Some early Tesla Model S vehicles had a dual onboard charger option that allowed up to 80 amps. Default option was a single 40 amp charger.
Later, as part of the first Model S refresh (2016), the charger design changed and the maximum option was reduced to 72 amps, and default became 48 amps. Some Model X vehicles may also have the 72 amp upgrade. Later still (~2018) the 72 amp option was removed from the menu, and ever since Tesla vehicles have all maxed out with 48 amp onboard chargers (or less on the most basic Model 3). The Tesla portable EVSE has also shrunk from a Gen1 model at 40 amps to Gen2 at 32 amps. The Gen1 makes for a compact portable high power EVSE. Gen2 is still 'good enough' for most home charging. I think the reduction in Tesla's onboard AC charging and portable EVSE capability may be related to the growth of the Tesla Supercharger network. It certainly has correlated with it. At a minimum it allows for fewer product design and build variations, simplifying production, and making available parts stretch further. High power onboard charging is not always needed at home/work. Fast home/work charging times/options are important especially when there is no alternative way to fill up fast, and/or when you have vehicles with small batteries. But with an expanded Supercharger network, the usual home/work charging sessions can be at lower power, and additional unexpected local charging requirements can be met via Superchargers. One other thought: the lower power onboard chargers and EVSEs may help Tesla tell utility companies they're taking steps to minimize peak loads on residential electric grids. As for circuits: Per NEC loading limits, continuous duty circuits can only be loaded to 80% of nameplate rating. This means: 100 amp circuit to serve 80 amp EVSE 60 amp circuit to serve 48 amp EVSE 50 amp circuit to serve 40 amp EVSE 40 amp circuit to serve 32 amp EVSE 30 amp circuit to serve 24 amp EVSE For any given current, the voltage supplied also plays a role in charging speed. The same equipment can run at higher power via a higher voltage. EVSEs and onboard chargers are designed to support 240/208/120v AC inputs. To tweak charging speed, use a supply voltage near the upper range of what is in-spec as acceptable. An example is supplying a 250v AC vs 230v AC. Both are in-spec for a nominal '240v AC' source. At 72 amps: 250v gives us 18.000 kW 230v gives us 16.560 kW 208v gives us 14.976 kW At 48 amps: 250v gives us 12.000 kW 230v gives us 11.040 kW 208v gives us 9.984 kW 208v is commonly seen on commercial electric services. Here's a thread about charging at 250v: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/charging-at-250v.218096/ If putting in a new circuit, a NEMA 14-50 supplied with 6 AWG copper is a good all-around option, and gives you an outlet usable for other 50a appliances like welders. If you want more headroom like for EVSEs that can share a circuit, maybe aim for a 100a circuit using 1/0 compact aluminum cable in 2" PVC conduit. Smaller 1 1/4" conduit could work, but it's easier to pull through larger conduit, and 2" is large enough to allow 2x 100a circuits, or other combinations of changes or upgrades. If you're paying someone to install for you, the labor cost won't be much or any different for a minimum capacity conduit vs one that leaves some headroom. On Tue, Nov 2, 2021, 17:20 Lawrence Rhodes via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > Seems the new EVs with bigger capacity would benefit from an 80amp > service. I am a fan of converting old Avcon EVSE to J1772. Nothing more > than a new connector. Could I just upgrade the wire and contactors in just > about any EVSE to harden it for higher amperage? Anybody done that yet? > Lawrence Rhodes > _______________________________________________ > Address messages to [email protected] > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ > LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20211103/4b86bd5c/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ Address messages to [email protected] No other addresses in TO and CC fields UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
