32A 240V charging will probably fill the Model Y LR 80kWh battery in about 11 hours, while 40A 240V charging will probably fill it in about 9 hours, if your car starts empty and you need 100% charge for a long trip the next day (though if you run low on a trip, the Superchargers should be reasonably fast to add more at).
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You raise a fair point: we’ve had the Tesla for a few months now, and our normal daily driving doesn’t come close to discharging the battery to zero. Usually, it’s a much smaller amount that we need to charge. And, around here, there are so many Supercharging stations, it’s silly to try to replicate a Supercharger at home.
I will discuss this with the electrician.
Thanks!
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Hi All:
First off, I want to thank all of you who gave such wonderful advice about this topic.
Second, we finally got our main panel replaced with a 200 amp panel. I also got a car charger that we hardwired and a separate NEMA 14-50 outlet in case we need it.
We’ve been charging the Tesla and the PHEV with the hardwired car charger (Chargepoint), and it is amazing how quickly it charges! The PHEV used to take 6-7 hours to charge off the 110 v charger. It now takes about 2.5 hours. The Tesla also charges very quickly (from around 65% to 95% in about 2.5 hours.
Since we are a TOU (time of use) plan for EV charging, our rate is around $2.15 for an “e-gallon”, which is tons cheaper than the approximate $5/gallon of gas in NorCal.
I am happy as can be!
Thanks again to everyone for the great advice. Because of you and my WONDERFUL electrician who worked with me to come up with an excellent solution at a very reasonable price, we have a modern electrical panel that is solar ready and an EV charging solution that is perfect.
One thing that I will tell you is that getting the parts (like the panel and the hub) is exceedingly difficult because of supply shortages. Even getting the Chargepoint charger was a pain because the Amazon price skyrocketed since I first started looking into doing all this. However, with luck, with my looking around local stores and sources around the US, we FINALLY got it all done. It took time, but I am so happy now!
Congrats!
I have a 2019 Model 3 with 42k trouble free miles.
Couldn’t be happier with it, fantastic car!
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Need some more advice from the good people at CC on charging both the Tesla and the PHEV:
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For our Telsa, is it a problem to charge it every day?
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We have set the maximum charge to 90%. I’ve read some posts on other threads to charge to 80%. I also read that Elon Musk himself said not to charge the car to 100% except in unusual situations since regenerative braking doesn’t kick in. That makes a lot of sense. However, is there a problem with charging to 90%?
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For the PHEV, is it a problem to charge to the max? I can’t find anything online about this.
Thanks!
No problem to charge the Tesla everyday. Is there a reason you want to be at 90% rather than 80%?
Also no problem charging the PHEV to 100% all the time. Our PHEV, an X5, has a larger “reserve” so charging it to 100% is more like charging it to 75% in reality. This large reserve allows a 96 month warranty on the battery despite it being charged every day.
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Thank you!
To answer your question, the real reason to charge the Telsa to 90% is so we DON’T have to charge it every day. We need to charge the PHEV daily, and because of the configuration of our garage (which is a mess and we can’t use it for parking at the moment…sigh) and our very small driveway, we can only park one car at a time in the driveway.
Since we installed the 60amp ChargePoint station, it’s just as easy as can be to charge both cars during our TOU lowest rates between midnight and 3pm.
I guess that’s a roundabout way of saying that charging the Tesla to 90% means less time that it’s in the driveway taking up the charging space.
(and I do know the easiest solution is to clean the garage!)
Tesla has said it is fine to charge to 90%. You can do that without worry.
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Regarding your questions:
- No problem charging it every day.
- Presumably, you are referring to battery capacity loss at high states of charge… when charging to high states of charge (meaning higher than 55% for NCA batteries in most Teslas other than some newer Model 3 standard range with LFP batteries), it is best to set it to finish charging just before you drive off to minimize time parked at high states of charge.
- PHEVs usually have large buffers, so that “100%” is really much less than 100%, so the effect on battery capacity loss of charging to 100% is not as great as for charging to the true 100%.
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- No.
2 & 3: for daily operation, charge to ~80% and run it down to 30%, unless you need more electrons when you leave in teh morning.
