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Old 08-18-2018, 09:31 AM   #471
rumatt
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I haven't figured any of that out yet.

I'm skeptical of the taped-on license plate. If that stays on for 5 years then you remove it, will it really look OK? I don't see how it wouldn't leave a clear outline of where the plate was and look like shit. In which case it's no better than drilling. So I might get the to hook thingy. Then again I don't know that I care.

For power, I have to call an electrician. I have a 240 in-wall electric heater in the garage. I think this means they should be able to use that breaker and replace it with a 14-50 outlet. I'll ask them to put in a toggle so I can still use the heater when not charging the car.

You charged your S exclusively on 120? How many miles/hour did you get when charging? I'm hoping to get high enough that I can do the vast majority of my charging between midnight and 7am when my electricity is cheap. All in its about $0.09 / kwh during that time.

EDIT: It looks like my wall heater is on a breaker that is 60 amps. According to this table it means I can charge at 44 mph so I can do a full charge in 7 hours. But it's not compatible with a 14-50 outlet.

.

Last edited by rumatt; 08-18-2018 at 09:52 AM.
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Old 08-18-2018, 10:14 AM   #472
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That's exactly why I'm considering a different front plate mount. My Model S was built before they added the tow hook (it was added when they started selling in Europe…), so that wasn't an option for the S -- and I forgot about it on the Model 3. Besides being off center, which would drive me nuts, I'd be concerned about water getting in -- Tesla put the emergency frunk open wires in by the tow hook (you connect them to a 9V battery to pop the trunk in order to get to the 12V battery if it dies…). It may also block an autopilot sensor…

For your power, check the breaker on your heater first. If its a 50A breaker, you should have the correct wiring for a 14-50. If its a 30A breaker, you may need to go with a 14-30 outlet instead -- the wiring most likely isn't spec'd for the higher amperage. The heater may also only have 3 wires, so you may have to use either a 6-50 or 6-30 outlet (Tesla sells a 6-50 adapter, but not a 6-30, interesting…). But having a switch to use the heater at times makes sense...

Since moving to OH, I've been charging the S on 120V. Surprisingly, our utility doesn't even offer a Time of Use plan -- so there is no incentive to just charge at night (like I had in AZ). We pay 5.4 cents for power generation, and the all-in price including connection and all taxes is 10.6 cents per kWh. That's less than the winter off-peak rate we had in AZ (which was around 12 cents; on-peak summer was around 26 cents)…

The 120V 20A outlet in the garage adds 5.5 miles per hour on the Model S. Tesla says it should only give 4 for both the Model S and Model 3 -- but I think the Model 3 should get around 6-7. That's slow, but still enough to replace my commute overnight. I typically use 50-55 rated miles in the S for commuting (depending on route) -- so it takes 10 hours to replace. On the coldest days last winter, the car would use ~70 or so rated miles for the same commute -- and I had a few nights where I didn't replace all miles used. But it still replaced 90%+ and I never was at risk of running low.

I also have the advantage of having a Supercharger just off my commute (and about 15 min from my house -- its at the Tesla showroom/service center here). I've used it a couple of times when I forgot to plug in one night and needed to drive more than usual the next day. But then again, my Model S has the 60kWh battery -- and a 90% charge is now only 166 miles (the battery is showing about 10% degradation after 5 years -- my last 100% charge was only 186 miles vs 208 when new…). 90% on the Model 3 will be at least 110 miles more than I get on the S today -- so I doubt I'll need to hit the Supercharger for anything local (which is good -- since I'll have to pay for those supercharges)...
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Old 08-18-2018, 10:37 AM   #473
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Looking at my breaker box in the garage, I think they may have made the assumption that the heat and AC are never used at the same time. If I want to charge while running my air conditioner I might need to run another line all the way from the other side of the house, which would suck.

Time for an electrician.
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Old 08-18-2018, 12:34 PM   #474
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Goddamnit, I hadn't focused on the adapter issue. That's annoying.

