5. How Your Tesla Charges

"Your Battery According to Tesla" Series:
-Introduction to Series:
• Your Battery According...
-What Range Really Means:
• 1. What Range Really M...
-Battery Range Fluctuations & Degradation:
• 2. Tesla Battery Range...
-How to Get the Best Range:
• 3. How to get the Best...
-Tesla Best Charging Habits:
• 4. Tesla Best Charging...
-How Your Tesla Charges:
• 5. How Your Tesla Charges
-Phantom Drain:
• 6. Your Battery Accord...
Contact me on Twitter: @guy_frugal
Contact me on Instagram: Frugal Tesla Guy
Referral Code: ts.la/mike87152​

[@bradbeck77]

I installed the Gen 3 Tesla wall connector in my garage on a 60amp circuit and 48amp at the connector. With that setup, I’m actually getting 46 miles of charge an hour. So higher than the “up to 44 miles” noted from their site. Very happy with this set up and the experience of it to date.

[@H.H.PennyPacker]

And to be sure this rate doesn’t qualify as supercharging right? I thought it heats up your engine more than usual

[@bradbeck77]

@@H.H.PennyPacker correct, this would be a level 2 charge and the best option for charging your Tesla at home. It isn’t supercharging.

[@johnpoldo8817]

I’m jealous as that’s an outstanding charge rate at home. Your voltage must on the high side and close to 248v - nice !

[@Akira282]

I'm using a 14-50 outlet. I decided on this just for flexibility with other EVs in case I ever wanted to go with another manufacturer.

[@MrRb13]

It says 3 mph charging for my model 3 but i am getting 6 miles/h. Go figure

[@designdisorder]

As usual very good content, but one small correction re. the charging levels: other than the common believe, there is no level 3 charging. SAE J1772 defines 2 levels for AC and DC each. AC level 1 and level 2 are defined as you described, DC level 1 is upto 50 kW max and DC level 2 is everything above. Not a big deal, but you usually want to be precise :)

[@michellewojciechowski4690]

These are great videos - thank you!

[@wardsworldwelcometoit5728]

Great content, keep it coming! 👍🏼👍🏼

[@johnpoldo8817]

Excellent tutorial on EV charging !

[@moknowsphotos2012]

Good Job FTG. I had our 30 amp dryer plug moved through the wall to the garage. Got the 10-30 adapter from Tesla. Rather than running the cord on the floor, I bought a 10 ft. "welders extension cord" and ran it up to the garage rafters and dropped down near the charger on my car and put in a bike hanger hook to hang the cord on when not in use. The 22 mph charge has been sufficient for the 10 months we have had a 3 SR+. Of course, we use Superchargers on trips. You might want to tell viewers of the different powers of superchargers and how to tell ahead of time which to select if more than one is convenient.

[@laloajuria4678]

1:26 pet peeve: home voltage delivered in the US is 240V split phase. Yes ppl use 110/115 whatever, but its a 120V outlet.

[@johnpoldo8817]

When a kid building transistor radios, I remember measuring line voltage at 110 volts. Sometimes it sagged to 105v and the vacuum tube color TV got dim. All of a sudden, one day, line voltage increased to 118v.

[@incognitotorpedo42]

@@johnpoldo8817 Last time I checked, I was getting 247 volts between the two phases at my house.

[@johnpoldo8817]

@@incognitotorpedo42 Yes, L1 to L2 voltage is a nominal 240v and yours is a bit high at 247. Consider accuracy factor on voltmeter that may be 1% + 1 count. L1 or L2 to common or ground is half your reading or 123.5v to supply your duplex outlets. It’s not uncommon to get a 3-4v drop from circuit breaker panel through EVSE to vehicle. I use a ChargePoint EVSE at a Boston apartment that’s so poorly wired that nominal 209v drops down to 194v at 32a and vehicle thinks it’s a “bad extension cord.”

[@jeffbransky6499]

@@johnpoldo8817 The actual voltage delivered to your house will vary depending on the load in your neighborhood and/or your neighbor’s usage if you share a step down transformer. It can also vary because of the load in your house like if AC, electric oven, electric dryer etc. are all in use at the same time.

[@johnpoldo8817]

@@jeffbransky6499 Yup, agree 100%. I was fortunate to have a personal step down transformer for my house when charging at home. The home has 400A service and voltage varies very little.

