New Tesla owner with questions

[KYVolsfan]

I just purchased a lightly driven 2021 Model 3 long range. I sold my Kia EV6 - because I wish I would have purchased a Tesla to begin with.

My question: I was able to get by using a level 1 charger with my Kia - I drive 20 miles a day, maybe - so the level 1 worked for me. When I charged the rate was 1.6KW.

I used the level 1 charger that came with the car and I’m only getting 1KW.

Does anyone know if the Tesla charger will only do 1KW? I mean, this is almost 1/2 of the speed and it is slow to begin with.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[TLej]

Assuming you're using the standard adapter, it can handle 120V on a 15A cicruit, which in reality means 12A which is 1.44 kW. The car may be rounding down. I'm not sure if the standard adapter on a 20A circuit will give you more, I've never been in a position to try.

 

[jjrandorin]

I just purchased a lightly driven 2021 Model 3 long range. I sold my Kia EV6 - because I wish I would have purchased a Tesla to begin with.

My question: I was able to get by using a level 1 charger with my Kia - I drive 20 miles a day, maybe - so the level 1 worked for me. When I charged the rate was 1.6KW.

I used the level 1 charger that came with the car and I’m only getting 1KW.

Does anyone know if the Tesla charger will only do 1KW? I mean, this is almost 1/2 of the speed and it is slow to begin with.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

If you mean the actual tesla branded mobile connector, it can do (US) from 15 amp 120V to 32amp 240 volt, depending on the adapter and outlet its plugged into. Since you purchased the car used, are you sure that you got the tesla wall connector and not something someone threw in with it?

If its the tesla one, make sure the adapter is plugged into the brick properly.

 

[alexgr]

I just purchased a lightly driven 2021 Model 3 long range. I sold my Kia EV6 - because I wish I would have purchased a Tesla to begin with.

My question: I was able to get by using a level 1 charger with my Kia - I drive 20 miles a day, maybe - so the level 1 worked for me. When I charged the rate was 1.6KW.

I used the level 1 charger that came with the car and I’m only getting 1KW.

Does anyone know if the Tesla charger will only do 1KW? I mean, this is almost 1/2 of the speed and it is slow to begin with.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

This sounds as a race to the bottom. Get access to a 240V outlet. At 30mi/h you home charging will be really easy.
Edit: I mean this for ANY EV! Not just for Tesla.

 

[DuncanM]

I just purchased a lightly driven 2021 Model 3 long range. I sold my Kia EV6 - because I wish I would have purchased a Tesla to begin with.

My question: I was able to get by using a level 1 charger with my Kia - I drive 20 miles a day, maybe - so the level 1 worked for me. When I charged the rate was 1.6KW.

I used the level 1 charger that came with the car and I’m only getting 1KW.

Does anyone know if the Tesla charger will only do 1KW? I mean, this is almost 1/2 of the speed and it is slow to begin with.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

The M3 will report the actual charging voltage and amperage, so you can work out the resulting wattage. If you're only driving 20miles/day you'll only need about 5 - 6 Kwh or about 4-5 hrs of L1 charging at 12 amps

Using a NEMA 5-15 outlet my M3 was reporting 12a (which I set via the display) at ~115v = ~1.4 kwh. Using a NEMA 5-20 outlet it was reporting 114v at 16amps (which I set via the display) = ~1.8kwh

 

[ucmndd]

1.6kw would be a very strange power rate for any level 1 EVSE. What were you using for your EV6?

Any EVSE on a regular NEMA 5-15 household plug will provide ~1.44kw under optimal conditions - 12 amps at 120 volts.

This is what your Tesla mobile connector is actually providing - even if the vehicle/app display rounds down to “1kw”.

IF you have a NEMA 5-20 plug/circuit available, you could buy the 5-20 adapter for your mobile connector and charge at ~1.9kw (16 amps at 120v).

 

[KYVolsfan]

This sounds as a race to the bottom. Get access to a 240V outlet. At 30mi/h you home charging will be really easy.
Edit: I mean this for ANY EV! Not just for Tesla.

That may be what I end up doing. The reason I have not done that - apart from the fact that I drive few miles on a daily basis -is that my breaker box is downstairs in one end of my house, while the garage us upstairs on the other end of the house. An electrician wanted $1000 to run the line and then a good level 2 charger would add another $500. So, I’ve lived with a level 1 - and that has worked, mostly. There have only been a few times where I arrived home with a low SOC and then needed to make a long drive the next day.

 

[alexgr]

That may be what I end up doing. The reason I have not done that - apart from the fact that I drive few miles on a daily basis -is that my breaker box is downstairs in one end of my house, while the garage us upstairs on the other end of the house. An electrician wanted $1000 to run the line and then a good level 2 charger would add another $500. So, I’ve lived with a level 1 - and that has worked, mostly. There have only been a few times where I arrived home with a low SOC and then needed to make a long drive the next day.

Until recently Teslas were coming with a level 2 charger included. It is $230 on Tesla webpage with a 14-50 adapter included. If you have your electric dryer connector closer to your car, you could use the outlet for charging. Another option would be to get a NEMA 14-50 extension cord, but they are no very cheap (like $250 for a 50ft cord). I'm sure you will find here on TMC tons of helpful ideas about charging.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

As others have said, check the screen and/or the app to verify that your voltage starts close to 120V and doesn't drop more than ~5V under load. If so, it could be an early warning that your circuit has some weaknesses.

Similarly, check that the current quickly ramps up to 12A and remains steady for most of the cycle. Any significant current reduction generally means that the charger has detected issues with your home wiring.

If both voltage and current are good, then you're charging as fast as any EV can safely charge on a 15A circuit. If your Kia was actually charging faster, it must have been configured for a 20A circuit, likely improperly.

