried it the temp/fuse device melted. I bypassed that and cut vent holes in the device to keep it from heating up, and after a month it melted and nearly fused to the plug. I believe the heat also damaged my GFI plug. They definitely cannot reliably measure at that current level.

 

[medved]

And the same thing is here as well: The Ottawa condo owner and his electric car: Who pays for the charge?

 

[ElSupreme]

And the same thing is here as well: The Ottawa condo owner and his electric car: Who pays for the charge?

Plus the stock pic of a Roadster charging. On an article about a Volt.

 

[Robert.Boston]

There are at least two layers of tragi-comedy playing out here:

• The amount of electricity being used to charge the car is smaller than the difference between someone who cooks three meals at home vs. someone who usually goes out (or takes in) for meals, or someone with a huge plasma vs. someone with a small LCD; and
• I'm sure the owner would be willing to pay the extra $1/day, but there's no need for a $3k revenue-quality meter to establish a fair price for the extra usage. Seriously, this is a case where the extra energy could be determined directly from the car, maybe adding 20% to account for losses. Or just add $50/month to the guy's condo fee. Sheesh.

 

[cinergi]

I pay $50/mo fixed for the same reason. Took a lot of back n forth and my Tesla CA helped a lot by talking to the electrician ... Once you start talking to people like an electrician who understand the numbers it's easier. And finding or creating fans of the car (easier with the roadster) makes it easier cuz then they want to help ...
Took me about 6 weeks of negotiations with the apartment complex I finally settled on. That said, I got plenty of other "no" responses ....

 

[neroden]

. Seriously, this is a case where the extra energy could be determined directly from the car, maybe adding 20% to account for losses.

This is what seems particularly crazy about this. Either the condo board hates electric cars, or they just hate the owner! The car practically speaking already contains a meter!

 

[Doug_G]

Yeah, and there's no way they need a $3000 meter to resolve this. You can buy a power meter for the one plug, which you can monitor from a PC, for just $300. Several pop right out when you Google it.

 

[Robert.Boston]

But few if any of those meters are designed to meter 40A of 240V power running for hours at a time - they'll melt.

 

[Doug_G]

But few if any of those meters are designed to meter 40A of 240V power running for hours at a time - they'll melt.

I was easily able to find one with suitable rating.

 

[Jaff]

Dealing with Condo Boards can be a pain...some of the greates minds of the 20th century...:wink::biggrin:

This is what seems particularly crazy about this. Either the condo board hates electric cars, or they just hate the owner! The car practically speaking already contains a meter!

 

[donauker]

But few if any of those meters are designed to meter 40A of 240V power running for hours at a time - they'll melt.

100 Amp 240 Volt Watthour Meter with Base $40.98

Available Here

 

[njloof]

Someone needs to professionally install that meter, no?

 

[SByer]

Somebody needs to install that meter and have it pass inspection. Slightly different, but there's certainly room for the 'you know what you're doing' method.

 

[njloof]

I thought the whole point was that his condo association didn't trust him. Why would they let him DIY an electric meter?