[@bryanmerton5153]

Awesome! Thanks

[@KurtSandersSr]

Great educational video. I expect many Tesla owners and soon to purchase are depending on a typical household charger for their daily needs. They should do the math to determine if this low voltage will replace their daily drive mileage or do they hope to use a super charger or weekend long charge duration (without car driving) to catch up...

[@timz7548]

One item to also mention with the SR+ models (all models really) is that Supercharging rates have top-end limits that can be different from other models. When Model3 SR+ was limited to 100kW charge rate, it was one of the factors that made me choose the LR AWD which could charge at up to 250kW on a capable charger. The SR+ limit has since been raised to 170-180, so it's not really much of a factor anymore.

[@jfgad]

Great video! In had to figure out myself that the sr+ was limited to 32 amp with a 40 breaker. I was about to put a 60 breaker in my box. I finished the installation of my v3 wall connector this afternoon. I’m taking delivery of my model 3 next monday !

[@AlanDayley]

Exciting days of waiting!

[@jfgad]

@@AlanDayley Today i have to take care of my trade in. I need to empty it and a quick clean... but Saturday and Sunday are going to be long ! I'll probably spend the week-end watching tesla related videos !

[@TheNewAccount2008]

Nice video, as always, but I am confused now... (And I did think that I know a thing or two about charging...) Here in Europe we use 16A and 32A breakers in our systems, which gives us 3.6 KW of charging speed on 220V or 11 KW of charging on a three-phase "400V" 16A breaker, or 22 KW on a 32A breaker. What exactly can my Tesla now do with those charges? I know that I can easily get the 3,6 in L1 out, and 11 in L2, but does the car also handle more than that? (I did hear a rumour that the S can charge with 16KW in L2, modern cars normally do 22KW by now.)

[@olivierlaurent1079]

hello thank you for your video. I am happy owner of a model 3. Is it a good practice to recharge slowly when I have time to recharge, for example recharge at 1kw instead of 7kw (I can set the amperage of my box and therefore increase or decrease the kw)? Thanks for your feedback Olivier

[@joshane2058]

thanks for sharing installed 240V individually wired and found local "new" tesla charging that is the faster version, is just a matter of what I want to pay!

[@MickyELee]

The next question: How do the various charging options effect the long-term live of the batteries?

[@FrugalTeslaGuy]

That is a very good question and upon further analysis and thought, from what I understand using a regular 110/120 household outlet (aka trickle charging) is less efficient and defeats the purpose. However, if you use a 220 volt outlet and lower the voltage going into your car from the charging screen it will be more efficient. According to the Tesla website I would be lead to believe that slower charging is better for the battery but they don't say that outright. I personally will be charging at slower rates if I have the time if that adds any value.

[@discovery_one8454]

Very well explained video. I do have one question / remark. I drive a 2019 SR+ and I can charge up to 11 kW at home (Europe) while the video says only 7.7 kW. Has this been changed or is this different in US vs Europe?

[@FrugalTeslaGuy]

Interesting. According to the website it should only be 7.7 kW. Maybe they upgraded that or like you say, it may be different in different countries.

[@discovery_one8454]

@@FrugalTeslaGuy I just checked the website and on the US site you see the charging differences, while in Europe they say 11kW for all model 3 models. Strange they make this difference.

[@JF743]

thanks, I thought the mobile connector with a 240v outlet would charge at the same speed as a wall connector.

[@thomasjacques5286]

Did Tesla quietly tweak AC charging? Since new (July 28th) I have been charging my 2020 Y on a Clipper Creek HCS-50P plugged into a NEMA 14-50 outlet with a 50 amp breaker using the J1772 adapter. That would get me 40 amps of juice between 34 and 35 mph. Usually a rock-solid 35 mph. But lately, I'm now seeing 38 to 39 mph and usually locks in at 39 mph all else remaining the same. I see those numbers on the car's screen and my phone app.

[@FrugalTeslaGuy]

They must have.

[@michaelsmithers4900]

Would it be possible either theoretically or actually to charge with dc from a solar panel, wind turbine, etc to skip the conversion loses assoc. with converting to ac and back to dc in the car?

[@GregHassler]

Both theoretically and practically, yes, though you still need DC-DC conversion to get proper voltage, and battery storage would help smooth out the power delivery as well.

[@johnpoldo8817]

Sure, several people do that now. See YT channel Daerik from Colorado. They have solar panels on roof, Tesla power wall, and charge at least 3 Tesla’s.

