Electric Vehicles: General topics
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What was it before? I didn't know it was something new. I just asked my friend (who has a Tesla if he had it and he said yes) so I signed up for it. We have 30 days free with our used, but already set up to purchase it (starting next month).
Edit: Ah yearly vs monthly! Nice!
Edit2: The iPhone app just let me switch to an annual plan
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Took a nice little 130 mile road trip this evening. Randomly chose a Tesla charging station (come to find out, it was a level 3) - 311 miles/hr charge and wow, not cheap lol. Learned that there are different stations - and the ones with the most free charging stations are probably the faster/more expensive ones heh. Had a blast driving - the Tesla feels so effortless. Traffic no longer frustrates as much as before as I keep thinking how every slow down results in a little returned power. lol.
Tomorrow the electrician will do an inspection for an EV charger install quote!
Tomorrow the electrician will do an inspection for an EV charger install quote!
DT
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Yeah, there's a Supercharger (SuC) Level 2 and Level 3 (not to be confused with Level 1 and Level 2 "destination" or home charging). Superchargers use DCFC, DC Fast Charging, that is, they output DC directly to your car's battery (slightly more complex but that's the basic concept). The "chargers" that connect to AC, whether hardwired or via an outlet send AC power are technically an EVSE (not a charger), there's a charger in the car itself that handles the AC >> DC >> Battery process.
SuC Level 2 support up to 150kW and use a shared supply (so more cars mean less available power), the newer Level 3 currently support up to 250kW to each vehicle and there's supposed to be an upgrade to 324kW (though our Model 3s don't support this).
FWIW, I've heard people say don't mention an EV for an outlet install, hahaha, don't know if that really will make a difference, but I don't recall if you're going with a hardwired Tesla charger, or a 50a outlet and using the TMC or another branded charger.
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Okay, I had to do my share of comparisons and shopping around so I'll share my personal experience. Based on my usage I do not need super fast charging such as the Tesla wall charger, which is really spendy. I opted to get get a 240 volt - 50 amp outlet installed, as long as there's no long runs (such as the circuit box being far away from the charging location) this should cost you less than $500. I have mine installed just below the breaker box.
Then you just buy the NEMA 14-50 adapter from Tesla for $45 which fits on your existing charging cable. You'll get around 30 miles per hour of charge at 32 amps, I start mine at midnight because it's discounted at that time in CA and it's always done by the time I get up.
YMMV but this setup has been perfect for me and I would think as long as you don't need to constantly charge and go several times a day it would be sufficient for anyone.
DT
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Yeah, 32a is plenty, there's not much difference in 29-30 mi/hour vs. 36-37 mi/hour, in an 8-10 hour overnight charge, and since most charging is more like restoring 20-25% battery, that's just a few hours either way.
A couple of FYI for @BigMcGuire
For continuous power, you should only use 80% of the rated max current for a circuit, i.e., a 50a circuit (breaker) should only be used at a max of 40a, which is why you never see plugin chargers rated at more than 40a, since 50 is the most for standard NEMA outlets vs. hard wiring.
There are two 50a NEMA outlet specs, an N6-50 (3-prong, 3-wire) and an N14-50 (4-prong, 4-wire). The latter is an extra neutral that allows for 2-phase, so the outlet can supply both 120v and 240v which is not needed for any EV, that's a design that's common for an RV/RV parks where they want a single cable to provide both voltages (like for lights and a stove).
The N6-50 is a common outlet for heavy shop equipment, like a welder, it only supplies 240v.
I mention this because a longer run of 4-wire can get a bit more costly vs. a 3-wire run, and the latter has no downside for an EV. In fact, that's what I had installed (N6-50). Some people will bring up the ability to use a mobile charger at an RV park, but that's not a use case that will ever come up for us, if it was, I'd just get a N14-50 adapter for the TMC which we only use for travel (and really just carry it as a backup).
That's why you see most companies offering both, if there was a specific advantage/concern/etc., they'd lean into a single outlet spec:
A couple of FYI for @BigMcGuire
For continuous power, you should only use 80% of the rated max current for a circuit, i.e., a 50a circuit (breaker) should only be used at a max of 40a, which is why you never see plugin chargers rated at more than 40a, since 50 is the most for standard NEMA outlets vs. hard wiring.
There are two 50a NEMA outlet specs, an N6-50 (3-prong, 3-wire) and an N14-50 (4-prong, 4-wire). The latter is an extra neutral that allows for 2-phase, so the outlet can supply both 120v and 240v which is not needed for any EV, that's a design that's common for an RV/RV parks where they want a single cable to provide both voltages (like for lights and a stove).
The N6-50 is a common outlet for heavy shop equipment, like a welder, it only supplies 240v.
