Talk about a Sloooow Charger

[ecotourist]

We're out of our house at the moment so I don't have access to our 220 Volt 32 Amp charger. [Renovations.] Staying at my daughter's and SIL's place while they're out of the country.

They have a 220 Volt 10 Amp charger that they use for their Leaf. It will charge our Tesla using the adapter that came with our Tesla Model 3 from their J1772 plug. But it takes forever to charge with this thing. A 10 mile trip takes close to 2 hours to charge.

If you actually drive your EV you need at least a 32 Amp 220 Volt charger (which is the maximum level 2 my Model 3 will accept). Just say "no" to a 10 Amp charger.

 

[Soft Cars]

Thanks for the info. I'll keep that in mind if I ever buy a Tesla.

 

[Torrid]

It sounds like you're using what's equivalent to 110v. The standard mobile charger does that on 110v.

 

[brianl703]

They have a 220 Volt 10 Amp charger that they use for their Leaf. It will charge our Tesla using the adapter that came with our Tesla Model 3 from their J1772 plug. But it takes forever to charge with this thing. A 10 mile trip takes close to 2 hours to charge.

Wow, how much juice does the Telsa guzzle? My Chevy Volt will gain about 8 miles of charge in 2 hours...on 120V @ 12A.

In fact I charge it at 120V@12A most of the time during the summer to reduce heat build up in my garage. Also schedule it to charge at night when temps are lower.

 

[Torrid]

Wow, how much juice does the Telsa guzzle? My Chevy Volt will gain about 8 miles of charge in 2 hours...on 120V @ 12A.

In fact I charge it at 120V@12A most of the time during the summer to reduce heat build up in my garage. Also schedule it to charge at night when temps are lower.

My Tesla does the same. I've seen as high as 5 miles an hour on 120v 12A. I'm not sure what's happening here.

 

[ecotourist]

I'm not sure what's happening here.

Me either. All I know is the charger is supposedly delivering 10 Amps and it is (apparently) 220 Volts. And it's taking forever.

Maybe it is only 110 Volts? That might be the explanation. What I do know is that the plug in for the charger is the same as what is commonly used here for an electric dryer.

If I actually go somewhere I'll have to go home in the evening (it's only a couple of miles away) to access my own charger. Our floor refinishing guy is using my charger outlet during the day. Seems he needs 220 Volts for his equipment too.

 

[CanAmAndMore]

If I ever go the ev route, i would just plug it into a normal 110 volt wall socket in the garage. It can sit there and slow charge. There are days when I don't drive my cars, like today. Today I drove a tractor, and ATV, but nothing for a car or pickup.

 

[Jetronic]

4.4 kwh (2 hours x 10A x 220V) for 10 miles is high, but maybe the AC is working hard in that drive?

if it's a round trip and you actually drove 20 miles, the consumption seems reasonable or even good depending on AC useage.

The charger is just slow. I don't think their Leaf charges any quicker, but maybe it uses a bit less charge or they drive it less?

 

[billt460]

I can't help but wonder how much longer the battery packs would last in these EV's, if they were slow charged? Instead of all this "Supercharging" they constantly talk about.

 

[spasm3]

Check the breakers, put a meter on it. Sounds like you are charging on one leg , meaning 110v.

 

[ecotourist]

I don't think their Leaf charges any quicker, but maybe it uses a bit less charge or they drive it less?

I don't think they drive very much. Both have work from home jobs, and for the days when they do go to work, their offices are very close (something like 2 miles and 8 miles respectively). When they drive, they almost always drive the Leaf.

I'll collect some better data when I drive and recharge later in the day. The Tesla has been sitting outside when we go home for the day so it might be using energy to keep itself cool. But it's in the shade for most of the day and it hasn't been very hot either.

 

[Torrid]

If I ever go the ev route, i would just plug it into a normal 110 volt wall socket in the garage. It can sit there and slow charge. There are days when I don't drive my cars, like today. Today I drove a tractor, and ATV, but nothing for a car or pickup.

That’s why we use 110v. That and it’s near impossible to get an electrician out to do any project that doesn’t make a meaningful amount of money. I need a couple more things to need done in order to entice them to come out apparently. The car does in town stuff 6 days a week. That 7th day may have a long enough trip to run the battery down by the time we get back, but plugging in a couple of 2-3 nights a week on 110v gets it done.

 

[billt460]

That’s why we use 110v. That and it’s near impossible to get an electrician out to do any project that doesn’t make a meaningful amount of money. I need a couple more things to need done in order to entice them to come out apparently. The car does in town stuff 6 days a week. That 7th day may have a long enough trip to run the battery down by the time we get back, but plugging in a couple of 2-3 nights a week on 110v gets it done.

This is what people need to think about who are buying an EV, and are thinking about charging at home. It's not that simple.... Or cheap. I had an electrician quote almost $1K to just run a 15 amp 120V line to my shed with a light and a switch. The power was just 2 feet away.

I can just imagine what they would charge to run substantial power, in order to be able to charge a battery depleted EV overnight. It's not going to be cheap. And that's assuming you have the power available to do it in the first place.