Note that regular 120V household outlets are typically installed on 20A circuits so you may be tempted to use the full 16A limit (80% of 20A) but the outlets themselves are typically only rated for 15A and these circuits usually feed numerous outlets randomly scattered throughout the house so it's easy to overload the circuit with a 16A draw.

 

[MLXXXp]

my breaker box is downstairs in one end of my house, while the garage us upstairs on the other end of the house

Is there anything else on the circuit that the outlet you're plugging into is on? If it's just a breaker going straight to the outlet on a single cable, with nothing else and you have room in your breaker panel to replace the 120V 15A breaker with a double pole 240V 15A breaker, then you could swap out the breaker and switch the outlet to a NEMA 6-15 240V 15A one. You wouldn't have to change the cable because it will already be rated for 15A.

If you have a Tesla Mobile Connector, you can get a NEMA 6-15 adapter for it. The Tesla Wall Connector can also be set for a 240V 15A circuit.

Doing this would allow you to charge at the same 12A current but at twice the voltage (giving 2.88kW). Your charging speed would more than double.

 

[ATPMSD]

Don’t fret about what the Kia reported versus the Tesla, my bet is the Kia was fibbing. In the Tesla on a 15A circuit the charge rate is 120V * 12 amp (the connector uses only 80% of the rated circuit) = 1,440 watts. At 120V the charging is only about 80% efficient, which nets you a rate of 1,152 watts, or 1.1 kWh.

By going with the 240V option noted above you will then get a charge rate of 240V * 12A = 2,880 watts. Now the better news, charging at 240V is more efficient than at 120V; it is about 90-95% efficient. This translates to a charge rate of at lease 2,600 watts (2.6 kWh), which is 2.6 times better!

 

[KYVolsfan]

1.6kw would be a very strange power rate for any level 1 EVSE. What were you using for your EV6?

Any EVSE on a regular NEMA 5-15 household plug will provide ~1.44kw under optimal conditions - 12 amps at 120 volts.

This is what your Tesla mobile connector is actually providing - even if the vehicle/app display rounds down to “1kw”.

IF you have a NEMA 5-20 plug/circuit available, you could buy the 5-20 adapter for your mobile connector and charge at ~1.9kw (16 amps at 120v).

I was using a Lectron level 1 charger. Kia did not have any at the time I purchased the car. Not sure how the 1.6kw showed, but that’s what it was and is very different with the Tesla. I’ve had the car about 24 hours now and just trying to soak in the information. Everyone has been very helpful. Loving the Tesla - just lots of questions. Thank you.

 

[ATPMSD]

I was using a Lectron level 1 charger. Kia did not have any at the time I purchased the car. Not sure how the 1.6kw showed, but that’s what it was.

Here is one way to get 1.6 kWh

120V * 15A = 1,800 watts * 90% efficiency = 1,620 watts

Of course the 15A value and 90% efficiency values are wrong.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Seems the Lectron is just junk. They apparently designed it to pull 16A from a 12A rated outlet.

Plus, they seem to think that "110V" is a thing in this part of the world.

 

[KYVolsfan]

Seems the Lectron is just junk. They apparently designed it to pull 16A from a 12A rated outlet.

View attachment 890867

Plus, they seem to think that "110V" is a thing in this part of the world.

I appreciate the effort to help me understand. The Tesla community has been amazing in my 28 hours as a Tesla owner! I am now using the Tesla mobile charger that came with the car - level 1.

One other question: Someone wrote that it is possible to limit the amount of the charge on a Tesla. Is that via the onboard computer or through the app?

 

[Sophias_dad]

Someone wrote that it is possible to limit the amount of the charge on a Tesla. Is that via the onboard computer or through the app?

It can be done in either place. Setting it in the car might be a bit more reliable.

 

[ATPMSD]

One other question: Someone wrote that it is possible to limit the amount of the charge on a Tesla.

Yes but why? It is less efficient to charge at a reduced rate.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Someone wrote that it is possible to limit the amount of the charge on a Tesla. Is that via the onboard computer or through the app?

Upon a reread, it sounds like you were asking about the charge RATE not the charge LIMIT. The answer is the same for both, they are both settable in the car and in the app.

 

[3sr+buyer]

Assuming you're using the standard adapter, it can handle 120V on a 15A cicruit, which in reality means 12A which is 1.44 kW. The car may be rounding down. I'm not sure if the standard adapter on a 20A circuit will give you more, I've never been in a position to try.

It won't. But a 5-20 adapter can be used to get 120V 16A charging if you have a 20A circuit with a 5-20 outlet.

However, with any 120V household outlet, check whether there is anything else on the same circuit before charging an EV on it. If there is, then you may have to reduce the charging current so that charging while other stuff on that circuit is being used does not overload the circuit and trip the breaker.

But 240V charging is generally a lot more convenient for home charging. Also, at the slow charging rates of 120V charging, the charging efficiency is worse due to cost of the car being on while charging being a greater percentage of the energy drawn from the wall.

 

[3sr+buyer]

Yes but why? It is less efficient to charge at a reduced rate.

Lowering the charging amperage below 80% of the circuit amperage is typically done only in a few situations:

• An outlet on a circuit with other stuff on it that may be in use while charging. This is common with 120V household outlets, although newer houses may conform to newer codes that require dedicated 120V 20A outlets in the garage.
• An outlet with poor contacts to the plug blades that result in excess heat during charging at high amperages. Sometimes encountered with 30+A charging. Solution is the replace the outlet with a better one, but the interim workaround is to reduce the charging amperage.
• An outlet installed on a circuit that really cannot handle the amperage implied by the outlet. This is against electrical code, so the outlet or circuit should be repaired to conform.