At least it looks like they've got a good selection of them now. For a while there were a few that you couldn't get.

I'll need at least the 5-20 (for the circuit in my front yard, for when my driveway is snowed in) and the 14 or 10-30. Need to check which one; that's what I use at my sister in law's house.

One bummer about the Model 3 is that it will charge slower on my wall connecter than the Model S does. Mine has the old school dual chargers, so it can pull a full 80 amps from the wall, and my wall connector is on a 100 amp circuit.

I rarely need to use that kind of power, but there have been one or two occasions when coming back after a trip it's been nice to crank it up all the way.

My recommendation re: home charging is just to get a wall connector. It's worlds more convenient than what I used to do at home and what I still do at work, which is drag the UMC out of the trunk and plug into a 14-50.

Re: plates. I used 3M mounting tape for the bracket on my VW and so far it's still solid, after about 18 months. Running without a plate isn't an option for me, since parking enforcement in DC will give you a very thick and meaty ticket for that.

EDIT:

re: electrical stuff. I am far from an expert, and codes vary from state to state, but you may not be able to add a toggle between a heater and the 14-50 or wall connector. I asked my electrician if they could put a switch in, with a 14-50 in the front yard and a 14-50 in the back yard running on the same breaker, and the answer was no; the total load had to be counted regardless of whether there was a toggle that made it impossible to use both devices at the same time. As they say, YMMV.
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Old 08-18-2018, 01:18 PM   #475
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Quote:
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My recommendation re: home charging is just to get a wall connector. It's worlds more convenient than what I used to do at home and what I still do at work, which is drag the UMC out of the trunk and plug into a 14-50.
What about just a second mobile charger for $300 that stays in the garage?

Quote:
the answer was no; the total load had to be counted regardless of whether there was a toggle that made it impossible to use both devices at the same time.
Wow that's idiotic. Saying, "well I never use the heat and AC at the same time" is one thing. But a huge switch that makes it impossible is different. That's like saying you need to add up all the devices you might ever plug into an outlet over time, and be able to power them all at once.

And yeah that's kinda lame that the 3 actually charges slower than the S.

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Old 08-18-2018, 04:01 PM   #476
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Tesla dropped the dual charger option a couple years ago. Max charging on all their cars now is 48A. The older Model S had either 40A with a single charger (like mine) or 80A max L1 charging with a dual charger (like JST).

For the mobile connector, while both generations can connect to outlets up to 50A, the Gen 2 maxes out at 32A vs the 40A on Gen 1.

As for me, I've always just had the mobile connector. It stays in the garage (plugged in) unless we are heading out of town. I had planned to get a wall connector here in OH, but never got around to getting an electrician out for a quote -- and the 5-20 on 120V has worked just fine for nearly 15 months now...
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Old 08-18-2018, 08:16 PM   #477
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Apparently the model 3 is getting a "Track Mode" where you can mess with all kinds of settings just for fun.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/thre...erview.126105/

It's unclear which models are getting it. Some are saying it should be all Performance AWD models, but others are saying it could be just those who got the $5k Performance Upgrade Package (PUP) that had the bigger brakes.

I'm thinking of adding the PUP to mine, selling the 20's, and living with 19" wheels.
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Old 08-18-2018, 08:43 PM   #478
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I think you should do that. I suspect you will regret it if you don’t.
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Old 08-18-2018, 09:30 PM   #479
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Quote:
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I think you should do that. I suspect you will regret it if you don’t.
It's just the lack of ability to run 18's that's stopping me.

But here are the sidewall heights to compare:

E46: 225/45-17: 4"
Tesla 235/45-18: 4.2"
Tesla 235/40-19: 3.7"

I'm attempting to rationalize that 3.7 is close enough to the e46 that is basically the same. It's a larger diameter wheel too.
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Old 08-18-2018, 10:50 PM   #480
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I don’t think you’ll have trouble with 19s, though I am just pulling that out of my ass.
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