If you have to upgrade your service, it's going to be really expensive. And many people who live in older homes are going to have to do exactly that.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I paid a union electrician $600, all in including tip, to run #6 copper wire from the service panel to a NEMA 14-50 plug in the garage. The 60' of wire was like $200 alone, or something like that.

You absolutely have to know how you are gonna charge before considering an EV. You may even need a new service panel and that can run into the thousands.

 

[Torrid]

This is what people need to think about who are buying an EV, and are thinking about charging at home. It's not that simple.... Or cheap. I had an electrician quote almost $1K to just run a 15 amp 120V line to my shed with a light and a switch. The power was just 2 feet away.

I can just imagine what they would charge to run substantial power, in order to be able to charge a battery depleted EV overnight. It's not going to be cheap. And that's assuming you have the power available to do it in the first place.

If you have to upgrade your service, it's going to be really expensive. And many people who live in older homes are going to have to do exactly that.

That’s the thing. On a car that sees 5-6,000 miles a year it’s not a concern. The quote I got was less than $1k, they just won’t come out until it works for their schedule. I know it would have been worse if I didn’t have power in the garage. I have a substantial setup in the garage because the previous owner did a lot of work from the garage. I just don’t have a 220v outlet. I won’t consider a second EV until I have 220V in the garage. 90% of the time the current setup would be fine. I’m not willing to chance it for 10%. That’s not to say it wouldn’t be fine. It might, but it was never intended to be my daily so I’ve never had the situation where I can say for sure I wouldn’t make it where I needed to be and took the other car instead so I don’t have any real point of reference to say that would or wouldn’t be true.

 

[CanAmAndMore]

If I owned an EV, it would only go to town probably 3 days a week at most.
A round trip for me to town, a few stops, and back is about 90 to 140 kms on average. Some days I have to take my diesel pickup, because I have to drop off or pick up something large, and in winter because it snowed 30 inches and it often takes them 3 days to plow the road.
So for me 110 volt is not at all a problem at home, it's no rush.
Its those long road trips into remote areas that would be the problem.
Because of where I live, and where I drive, an EV would be a good 2nd or 3rd vehicle for me.
It will not be a primary mode of transportation, but honestly I can totally see a sporty EV car sitting in my garage someday. Not that my eyes have seen a Taycan in person, but from the pics and articles that I have seen on them, that would be a pretty sweet ride to park between the Boxster and Ram 3500. 110 volt charging it is just fine for 90% of the use it would get. Road trip time, it can stay home, and the other rides go.
That is until they get northern and central BC ev car friendly, which well may happen someday.

 

[CanAmAndMore]

That’s the thing. On a car that sees 5-6,000 miles a year it’s not a concern. The quote I got was less than $1k, they just won’t come out until it works for their schedule. I know it would have been worse if I didn’t have power in the garage. I have a substantial setup in the garage because the previous owner did a lot of work from the garage. I just don’t have a 220v outlet. I won’t consider a second EV until I have 220V in the garage. 90% of the time the current setup would be fine. I’m not willing to chance it for 10%. That’s not to say it wouldn’t be fine. It might, but it was never intended to be my daily so I’ve never had the situation where I can say for sure I wouldn’t make it where I needed to be and took the other car instead so I don’t have any real point of reference to say that would or wouldn’t be true.

So you really don't need anything more than 110 at home anyway.
You're actually in an ideal situation, with a couple of perfect cars for you.

 

[y_p_w]

Check the breakers, put a meter on it. Sounds like you are charging on one leg , meaning 110v.

Does a Leaf report the input voltage?

 

[Torrid]

If I owned an EV, it would only go to town probably 3 days a week at most.
A round trip for me to town, a few stops, and back is about 90 to 140 kms on average. Some days I have to take my diesel pickup, because I have to drop off or pick up something large, and in winter because it snowed 30 inches and it often takes them 3 days to plow the road.
So for me 110 volt is not at all a problem at home, it's no rush.
Its those long road trips into remote areas that would be the problem.
Because of where I live, and where I drive, an EV would be a good 2nd or 3rd vehicle for me.
It will not be a primary mode of transportation, but honestly I can totally see a sporty EV car sitting in my garage someday. Not that my eyes have seen a Taycan in person, but from the pics and articles that I have seen on them, that would be a pretty sweet ride to park between the Boxster and Ram 3500. 110 volt charging it is just fine for 90% of the use it would get. Road trip time, it can stay home, and the other rides go.
That is until they get northern and central BC ev car friendly, which well may happen someday.

That's what I found so interesting going to an EV. I never really drove my wife's vehicle before she had an EV. Now I'd rather use it than short trip my other car. We do live right in town though so a 2 miles trip to the store doesn't take much time. We also take longer family trips on a regular basis than we used to considering her Ford Edge cost 5-8x as much to power than the Model 3. It does have a bit more initial cost, but daily use has already more than cancelled out what that Edge was costing per month and we drive it twice the mileage we drove the Edge.

 

[Torrid]

So you really don't need anything more than 110 at home anyway.
You're actually in an ideal situation, with a couple of perfect cars for you.

Exactly. Right now it's perfect for our setup. I do want to go EV as well eventually, but it would take a lot more to financially cancel out a car that gets more than 35mpg. Plus I love my current car so I'm not in a hurry to do this. 220v though will have to happen before that happens to be safe.