Remember all the confusion and changing information about the Model X charger in the first few months? It seems Tesla is at it again.
Here is an excerpt from an email from the Tesla charging team:
Just like Model S and X, Model 3 will have two on-board charger configurations paired with the battery option:
- Model 3 Standard Battery: Max 32A on-board charger (7.7 kW)
- Model 3 Long Range Battery: Max 48A on-board charger (11.5 kW)
The same accessories will be included with Model 3 (mobile connector and adapter for NEMA 14-50) so the NEMA 14-50 outlet on a 50 amp circuit breaker will still work just fine. Recharge rate will be about 30 miles of range per hour of charge.
For faster charging, a Wall Connector installed with a 60 amp circuit breaker will match the 48A on-board charger of the Long Range Model 3. Recharge rate with this combination will be 45 miles of range per hour of charge.
I now see that spec sheet that said 40A charging didn't actually say "40A charger". It said
- Home charging rate: 37 miles of range per hour (240V outlet, 40A)
Silly us for assuming that meant the car had a 40A charger! Apparently the PR person forgot to mention you could get 48A by using a HPWC. Or is this just another example of Tesla dumbing down the car marketing for the masses? No more specifying battery by kWh, and no more specifying size of the charger? Wouldn't want to intimidate the prospective buyers by all that EV jargon.
Very silly, indeed. This is blazingly simple, to those of us who have been following this closely. To anybody else, it's a jumble of numbers, and they would need to refer to charts like we have to understand. So, here's just such a chart and its interpretation (keep reading).
A 40 amp A/C power breaker is allowed to use 80% continuous in most USA jurisdictions and roughly similar in most of the world, which is what Tesla considers its circuits. That's a maximum charge rate of 32 amps A/C. Very simple! Here are the normal lines:
At
Model S - HPWC (High Power Wall Connector) we see (newer type) HPWC's input (circuit breaker level) can be set to 15A, 20A, 25A, 30A, 35A, 40A, 45A, 50A, 60A, 70A, 80A, 90A or 100A. That corresponds to output of 12A, 16A, 20A, 24A, 28A, 32A, 36A, 40A, 48A, 56A, 72A, and 80A respectively. So:
- 32A on-board A/C charger, 40A A/C breaker circuit (short range Model 3 according to the email you got)
- 40A on-board A/C charger. HPWC must be set to 50A or higher. Lower capacity (single) charger in pre-refresh Model S. Can use UMC (which maximum is 50A input with 40A output), HPWC, or J1772. 50A campsite plugs are very common. 50A construction site plugs are also very common. The UMC maxes at 40A output (50A input), so this continues to reinforce how common this is.
- 48A on-board A/C charger, requires HPWC or J1772 set to 60A or higher. Lower capacity charger in Model X and refresh Model S, and the long range Model 3 according to the email you got.
- 72A on-board A/C charger, requires HPWC or J1772 set to 90A or higher. Higher capacity charger in Model X and refresh Model S.
- 80A on-board A/C charger, requires HPWC or J1772 set to 100A (I don't even know if J1772 can go higher, but HPWC can't; 100A is the max). Higher capacity double charger in pre-refresh Model S, highest A/C charger rate ever available from Tesla, and now discontinued (except for upgrading pre-refresh Model S).
- Honorable mention: 30A is a common max output for J1772's. That is put on a 40A breaker, something relatively inexpensive to provision at a business.
These are all 208VAC or 240VAC or so, but also apply to 120VAC circuits. Multiply volts by amps to get watts. Many businesses (most in many areas) have a 208VAC leg instead of a 240VAC leg, and all the vehicle chargers happily input 208VAC and output 208VAC to the car, which happily converts that to its needs. Notice the multiplication of volts by amps gives a lower wattage for 208VAC compared to 240VAC, but that the breaker, wiring, and A/C continuous use amperages stay the same.
A curiosity is that 277VAC is also available at some businesses, but not all connector-vehicle on-board charger combinations accept that; few if any do. Oh ... I looked it up. Maybe some Teslas can take 277VAC! Awesome. Note that it still maxes out at 20kW, even though 80*277=22,160. Attached screenshot:
(The above comes from the newer HPWC's manual, entitled "WALL CONNECTOR, 80A SINGLE PHASE INSTALLATION MANUAL". The older manual for the older HPWC's are still in wide circulation; they do not list 277VAC as a capability: )
Also, I'm seeing
Model S/X Wall Connector which says max of 240VAC. I wouldn't be surprised if this was outdated marketing material, and the described Wall Connector can do 277VAC.
My conclusion: if you're looking to be confused, don't be confused about amperage; read the above and learn the way it works. Instead, be confused about voltage
