Adding a 50 amp circuit - benefits of HPWC?

[Tube Guy]

I'm trying to find a FAQ on that. I'm going to have a 50a 240v circuit run from my garage to the circuit breaker box about 120 feet away. To go 100 amp is crazy expensive and difficult according to the electrician. I have one Model X. I assume there is a benefit to buying the HPWC but not sure how much faster it will be.

Where do you get the best price on the HPWC itself?

Thanks!

 

[P85_DA]

Some benefits I can think of : can provide higher charge rate with proper setup , allows for chaining of hpwcs if u buy anothe Tesla in future , a 50a HPWC is slightly faster than a gen 2 umc that maxes at 32a... assuming you have a 72a onboard charger on X most you can get with a 90a breaker is 72a ..I have a 100a HPWC and most of time is charging at 56a or lower as that is more than enough ..if you are already running conduit you may as well run for an hpwc (three wires ) vs running 4 for a 14-50 outlet ..check the for sale forums here as u can find good deals on referall award hpwcs

 

[gutowskia]

Another benefit of the High Performance Wall Connector is that it allows you to always keep your Mobile Connector in the trunk and there's is no need to remember to unplug from the wall and bring it with you for trips.

 

[xyeahtony]

Charging speed is a mild benefit. Its the convenience of just having a wall connector on the wall that is up to you if its worth it or not. I'm using a UMC right now but i have to leave it hanging on the outlet all day long. If i ever need a UMC in the wild (never once has happened in my 2 years of tesla ownership) then im SOL.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

The HWPC's best benefit is when you have more than one Tesla. We have 4 Teslas currently and at any given time, we have 3 of them plugged in. The HPWCs allow us to have one main breaker which is load balanced/shared between 3 wall connectors (up to 4 are supported) and it automatically splits the load between cars that are actively charging. We currently only have 64 amps (on an 80 amp breaker) split between the 3 HPWCs. That allows one car to charge at 48 amps, 2 cars to charge at 32 amps each or 3 cars to charge at 21 amps each. We have the wiring to up it to 80 amps (on a 100 amp breaker) which would allow us to have 1 car at 48 amps, 2 cars at 40 amps each or 3 cars at 26 amps each but were told we need a firmware update on our Powerwalls before we can bump things up. If our cars had more than a 48 amp chargers, then we'd be able to charge an individual car at 64 to 72 amps.

Of course we don't usually schedule all cars to charge at the same time...but if they need to, we don't have to consider the load since the HPWCs handle it automatically. Previously, we had 2 14-50 outlets and were able to have two cars plugged in at once but we didn't have the ability to have 3 cars charging at 240 volts simultaneously.

 

[Kuhz]

If you have a regular on board charger your car chargers at 48A max. If that’s the case and its possible for you to go up to 60A breaker, with the HPWC it will give you that max charge rate at home. I have this and love it. It’s like a mini fuel station in your own garage. And you leave your UMC in the car for trips.

As far as where to get it, there are plenty of referral HPWCs in the for sale section. eBay also has them for slightly less.

FYI: there are 1st and 2nd gen HPWCs. The latter support load sharing if charging multiple cars.

 

[Feathermerchan]

Since none of the Tesla devices use the neutral, why run it? Have the electrician estimate a Nema 6-50. Still 50A but no neutral. Save wire and perhaps conduit size. A Nema 6-50 adapter is only about $35 from Tesla.
Model S/X/3 Gen 2 NEMA Adapters

 

[bob_p]

We've been using Tesla's 14-50 connector to charge our 2018 X 100D, providing 40A of charging, which is more than enough to fully recharge our X overnight.

Last week, we installed an HPWC to replace the 14-50 outlet. The electrician was able to replace the 50A breaker with a 60A breaker (since the wire can support a 60A circuit), and now we're able to charge at 48A through the HPWC (20% faster), though we really won't see any benefit for overnight charging.

The primary reason we installed the HPWC - the black Musk-signature HPWC looks much better than the 14-50 connector, with the ability to wrap the cable over the top of the HPWC. Functionally, it doesn't provide any significant advantage over using a 14-50 connector connected to a 14-50 outlet.

 

[Feathermerchan]

And of course the HPWC costs $500 plus installation.

