Lvl. 1 Charging in Winter... Will My Tesla Survive?

In this video, I set to answer the age old questions which Socrates and his disciples have pondered many years ago: is level 1 charging enough to get an EV through the winter?
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[@david100483]

So glad to have a level 2 charger in my garage, my garage is not heated but it stays above freezing in the coldest temps.

[@teslaaddict]

The ideal situation! Nice :)

[@pauld6967]

Ditto. One of the criteria when I was house shopping was that it had to have a garage with electricity so I could put in my level 2 unit.

[@david100483]

@@pauld6967 I was lucky there was an unused 30amp dryer outlet, that’s what I use for the car. I have a friend who lives in a multi family building and isn’t allowed to install an outlet in garage for his electric BMW. He fast charges once a week and gets by ok. He also doesn’t drive to work everyday, that’s probably why lol

[@pauld6967]

@@david100483 I had an electrician run a new line to the garage with its own circuit breaker box. I want to build a workshop area and figured that was the best route to take.

[@yzhan225]

Level one charging works best in my opinion if you follow ABCs: Always be charging. Plug in your level one wherever you can. Take advantage that its the most slowest charging but the most mobile of them all. I plug in at my workplace and when I visit family.

[@chrismd00]

50 Bucks you can get a long RV extension cord to reach dryer/ range outlets. At -36 C visiting this weekend car was unable to charge at all as not enough power to heat battery on 12 amps

[@Egleu1]

So you're going to take over your friends range outlet and make them keep a door propped open?

[@DblOSmith]

When I first got my M3, I parked outside in my apartment and ran an extension cord. I may have had to top off at a SC every other week or when I had to go somewhere, but... eh, it worked. Gained about 1.3% per hour. It would have been perfectly fine with even 4 kW charger, and I'd never visit a local SC if I was under "always be charging".

[@michaelwitkiewicz7052]

There was no reason to not charge all day on your day off. Anyone forced into your charging “model” lives all seven days with the situation and they’re fools if they don’t stay plugged in every chance you have. There are always unplanned needs for the car and any rational person would be plugged in.

[@teslaaddict]

I agree! The goal of this video was testing out "worst case" situations and see if it was still possible. Of course it makes more sense to plug in when you can

[@PigHumanoid]

Why is bro so pressed about charging a car battery 😂

[@Doge8537]

Yeah, dude take a chill pill

[@mlevesque33]

I did it for 2 years. My car survived but it's super slow on level 1.

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for sharing Martin! Glad to hear you had a similar experience. Level 1 charging isn't glamorous but it can get the job done :)

[@mlevesque33]

@@teslaaddict Yep. It's really bad when it's cold (-15°C or lower), the electricity going in is just for heating up the battery.

[@dennisschlieckau8723]

I lived with L1 Nema 5-20 home charging for the first 2.5 years of my M3p ownership. No issues what so ever for our use case. The car was always plugged in regardless of SOC. Then I added a Nema 6-50 outlet for maximum UMC charging. That said, I just installed the New Universal Wall Connector for Maximum home charging and future proofing. It’s nice having the dual plug option built in because we also have a 2013 Volt with J1772 plug. 1 L2 until to serve both our vehicles charging needs.

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for sharing your experience Dennis!

[@littlesaigondulichsinhhoat6317]

best video about real daily home charging, a lot of time spent , well made thanks subscribed

[@PraiseYAyoupeople]

I always tell people if you don't have a plug home don't buy EV yet.

[@teslaaddict]

I agree; there is also the possibility of charging at work which is what I have done for the past ~3 years before installing this plug. If I wasn't able to charge at home AND at work, I wouldn't own an EV quite yet! Thanks for watching :)

[@sasukesuite1]

I use a L1 charger in freezing temperatures every day in the place I rent. I get about 12% overnight which is more than enough for my commute during the week. I might go to a supercharger once a month if I go to a really far car meet, but I usually have at least 60% when I wake up every morning, which is better for the battery than keeping it at 90%

[@pagla07]

This was awesome and help… but it somewhat shattered my desire to get a model 3

[@Kareem-cx4fi]

That was a pretty good test. I was curious how people with outdoor and level one charging get by.. looks like if you commute is short enough it can work.

[@treyatl2006]

It would have been more realistic to leave the car plugged in all day/night on your days off.

