This is an area I feel should be discussed
way more than it currently is, and not just among Tesla owners but EV owners as a whole. After two years of ownership, one question I keep coming back to is why don’t we have more Level 2 charging options everywhere?
Places like malls, grocery stores, entertainment centers, parks, gyms, and similar everyday destinations could all benefit from having Level 2 chargers installed. They wouldn’t even need to install a massive number of them to make a difference. Even a handful of chargers would help, and I’d bet it would attract more people to those locations.
DC fast charging is great, but I don’t always need or want to fast charge. It would be ideal to pull up to a restaurant, plug into a Level 2 charger, sit down for a meal for 30 minutes to an hour, and recover some of the range I used that day while I’m there.
Now that I got that off my chest, let's move on to the topic.
When I first got my Model 3, I was probably like a lot of first-time EV owners: excited to have the car, but without a solid charging plan at home. I did buy the mobile connector when I purchased the car since it was cheaper to get it then rather than later. But even after buying it, I still didn’t really know where I was going to plug it in.
I have a few 120V 15A outlets around the exterior of my home, but they’re exposed to the elements, and since I don’t have a garage, I didn’t want the charger sitting outside long-term and potentially getting damaged.
So in came the electrician.
I had a contractor inspect the wiring in my home and give me quotes for either a dedicated 240V outlet or a Wall Connector installation. Needless to say, I did
not go that route because, in my specific case, it would have cost upwards of $3,000, and that wasn’t even including the Wall Connector itself.
So what did I do instead?
I went on Amazon and bought a certified, properly rated extension cable designed for continuous loads. Then I bought two more items: an automatic splitter unit and an outdoor-rated box to store the mobile connector in.
I plugged the splitter (NEMA 10-30 plug) into my dryer outlet, then connected one side to the dryer and the other to the extension cord. The splitter automatically gives priority to the dryer whenever it’s turned on, which makes the setup seamless.
This gives me the same 240V / 24A charging that was mentioned in the article, roughly 21 miles of added range per hour, which is more than enough for my daily needs. It also has the added benefit of being more efficient, since less energy is wasted as heat compared with standard 120V charging.
I’ve been very happy with this setup, and honestly, I’d say this is more charging than most people actually need unless they own multiple EVs or drive 100+ miles every single day.
Here are the products I used (minus the mobile connector, which I strongly recommend buying directly from Tesla and
not from a third party):
Splitter: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B8RZDZ7T?th=1
Extension cord: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZM5BGZB
Outdoor box: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NLW5HMX?th=1
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