# Trickle Charging at Home



## lostsurfer47 (2 mo ago)

Hello Fellow Owners,

I live in an older condo complex unit and I recently bought an EV. In my condo unit, there is a few other hybrid cars that charge in the garage. I inquired about the cost of installing a standard 120v power drop in my parking space. The HOA board replied saying that the full EV cars draw too many amps compared to the other semi-ev vehicles that are plugged in. Does anyone know if this is in fact true? Their reply was below. Has anyone laid out the comparisons by amps on Tesla vs Pther EV’s ? 

“The fully electric vehicles pull too much amperage. Plugging in a Tesla would create a surge and blow out the fuses. The cars that are plugged in are pulling very low amperage and trickle charging for the most part.”


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## francoisp (Sep 28, 2018)

The maximum amount of current the car pulls is based on the type of plug being used. Plus it is possible to reduce the amount of amps being delivered if a circuit is overtaxed. I once stayed in a campground and I had to cut the amps by half because the breaker was tripping.

Tesla website


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## Harriscott (Apr 16, 2021)

Other EVs will draw 12amps on such a circuit, same as Tesla. E.g. The Chrysler Pacifica PHEV. A difference is that the Pacifica has a much smaller battery and finishes charging sooner.

Perhaps the HOA is concerned with kwh (cost), but e.g. for 30 miles daily driving the charging time (and cost) of a Tesla and Pacifica would be the same.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

You can respond that the Tesla can be setup to "trick charge" as well. If they resist or make it difficult you can just state that they must provide the same outlet that was provided to other units. How it's leveraged is none of their concern. If other units were provided with 120V 15A circuits, you should be provided the same. If there's a limit as to how much power is drawn, then they need to prove that they're tracking other units/outlets usage to ensure they too aren't going past that limit.


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

It is absolutely false. A Tesla can be setup to basically use whatever you want it to use. 
I'd actually be a little surprised if the other PEVs were only using 120V, take a look at their connections and see if they are a regular 120V 15A or 20A plug or a J-1772 plug. 

Basically, AFAIK, ANY EV or PEV will basically use all of the power that the circuit will give to you. The biggest difference is the time that it stays in charge mode. The 72 kWh battery of the Tesla is a lot more than 10 or so kWh batteries of a PEV. But then again, all you will need to do is replace your commute mileage each night, which means that EVs and PEVs will use the same.


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## lostsurfer47 (2 mo ago)

Appreciate all your guys insight! I fired back a response. Ill keep you posted as this war progresses!!!


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## Madmolecule (Oct 8, 2018)

If you are using a mobile connector, plugged into 120 V outlet. It will not pull more than 12 or 16 A, depending on how the circuit is wired. From the mobile adapter manual They will have to run at least a 15 amp circuit for code.


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

Madmolecule said:


> If you are using a mobile connector, plugged into 120 V outlet. It will not pull more than 12 or 16 A, depending on how the circuit is wired. From the mobile adapter manual They will have to run at least a 15 amp circuit for code.
> 
> View attachment 45654
> 
> View attachment 45655


There's a lot easier way to determine if the circuit is 15A or 20A. Does one of the blade sockets have both a vertical and horizontal option. The 15A plug is two blades parallel, the 20A plug has one vertical and the other horizontal. It's a different adapter for Tesla.


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## Madmolecule (Oct 8, 2018)

From the original post I did not think the circuit had been run yet. I think he’s just trying to get the landlord to install it. Here is a picture for you. But the reality is they will probably install just a 15 amp circuit. If you can get them to do it and you will pull at most 12A which I imagine it’s similar to what the PEV are pulling


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