I mention this because a longer run of 4-wire can get a bit more costly vs. a 3-wire run, and the latter has no downside for an EV. In fact, that's what I had installed (N6-50). Some people will bring up the ability to use a mobile charger at an RV park, but that's not a use case that will ever come up for us, if it was, I'd just get a N14-50 adapter for the TMC which we only use for travel (and really just carry it as a backup).
That's why you see most companies offering both, if there was a specific advantage/concern/etc., they'd lean into a single outlet spec:
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quagmire
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I would say going to 48A is beneficial if you live in a cold climate where the battery heater and HVAC during pre-conditioning can draw more than 32A from what I have read especially since his Model 3 has the PTC heater and not the heat pump. But he lives in Southern CA, so 32A should be fine.
DT
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Oh, and call me not surprised ... this was info from a Tesla diag/service app, from a pretty well known Tesla hacker:
Eventually Musk will wall this back and offer an option for either on the S and X, and a retrofit (the latter probably OOP for the owner). Without dynamic ratio steering (and they are working on this for future models), it's a burden.
Hahaha, where John-the-yoke-is-awesome when you need him
Eventually Musk will wall this back and offer an option for either on the S and X, and a retrofit (the latter probably OOP for the owner). Without dynamic ratio steering (and they are working on this for future models), it's a burden.
Hahaha, where John-the-yoke-is-awesome when you need him
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Well due to the complexity of the complex I live in, the electricians just left. The estimate is $2331 not counting 20 holes that will need drywall repair. Looks like we'll be charging from an outlet (at best 5 mi/hr) while we live here 
. At least there's Level 2 chargers a few streets away at the city hall ($3.30/2hrs) that's only a 10 min walk.
They seemed to think that the outlet in the garage could take 16 amps as long as there wasn't any other load but just to be safe we'll probably keep it at 12 amps because we're doing fine with 4mi/hr and 6mi/hr at college.
We only do 104 miles every other day (that must happen) and can fairly easily charge 62+ miles overnight from 8pm to 7am.
. At least there's Level 2 chargers a few streets away at the city hall ($3.30/2hrs) that's only a 10 min walk.They seemed to think that the outlet in the garage could take 16 amps as long as there wasn't any other load but just to be safe we'll probably keep it at 12 amps because we're doing fine with 4mi/hr and 6mi/hr at college.
We only do 104 miles every other day (that must happen) and can fairly easily charge 62+ miles overnight from 8pm to 7am.
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Not uncommon from what I've seen and plenty of people who own EVs are in the same boat. I still hit superchargers when I'm out and about on longer drives and they're quick and easy... often times I need less than 10 minutes. If you're just tooling around town a charge will last for a long time.Well due to the complexity of the complex I live in, the electricians just left. The estimate is $2331 not counting 20 holes that will need drywall repair. Looks like we'll be charging from an outlet (at best 5 mi/hr) while we live here
They seemed to think that the outlet in the garage could take 16 amps as long as there wasn't any other load but just to be safe we'll probably keep it at 12 amps because we're doing fine with 4mi/hr and 6mi/hr at college.
We only do 104 miles every other day (that must happen) and can fairly easily charge 62+ miles overnight from 8pm to 7am.
quagmire
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16 minutes!?
We need a TLDR here.
Really good pair of winter tires is better than all seasons in the snow.
DT
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They push a stuck Hyundai, check out the beach, yeah, it's a lot of nothing, but at least well put together, and to be honest, I just enjoyed seeing people drifting around in the snow
It's just a time killer vs. a deep dive on much of anything beyond what @quagmire pointed out
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So in our second test drive today which I booked for Mrs AFB mostly, I decided to drive to work and back after I dropped her home. Really wanted to work the battery so drove there with the heated seats on (both) and the aircon on full. Lol. Half of me was freezing. The other half boiling.
Anyway I still had plenty left in the tank so to speak. In fact it hardly used as much as I’d have expected.
Anyway I still had plenty left in the tank so to speak. In fact it hardly used as much as I’d have expected.
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Something I enjoyed about Michigan sans the potholes...They push a stuck Hyundai, check out the beach, yeah, it's a lot of nothing, but at least well put together, and to be honest, I just enjoyed seeing people drifting around in the snow
It's just a time killer vs. a deep dive on much of anything beyond what @quagmire pointed out
DT
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Oh, this one time in PA we were up visiting, we had driven the 4Runner, and they had a massive snowstorm. I had a __blast__ driving around in the snow, basically kind of backroad/rural near my BIL's place, the 4Runner was pretty unstoppable, even without snow tires (it had some pretty meaty offroad designed rubber).
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Setting up to take this photo I was crawling around at idle speed and then curved the wheels as I was parking, I was barely even moving, just curving the wheels. The car screeched at me for "aggressive turning" and grabbed the wheel from me, scared the hell out of me because it was out of nowhere. It also dinged my driving score. Man you just have LOL out just how out of touch that big brother shit is in this car, they're not even close to getting it right.
Anyway, here's the photo that cost me points.
Anyway, here's the photo that cost me points.