[@pauld6967]

So, roughly 20 miles each way. Man, it would be nice to have a commute that short. Anyway, good video. Thanks for helping fight back against the Chicago Freeze Panic propaganda.

[@teslaaddict]

haha my pleasure! Yeah saw the Chicago incident the other day... easy to jump on the bandwagon and jump to conclusions without ownership or experience of EVs. Sigh.

[@jamesphillips2285]

Looks like your commute is a little long to rely on L1 charging. Tesla installing massive batteries to alleviate range anxiety seems to help by buffering for several days.

[@zhaozhihao4802]

I just got my 2024 model 3 last week and i live in Saskatchewan... i was so nervous about not having 240V home charger in the winter but i guess i will be fine by just using Lv 1 charging ?

[@williamthesling1201]

nice informational video... 2018 TM3 has no heat pump, sooo.... really worst case! I still recommend you put in at least a NEMA 6-20 outlet!

[@teslaaddict]

Indeed! :) And I do have a 6-20 that I typically use, will likely make a video going over that "hidden gem"... people either think 5-15 or 14-40 are the only options!

[@ThePuffy]

Cool video. BTW, you look like Justin Herbert of the L.A. Chargers.

[@samjam6989]

When charging outside you dont have any rat problems?? I heard rats love Tesla duento warm battery especially in winters

[@teslaaddict]

Knock on wood, but not in my experience! I have heard that though yep.

[@Digikidthevoiceofreason]

An excellent video, and from a fellow Ontarian. This winter has been incredibly mild compared to most. I do not own a Tesla I do own a BoltEV and I can conclude these findings.

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for sharing! I owned a 2019 Bolt before the Model 3... I do miss that car dearly. Still stand by this: Bolt is the "best bang for your buck" EV out there :) Incredibly mild winter so far - luckily the test was during the coldest week but we're right back to positive temps... ugh.

[@pauld6967]

I would suggest a Situation 7: all of 6 plus open air parking at the office (no real protection from the wind and cold) with Level 1 available. So 8 hours of charging at the office. That is my situation. 🙂 Of course, one big difference for me, the round trip from the new house is 120 miles (200 kilometers).

[@teslaaddict]

Yes!! Charging at work is a huge added bonus - glad to hear you're benefitting from that :) Perhaps I didn't go into great detail in the video; but that is my actual daily reality too. I charge for free at work (Level 2) 99% of the time and just use my home Level 1 the odd time. Thanks for watching! :)

[@pauld6967]

@@teslaaddict You're welcome.

[@guillaumegiroux9425]

Thanks for your video. As a fellow Canadian (Québec City), I dearly wanted such a video. I have my Tesla on a 110v/15amps outlet and I accumulate more charge than I consume. It is a big deal to be able to fully function with so little charging capacity.

[@teslaaddict]

@@guillaumegiroux9425 thanks for watching and sharing your experience :)

[@nightsurfer1]

I own a Model 3 LR for two years now. I park outside 100% and really on 100% level 1 (120Vac) charging. I charge daily and wake with m 80% (my set limit) everyday, which is around 270 miles range give or take a few. For about a week, my area was down in the low teens and single digits fahrenheit (-10 to -15 Celsius), and it charged up fine. Btw, a Tesla battery specialist said to trickle charge it daily like how I do it is the best my of charging...👍

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for sharing! ABC... "Always Be Charging" :)

[@goliverg1855]

I think this is a problem for only for North America, since all of Europe is on 230v AC instead of 120v for NA. You can easily get 3kw charging speed on a normal outlet in Europe.

[@mowcowbell]

North America has 240v available, just need a NEMA 14-50 outlet or have the evse hard wired to the circuit breaker panel. My circuit breaker panel is 200amps, allowing up to 7.7kw charging speed on the NEMA 14-50 outlet in my climate-controlled garage.

[@NatteDweil]

@@mowcowbell Their argument was that it's easier in non-US countries because you can get better charging speeds from a NORMAL outlet. You can of course install a better outlet in any country, but that wasn't the point. It's about what you can get without any additional invesment.

[@justsomeguy934]

Excellent real-world test, even more conservative than I would make it. The day you took the train could've charged your car if you commuted to the train station. Well done.

