Stupid Question: Emergency Charging on a Gas Generator

[FlasherZ]

Any reason not to do that on the UMC adapter itself vs an extension cord (assuming length isn't an issue?)

No real reason, other than warranty on the adapter, but that's only $45.

 

[modelx007]

There are two types of dryer receptacles, 10-30 and 14-30, depending upon when your home was built. There are some Tesla adapters available for the UMC plugging into these receptacles, but you noted 20 feet which is beyond the 18 ft of the UMC. Your best bet, for emergency use only, is to create an emergency cable, about 6 feet long, appropriately wired and labeled "for emergency Tesla charging only" (or purchase from a place like EVSE adapters). See my FAQ for more details.

As for what you could run with the Model S charging, a 22 kW genset can run about 90A of load. With Model S charging at the full 24A off a 30A dryer receptacle (the continuous limit of that receptacle), you'd still have quite a bit of room for other loads - certainly your A/C and many other appliances.

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Some inverter generators won't work, depending upon how their grounding is set up. If it's a "floating neutral" generator, the Tesla UMC will flash red four times because ground won't be stable relative to the line voltage. Some generators can use a special plug to bond ground to neutral to make it work, but in others it will not work (and will destroy the generator).

This is my plug. Which is it?
Thanks

 

[FlasherZ]

That's a NEMA 10-30.

 

[green1]

This is my plug. Which is it?
Thanks

That's a 10-30 (the older standard)

 

[modelx007]

Ok so my plug is NEMA 10-30 and it is about 25-30 feet from dryer hallway into back of my garage. What cable would one direct me to get to use for emergency purposes when using my generac 22kw generator which will power my dryer plug?

 

[modelx007]

Ok so my plug is NEMA 10-30 and it is about 25-30 feet from dryer hallway into back of my garage. What cable would one direct me to get to use for emergency purposes when using my generac 22kw generator which will power my dryer plug?

Would I get this NEMA 14-50 EVSE Electric Vehicle Extension Cord - Corddept they have a 30 ft 14-50 and then plug it into a NEMA 10-30P Dryer Plug to 14-50R EV Adapter, 30A,125/250V ?

 

[Cosmacelf]

Yes that will work. I would recommend putting a label on the 10-30 adapter to remind yourself to dial back the amps to 24A, or else the car will try to draw 40A from that setup.