For max battery life, charge to 100% only when you need to take a long trip. But if your daily commute run is 200+ miles, feel free to charge to 100%. Just set the computer to be charged at max right when you need to leave in the morning.
“PHEVs usually have large buffers, so that “100%” is really much less than 100%…”
Tesla’s, the point to this thread, do not. Apparently the Ford Mach e does, however.
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@mynameiswhatever was referring to a (non-Tesla) PHEV (plug in hybrid) for the third question, so that reply does not apply to Teslas (or the Mach E).
I have recently complete a 6k mile round trip across the country in my Y; 3k of those miles I was alone! Hand on heart, I did not have to wait but more than 0 seconds to pull into a charging spot anywhere on the road. I did not have a minute of concern running out of power; the GPS system was spot on for letting me know when and where I should charge. I am unbelievably impressed how easy it was to drive so far, and for so long, without a hitch. Wow!
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Your post just blows up “range anxiety” concerns of new owners and EV doubters. Between legacy Tesla Superchargers, my CCS1 and J1772 adapters and my Mobile Connector with adapters for 240 and 120 lines, I can’t conceive of running out of juice on the road. The day of practical EVs is here. And with Chevy coming out with 3 EV SUVs starting at $30,000, financial accessibility will be vastly improved.
Actually it doesn’t. Just because one person says they didn’t have trouble on a specific long trip doesn’t mean my range anxiety is blown up. As long as having an ev means stopping more frequently and taking longer to refuel I will stick with my gas powered car. Yeah, I may not run out , but if I have to stop twice as often and stay there for much longer, I don’t see the point. Sounds like a huge inconvenience to me. When ev standard range is 400 miles, and it takes only a few minutes to recharge, and chargers are as easy to find as gas stations, then I may switch.
Germane to the current discussion:
For our purposes, we are content with my hybrid. We run mostly on electricity, that we regularly charge and the 25-30 mile electric range meets most of our daily needs. When we need to keep going after the electric charge is depleted, it seamlessly switches to gas. We generally only need a few half tanks of 5 or so gallons a few times/year. Due to range anxiety, we are happier with a hybrid than 100% electric for now. When we buy gas, we are careful to only use alcohol-free gas.
Our state doesn’t have that many charging stations. We are happy our Prius prime can just use normal household current and outlet to recharge.
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@me29034, Do you own an EV, have you even driven one locally or on a road trip? Your post contains all the trigger points for EV skeptics but does not reflect reality. There are 10’s of thousands of Y owners domestically who through actual experience can readily demonstrate that your concerns are not supported by actual facts. For daily driving, I have never needed to charge at public chargers. If my daily driving is less than 250 miles (on an 80%)
charge), I never even think about it, I simply charge overnight at home. If doing extended trips where I will not be charging at home, finding a charger on the road is never an issue. Between native Tesla Superchargers and CCS Level 3 chargers, Level 3 fast DC chargers are on or near most major roadways in very manageable intervals. The navigation system tells you which chargers to stop at and how long to charge, usually about 15 minutes after 2-3 hours of driving, just long enough to pee and get a snack or something to drink. On a recent 180 mile drive to a vacation spot, once I arrived, I did one charging stop to “gas up” for the week. Did it while having lunch at a favorite restaurant. Your post is just outdated and exaggerated. It doesn’t reflect today’s EV reality.
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Truly excellent post on PHEV hybrids. Until this thread, I NEVER charged my PHEV. Thanks to the wisdom here, I have been doing so religiously. I don’t remember the last time I went to a gas station!
With gas prices in CA over $6, I believe we are paying an equivalent rate on electricity on a TOU plan of around $2.
I am like you: the 25 mile/day is fine for me most of the time. A short 1.5 hour charge gets me from 0-25 EV miles in about 1.5 hours, plugged in overnight or in the mornings. Not a problem at all for us.
PHEVs are a perfect happy medium!
For those PHEV owners only using very little gas with PHEVs, having alcohol-free gas is very important for the health of the motor and other parts of the vehicle.
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Thank you for adding that. I had meant to ask you about it. I gas up at Costco (when I do so at all), and I believe their gas has 10% alcohol added to it.