 

[davewill]

The current UMC can only to 32a charging on that circuit and the Wall Connector can do 40a.

You can always install the 14-50 and use the UMC for a while. Installing an HPWC on that circuit at a later time is not difficult if you decide you want it.

 

[ajdelange]

Since none of the Tesla devices use the neutral, why run it?

Because you cannot be sure that you will always be charging a Tesla Model X in that spot and the marginal cost of an additional piece of THHN is small relative to the total cost of the project.

 

[Feathermerchan]

Model X, S and 3 do not require neutrals. Probably no electric car will because they are not needed.
Only a device that needs 240V and 120V will need a neutral. Price 6/2 vs 6/3 wire. Depending on the length you could pay for the adapter with the difference.

 

[DCGOO]

Model X, S and 3 do not require neutrals. Probably no electric car will because they are not needed.
Only a device that needs 240V and 120V will need a neutral. Price 6/2 vs 6/3 wire. Depending on the length you could pay for the adapter with the difference.

But If you install a 14-50 outlet, you WILL need to include the neutral (it is a 120/240 connector). Installation without the 14-50 (direct to the WC) does not require it. I installed the 14-50 (with neutral), then pigtailed my WC with a 14-50 plug on it (no neutral). I use the WC at home simply because it is extremely convenient. I can also use the 14-50 for my RV if necessary (neutral required). Just unplug the WC, and plug in the RV. Rare that I need to do that, but the added utility has proven handy a couple of times.

 

[ajdelange]

I have always had electricians pull the neutral even if the original purpose for the installation did not require it and I have never regretted doing so as that neutral has always been used. The ability to plug a camper into a 14-50R as mentioned by #13 in itself may be enough justification. As another example you can disconnect your portable charger from a 14-50R and plug in a simple adapter to give you a 120V circuit for a compressor to top off your tires or a vacuum to clean out your car.

Price 6/2 vs 6/3 wire.

$19 more for a 30' run
Depending on the length you could pay for the adapter with the difference.[/QUOTE]The adapter is $45. If you had a 100' run you'd save $20. Seems like a false economy to me but each to his own.

 

[Feathermerchan]

I have not found the need because I have several 120V outlets in the garage, a 30 ft cord reel and battery powered compressors and vacuum cleaner. But I see how they could be handy if all you had was the one outlet.

 

[Big Dog]

even if you don't add the HPWC now I suggest you future proof the line and have your guy install a 60 amp circuit wire (capable of 48 amp continuous). That way, if you decide to add the WC later, you won't have to rerun the wire/cable.

 

[roblab]

Charging speed is a mild benefit. Its the convenience of just having a wall connector on the wall that is up to you if its worth it or not. I'm using a UMC right now but i have to leave it hanging on the outlet all day long. If i ever need a UMC in the wild (never once has happened in my 2 years of tesla ownership) then im SOL.

Yup... the UMC hangs on the wall. And the other end is usually plugged into the car, which makes it purrrr. Happy Tesla, happy life. It doesn't need 80 amps of charging, and I only drive a few miles per day (national average is somewhere around 15?) so I can't justify big bucks for something that lets the car charge to full by 11 PM instead of 2 AM. I've only used UMC for home charging, for six years.

If I am out in the wild, I have PLANNED to be out in the wild, and I toss the UMC into the frunk, but with a 270 mile range (310+ with the 3) I'd have to be on a trip to need 220 v outlet charging. Mostly on trips I charge at Superchargers, then do slow charging at the kiddo's house.

 

[Feathermerchan]

The adapters are all $35 each.
Model S/X/3 Gen 2 NEMA Adapters

My run is 125 ft. So it depends on the run. 6/2 is lighter and easier to handle (bend) too.

A 60A or 100A circuit costs a lot more than running 6/2 thru the attic.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

The adapters are all $35 each.
Model S/X/3 Gen 2 NEMA Adapters

My run is 125 ft. So it depends on the run. 6/2 is lighter and easier to handle (bend) too.

A 60A or 100A circuit costs a lot more than running 6/2 thru the attic.

Gen 1 charging adapters are $45 each: Model S/X Gen 1 NEMA Adapters

 

[Feathermerchan]

Oh you have one of those old cars.
Just bough a gen1 EVSE and will be buying a Nema 6-50 for it.