[@GregHassler]

@@johnpoldo8817 Daerik doesn't do what he's talking about. He means skipping DC-AC / AC-DC conversion, keeping it DC straight from solar to battery. Tesla’s Powerwall system definitely does not do that.

[@johnpoldo8817]

@@GregHassler Oh, I miss-understood question. I thought everyone knew you can’t do it without conversion.

[@GregHassler]

@@johnpoldo8817 it's possible, with DC-DC voltage conversion but would be highly customized.

[@ussyicheng1224]

The max range on my December 2018 Model 3 LR AWD is 286 with only 9800 miles on it. Do you think I should call tesla about it? Losing 7.7% from 310 miles seems excessive for

[@oddvice57]

A call never hurts... but also look at the battery guarantee (usually 8 years or 100K miles which ever comes first) you maybe be able to look forward to a new battery in the future, free of charge

[@ussyicheng1224]

@@oddvice57 Oh god, I just called Tesla and I had to argue with the dude who picked up the phone because he kept trying to tell me the displayed range changes with driving patterns. But it literally says on the website "Displayed range in your Tesla is adapted based on fixed EPA test data, not your personal driving patterns." I made an appointment... we'll see what happens lmao

[@aussie2uGA]

I have the same car, 64k on it now, and show about 278mi of range at 100%. Most of the degradation happens immediately so don't sweat it too much. Try to adhere to the 80/20 charging max/min for most of your usage and you'll minimize it even more.

[@Ask-Ali]

I made an appointment for this. It doesn’t do anything. The car’s range fluctuates due to how the BMS calculates range. It’s an algorithm (and correct it’s not based on your driving patterns). Also majority of the degradation is in the first two years. It’s not worth the stress. Just put it on percent and forget about it or don’t be bothered by the miles changing up.

[@robertgamble7497]

My Tesla also charges via a credit card.😜

[@pbertf24]

I Noticed that when I put a Tesla supercharger address on a navigation system it start preconditioning the battery to maximize the supercharge .

[@zxnuc]

If I’m not in a hurry to charge overnight. Is it better to plug in to level 1 or level 2. And do you really need to unplug it after it’s done charging I don’t want to wake up early and unplug it

[@mikeinco]

My experience is that level 1 is less efficient than level 2 at my home. Level 1 is about 86% efficient. Level 2 is about 98% efficient. An earlier video in this series said to keep your Tesla plugged in when possible. The easiest method to get your battery to your desired charge level at the time of departure is to use the scheduled charge option. It doesn’t need to be exact. If you plan to leave your charge location at a particular time, your car will charge as necessary to get to the level you desire before that departure time.

[@johnpoldo8817]

Believe I read in Tesla manual, “a happy Tesla is a plugged-in Tesla”. While away from my car for 2 months, it was plugged in and charged to 70%. Phantom battery drain causes charger to activate periodically to maintain your charge setting. There is no need to wake up early to unplug vehicle.

[@Ask-Ali]

Do level 2. There’s no advantage to making it slower. Anyone who tells you otherwise is overthinking. Do as fast as possible that’s not supercharging. And no you don’t need to unplug it. It’s like your phone. Nothing will happen if it stays plugged in.

[@dorvinion]

With Tesla battery packs being such high capacity, even at their fastest, level 2 chargers are really gentle on the battery. We always have ours charging at the peak the vehicle is capable of (11.5kW/48A). The only reason to use level 1 is if you have no other alternative.

[@sriharshatc1097]

4:31 So basically, if you own an SR or SR+ model it doesn't make sense to get a wall connector, because the car won't be able to charge at the higher rates anyways?

[@paulguinto5150]

That’s exactly what my Tesla electrician said when he installed mine. He said he tries to deter people from buying the $500 wall charger if they only own the 3 or the Y. For S and X owners, yes on the wall chargers. But if you have multiple Tesla’s, then you will need the wall charger because it will regulate your charges between the cars at the same time.

[@christophermurphy1337]

How fast can someone with a unicorn Mid-Range Model 3 on level 2?

[@OrganicStuff1]

I'm stuck on a 110v renting :(

[@jtkrpm1]

Gas tank. Fill to top in a few minutes. Will not get smaller if you fill it wrong, will not get smaller ever.

[@starpawsy]

Meanwhile Hertz and Sixt are dumping all of their Teslas. How will the wider market react?

[@GregHassler]

"Level 3" isn't a real thing, stick with "DC Fast Charging", or Mode 4 if you must.