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for the kind words - that was the plan, to replicate a 9-5 but also trying to make it as hard as possible... and it was still fine :)

[@tdsora]

thanks this was very helpful for a prospective buyer

[@MarkShaw-g6x]

Would your trip (or a shorter one) in a RWD still work? Can you do a test for this trim? Pleeeease 😅

[@teslaaddict]

@@MarkShaw-g6x By RWD I assume you mean the smaller battery? My car is a (Long Range) RWD. Quite frankly, because my car is a first generation non heat-pump, I’m sure the results would be pretty close with the newest LFP short range RWD

[@bryanthornburg8636]

would be interesting to see how a newer model 3 with a heatpump would fair in this exact test.

[@teslaaddict]

It would! Unfortunately this is the only car I own at the moment... so kinda limited to this one haha

[@anad44]

This is why I live in Florida.🥶

[@teslaaddict]

Jealous!! haha

[@W1mp1am]

I have an EV in a colder climate than yours. I'm capped at lvl 1 charging in an unheated garage with temps as low as -40C/F. Fortunately i have occasional access to lvl2 outdoor charging at work, as well as a lone lvl3 charger in an isolated little town. Doing my best to prepare for winter. I have a super short commute but im more concerned as to whether lvl 1 charging will be able to prevent power drain overnight in these temps.

[@nesparas1176]

Why not do a challenge as if you are living in a condo/apartment without a charger to plug into at night.

[@teslaaddict]

I did that this past week! Video should drop on Tuesday or so. Be sure to subscribe :)

[@sidzhottake]

very cool and insightful video thank you!

[@Smart.Potato]

You can try preconditioning your Tesla when you travel from work to home. Maybe that could get a bit charge.

[@joepasquale4877]

I own a Chevy Bolt EV that is parked outside of my garage all of the time. I have L1 and L2 EVSEs just inside of the garage and within reach of my EV. Bolt has the capability of being set for delay charging to a set completion time. On a cold winter night, I will set delayed charging to 7am. That way charging will begin sometime in early evening and continue through the coldest part of the night to 7am. As you know, charging also keeps the battery warm. In addition, I often use the L1 EVSE because, while slower, it charges and adds heat for a longer period of time. In the morning, I’ll remote start the car to precondition before unplugging the EVSE and driving away...

[@teslaaddict]

thanks for sharing your experience Joe! I used to have a 2019 Bolt EV LT... fantastic car

[@mowcowbell]

I have Scenario 7 +. Indoor garage with level 2, no winter temps below 32F, 20 mile round trip commute and climate controlled garage. :)

[@MrFastFox666]

I'm not sure how you arrived at the conclusion that you can rely on L1 charging. You started the test at like 80% and slowly lost more charge than you gained. Had you continued the test you would've been stranded at one point. I do believe L1 charging has a place in the world, but this situation isn't it.

[@teslaaddict]

It's a great observation and one I thought long and hard about. In my specific case (being off on Thursdays and Sundays) I really only need to have enough range for Monday-Wednesday and Friday-Saturday as I could in theory charge all day on Thursday and Sunday. In this video I elected not to do so, to try and make it harder for me and see how low I can get my state of charge. I can see this being more of a problem for people with a much longer commute than my ~65km (~40 miles) and/or live in much colder climates and/or have a traditional Monday-Friday 9-5 schedule as, like you say, the Level 1 charge overnight does not cover the entire commute; only a portion of it. It's a net negative. For folks in this situation Level 2 home charging would be more than enough, and if that's not possible, perhaps a quick Level 3 DC Fast Charge in the middle of the week would be warranted, so they can make it to the weekend where the car can fully charge over the weekend! This was an experiment as I charge for free at work (Level 2) 99% of the time and just use my home Level 1 the odd time. Thanks for watching! :)

[@NorwayChallenge]

Glad our houses have 240V or 400V here. 120V sounds very difficult to live with.

[@jamesphillips2285]

Our houses have 240V as well (split single phase with a common neutral; both "hot" legs are less than 150V from ground). L2 charge ports are just not common yet. Just about every detached house will have a few Nema 5-15 receptacles (120V, 15A peak, 12A continuous).

[@sojournern]

I believe Socrates would agree.

