7 ms·

Charging a car on a normal outlet is already possible. It just takes for-fucking-ever. You can't draw enough current from an outlet to charge it in a short span

Charging a car on a normal outlet is already possible. It just takes for-fucking-ever. You can't draw enough current from an outlet to charge it in a short span, without tripping the breaker or burning out your home wiring.

sqeaky 10y ago
There will be some solution to this too, we will come up with some clever hack, like pluggable capacitors, multiple breakers or something. Or better outlets and breakers will become the norm. I had 2 new breakers put in for an office of mine a few years it cost less than $200. If I could pay this then pay half as much for fueling my car for the next year, I would do it every year.
- deathhand 10y ago
  I think the "power wall" product by Tesla solves this.
- feadog 10y ago
  You can already buy a portable box that lets you combine the power from two different circuits that are out of phase with each other, to get twice the power. I saw a post by a Tesla owner who uses it to get effective Level-2 charging from friend's country homes.
  - jessaustin 10y ago
    The box is empty, right? Two out-of-phase 120V circuits are a 240V circuit.
timthorn 10y ago
In America and other countries with 110v mains, you might have a point. In the UK, my Ampera charges to full in 4 hours.
- greglindahl 10y ago
  In America, most houses have some 220, intended for a clothes dryer and perhaps an oven or air conditioning. For a Tesla, a standard 110v circuit charges at 3.5 mph; 220 is 2x or 4x depending on the amperage of the circuit.
- int_19h 10y ago
  In US, many houses have 240v outlets in addition to 110v, for high-energy devices like stoves and dryers and large washing machines. http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/30926/what-types-of-electrical-outlets-are-found-in-a-typical-home-in-the-usa http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/30926/what-types-of-e...
eloff 10y ago
The fuse box is normally located in the garage anyway. It strikes me that it should be fairly cheap to install a higher amp hookup for the car in that case.
billhathaway 10y ago
We had the same issue. Our 120V circuit couldn't recharge fast enough overnight to handle ~ 50 miles daily of commute/errands. We ended up getting a 240V/40AMP circuit installed for a 32AMP charger and now it charges in ~ 3 hours. The faster charger also meant we could time it to always use the night time electricity rates.

sqeaky 10y ago

There will be some solution to this too, we will come up with some clever hack, like pluggable capacitors, multiple breakers or something. Or better outlets and breakers will become the norm. I had 2 new breakers put in for an office of mine a few years it cost less than $200. If I could pay this then pay half as much for fueling my car for the next year, I would do it every year.

deathhand 10y ago
I think the "power wall" product by Tesla solves this.
feadog 10y ago
You can already buy a portable box that lets you combine the power from two different circuits that are out of phase with each other, to get twice the power. I saw a post by a Tesla owner who uses it to get effective Level-2 charging from friend's country homes.
- jessaustin 10y ago
  The box is empty, right? Two out-of-phase 120V circuits are a 240V circuit.

timthorn 10y ago

In America and other countries with 110v mains, you might have a point. In the UK, my Ampera charges to full in 4 hours.

greglindahl 10y ago
In America, most houses have some 220, intended for a clothes dryer and perhaps an oven or air conditioning. For a Tesla, a standard 110v circuit charges at 3.5 mph; 220 is 2x or 4x depending on the amperage of the circuit.
int_19h 10y ago
In US, many houses have 240v outlets in addition to 110v, for high-energy devices like stoves and dryers and large washing machines. http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/30926/what-types-of-electrical-outlets-are-found-in-a-typical-home-in-the-usa http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/30926/what-types-of-e...

eloff 10y ago

The fuse box is normally located in the garage anyway. It strikes me that it should be fairly cheap to install a higher amp hookup for the car in that case.

billhathaway 10y ago

We had the same issue. Our 120V circuit couldn't recharge fast enough overnight to handle ~ 50 miles daily of commute/errands. We ended up getting a 240V/40AMP circuit installed for a 32AMP charger and now it charges in ~ 3 hours. The faster charger also meant we could time it to always use the night time electricity rates.