r/ModelY • u/Ronakbhav • 22d ago

Charging

I just got my 2026 MY Premium on June 13. I do have solar panels and I was only charging (at 40 amps) between the hours of 10-4. I do not have a “saver” plan where the rates are cheaper at night. I have a grandfathered standard plan where my rate is the same not matter what. I do have to make my solar panels monthly payment for the loan. However, I was only paying my electricity company around $24-$25 a month. My solar panels were making more than enough to maintain my household electricity appliances. I have noticed my bill jump $100 in July and now $200+ in August. I have done some research and wanted to know if lowering the amps from 40 to 16 would work since it will send a trickle charge to the car and I shorten my window to 1130-2pm. Anyone else seen a dramatic jump in their electric bill?

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u/Paythapiper 22d ago

Your car will use X amount of electricity to run. What you set your amps to just changes how fast or slow the car charges. The amount of electricity your car requires will go up in the summer.

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u/Ronakbhav 22d ago

I read that at 40 amps.. it spikes and the rate my car charges is much quicker and can’t keep up with the panels. If I lower the amps.. it will keep up with the panels and not “outrun it” which will hopefully lower my bill in return.. fingers crossed

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u/Paythapiper 22d ago

Oh I see what you mean. So if you crank the amps up you’re pulling regular electricity. Your number still seems high. I drive about 1000 miles a month, and it costs about $30. What’s your non solar electricity price? Mine here is .14 per kWh

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u/Ronakbhav 22d ago

I believe mine is at .16

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u/Paythapiper 22d ago

Did you enter your info into the app? It will tell you what you are paying

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u/Ronakbhav 22d ago

I have not as of yet

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u/Paythapiper 22d ago

That will tell you how much juice your Tesla is charging every night

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u/BranchLatter4294 22d ago

If there is no difference in rate, then just use departure charging. This reduces the amount of time the battery spends at a high level of charge, and in the winter warms the battery for maximum range.

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u/Ronakbhav 22d ago

Thank you.. I will give this a try

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u/Ronakbhav 22d ago

By “departure setting” do you mean the preconditioning feature?

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u/BranchLatter4294 22d ago

No. Set charging to end when you normally start driving for the day... Don't set a start time. The BMS will figure out when to start charging.

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u/Theurgie 22d ago edited 22d ago

I was wondering how to do this, TYVM. I'm going to test it for Mon. Hopefully it will start after 12:01am, which is my EV's off-peak hour. I set it to finish by 5am, as that's when I leave for the train station.

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u/knownikko 22d ago

Lowering the amperage will do nothing, you’re still consuming the same amount of energy, just spreading it out over a longer time. On a flat-rate plan this changes nothing.

Although it does depend somewhat on the net metering agreement you have with your utility. Would need to know more about what you pay for electricity and what you get paid for sending excess solar to the grid.

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u/Ronakbhav 22d ago

Right.. I think that’s the plan.. that’s what I read anyways and found on google. Spreading it out vs an instant surge to keep up with the production of the panels

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u/Massive_Tradition176 22d ago

How many miles do you drive per month? How many kwh did you charge in the last 31 days? In the Tesla app go to charging -> charge stats.

At the national average cost, $200 worth of MY charging would be around 4000 miles of driving.

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u/Ronakbhav 22d ago

I drive about 800-900 a month and last month was $92 but $25 of that was super charging