[@teslaaddict]

Haha! Glad you caught that :)

[@thomasjacques5286]

Awesome video, but I still contend if you buy a BEV and live in a COLD climate you really need to invest in a 240V electric connection. 32amps (or higher, I get 48 with my Gen 3 WC) really takes the worry out of EV ownership in the winter. Just think how nice it would be to wake every morning to 80% and a fully conditioned cabin and battery. Here in Illinois, I had no issues operating our 2022 MYP in -5F temps (-20C) for the three days of an arctic blast last month.

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for sharing! And I wholeheartedly agree. A bonus would be charging at work too... Hope you're enjoying your MYP!

[@MarkShaw-g6x]

Thank you so much for this video. I’m in the market for an EV, and THIS is exactly what my brain is trying to figure out because your scenario is what I’ll be dealing with. So thank you!

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for your kinds words, glad this helped! Come on by, we'll make sure your first EV purchasing experience is a memorable and enjoyable one :)

[@Contradel]

Fun test and good video, thanks! Didn't understand the table you had in the beginning, do you want to matrix Parking type (Indoor/Outdoor) for example as rows and vs Charge category (no-home-charger, level 1, level 2) as columns? Personally, I found that the cost of getting a Level 2 charger box and professional installation at my home was less than 2% of the cost of my new Model Y RWD. This seemed very reasonable, especially when considering the total cost of the vehicle. I'm curious to hear from others, especially from other countries: What's been your experience with the cost of installing Level 2 charging at home compared to the price of your electric vehicle? Also, for those who chose Level 1 charging, what were your main considerations?

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for watching and commenting! Perhaps the matrix could have been slightly more presentable - I don't disagree :) The HUGE variable is if someone needs to upgrade their panel to make room for a Level 2... but if not, as you say, it's pretty inexpensive all things considered! Would certainly love to see a chain of comments form other people's experience

[@charliediaz5018]

Appreciate the video I've been charging in New York City with level one charging. Thankfully I own a home. However, I am definitely going to get a level two this spring. I did find myself having to depend seldomly on a supercharger, however, will definitely benefit the fam

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for sharing your experience Charlie! Level 2 home charging will be a game changer... waking up with a full battery (or 80% - 90%, whatever you set yours to) really helps the peace of mind haha

[@Floridos]

Works for the majority of people but good luck to the people with a GM battery with 212 kWh usable battery😆

[@teslaaddict]

Haha true!

[@Zhaiv]

How much did it cost to charge at home on a lvl 1 charger ?

[@teslaaddict]

Great question! Although I don't have an exact figure it wouldn't have been more than a few dollars. Charging during off peak hours using 110v is so minimal. I'd be surprised if my week took more than ~5$. For reference, my parents who charge on 240v typically spend ~25$ on a monthly basis.

[@rgs857]

I have an Outback, but I am contemplating going electric and buying an EV(Tesla Model Y long range). For me its only a 22 km round trip to work and back. I can also charge in the parking lot at work if I wish. However I'm from Sask where temperatures regularly dip to the -20s during the cold winder months(Sometimes -30 and for days at a time). Do you think I could get by on a level one charger despite these extreme temps? My SUV is always parked outside as I live in a townhouse complex.

[@teslaaddict]

Great questions thanks for asking! Might be hard to rely on it.. are you near a Supercharger? Maybe would require 1x stop a week as a backup... I haven't had experience in those extreme temps

[@rgs857]

Yes, there’s a level 3 charging station on my way home, and it’s quite often empty, especially in summer.

[@Bob_Sacamano]

idk if i missed it but did you say how many kwh you put back in each night or was it percentage of battery only? that way we could see cost if you tell us electrical rates as well.

[@teslaaddict]

Hey Bob, great question and I should have perhaps included that information... I was just going about it semi-lackadaisical. Didn't want to go too deep with numbers as my impression is that the general public won't look much into those numbers, they just care what their range / SoC is! I'm no Bjorn Nyland or Kyle Connor haha

[@barackblows1942]

FEVs and FJB.🥶🔥🖕🇨🇳

[@WinstonsGarage]

Do you work at Tesla?

[@teslaaddict]

I work at Shift Electric Vehicles - Canada's largest used EV dealership specializing in Teslas :)

[@Asdosie]

excellent video, helped me alot. Thanks alot!!

[@teslaaddict]

My pleasure! Thanks for watching

[@B0jangle5]

Why would anyone only have level 1 charger? Just buy a proper car charger.

[@andreknudsne7648]

yea.. it cost nothing to install whatsoever

[@teslaaddict]

Great question - Although I can't speak for everyone, in my case I didn't have room on my panel for anything more than 16amps and upgrading the panel would have cost several thousands of dollars. I mainly charge at work, so I installed the socket on the side of the house just as a back up and actually rarely use it (most I've ever used it was to film this vid lol!)

[@surfntrucks]

Hey Tesla Addict. Can you do another test as if you don’t have a charger at home. So you would have to charge at a Supercharger then drive home and leave it unplugged. 5 day work week and 2 days off. This is the scenario for most Americans.

[@teslaaddict]

I could look into doing that! Be sure to subscribe for future videos :)

[@surfntrucks]

@@teslaaddict Make the video and I'll subscribe.

[@teslaaddict]

@@surfntrucks Deal! I'll try to have the video up by Tuesday/Wednesday next week. Stay tuned

[@barryw9473]

Thanks. You have LFP pack? How long does battery warming take when you leave car out in cold and unplugged for two or three days as compared to a work day?

[@teslaaddict]

Great question! My car is pre LFP. I have not timed how long it would take to warm the battery up after leaving the car unplugged for a couple days as I typically plug my car in every 1-2 days as I need to drive it everyday. The longest it has sat without being driven since I've owned it was probably 5 days but that was in the summer.... great idea for a future video :)

[@MCP647]

"Absolutely possible to rely on level 1 charging" seems pretty misleading to me. Your charge was trending downward each day, so sustaining this for another week likely would not have been possible. There was no room for any unplanned travel without hitting a public charging station. I've had a PHEV for almost a year now and even with that I found that L1 charging was not sufficient.

[@quantumslip]

key word is possible, and of course he laid out all the caveats. so of course it is absolutely possible, but it doesn't mean that it is possible for all. I would be interested to see this test repeated with a 5-20 outlet as well. I think that extra 4 amps could make a huge difference in corner cases as well, and might be more of a viable option for some vs trying to go full L2 charging.

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for watching and commenting! Of course I can see this being more of a problem for people with a much longer commute than my ~65km (~40 miles) and/or live in much colder climates and/or have a traditional Monday-Friday 9-5 schedule as, like you say, the Level 1 charge overnight does not cover the entire commute; only a portion of it. It's a net negative. For folks in this situation Level 2 home charging would be more than enough, and if that's not possible, perhaps a quick Level 3 DC Fast Charge in the middle of the week would be warranted, so they can make it to the weekend where the car can fully charge over the weekend! For me in this specific experimental case for the purpose of this video, I elected not to charge on my days off (Thursday-Sunday) to try and make it harder for me and see how low I can get my state of charge; which the car still passed the test with flying colours... is how I look at it at least :)

[@jamesphillips2285]

@@quantumslip The 5-20 outlet is only rated for an extra 3 amps after derating for continuous operation. 5-15: 12 amps continuous. 5-20: 15 amps continuous.

[@marclemieux8269]

​@jamesphillips2285 The NEMA 5-20 can actually charge safely at 16 amps, which is 80% of 20 amps. Over a 12-hour period, it can charge your EV at up to 6 to 7 mph, thereby giving you up to 84 miles of range oversight. Not bad!

[@LostFart]

My 2022 Tesla Model 3 LR will not charge below -24c with the mobile charger at 120v with 70ft extension cord, parked outside. It does however keep the batter warmer than it would without being plugged in. At -15c, I get the same charge rate as I do in summer. That's all the data I've bothered to record lol. When it was -40c two weeks ago, I would lose 3-5% overnight while plugged in. I should have tested to see what my batter temps were while plugged in VS not plugged in.

[@teslaaddict]

Thanks for this insight!! This is what I was hoping to see during this video (loss of range overnight, or at the very least stable SoC) but it wasn't cold enough and charged just fine lol I couldn't imagine relying on 120v in some place like Alaska-Yukon... definitely need indoor parking and 240v to make life easier!

[@LostFart]

​@@teslaaddictYeah right on point. Yeah sadly, owning a Tesla in Alaska would not be the most fun haha. Or would it? 🤔