I am a new Model X owner that also purchased the Tesla wall charger to have installed in my garage. Before installing I discovered that I have a 220 outlet and can plug into it using one of the adapters that came with the car. My question is whether there is any reason to install the Tesla charger? The 220 outlet Is providing 25 or so miles per hour charge which seems to be plenty of overnight charge for me even if I don’t charge every night.
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gjunky
Trifecta: Solar and both cars are EVs
You are correct, that will usually do for overnight charging. The Wall Connector, depending on how you plan to wire it (Amperage) can charge faster and it is a little bit more convenient as you can leave the mobile charger in the car. It might also be beneficial if you drive a lot in a single day in which case you can charge faster for the next trip without having to wait for an overnight charge. It mostly is a personal preference. We have the wall connector and love it. It can charge our X at 72A while you are charging at 40A it sounds like.
The only real benefit will be if you get a second Tesla in which case you can connect two Wall Connectors and have them share one power connection.
The only real benefit will be if you get a second Tesla in which case you can connect two Wall Connectors and have them share one power connection.
dedicatedtek
Member
I wrestled with should I buy a wall charger or not. I ended up buying a second UMC kit. I leave one in the trunk, and the other stays plugged into the garage.
If you already have a 240V outlet (note it’s 240V, not 220V) then just use that. It’s plenty to charge your car overnight. Put a bicycle or utility hook in the wall next to it to hang the UMC, and only unplug it and take it with you for long distance trips.
roblab
Active Member
The only thing I have against the 100 amp charger is... someone is gonna have to install it. That means extra wiring from the house, upgrading the sub panel, pulling off sections of sheet rock and running more new wire to a box then re-taping, painting...
Putting in a new 50 amp outlet would cost me, personally, a lot less, as I had room in my sub panel. As I had thought ahead, I already had a 50 amp outlet on the wall. No contest between having an outlet vs putting in the Tesla charger, as either one will charge the car overnight. One is free, the other will be several hundred dollars more.
Putting in a new 50 amp outlet would cost me, personally, a lot less, as I had room in my sub panel. As I had thought ahead, I already had a 50 amp outlet on the wall. No contest between having an outlet vs putting in the Tesla charger, as either one will charge the car overnight. One is free, the other will be several hundred dollars more.
You don't need to run it inside walls. I just punch holes in the wall and drive conduits. I used a 100 amp disconnect switch from Siemens bought from ebay for $50 (sells new for about $150). Used Aluminum 2-2-2 Ser wire from the breaker panel with 90amp breaker for about 75 feet inside conduit to the 100 amp disconnect switch. Then, 5 feet of Copper 4-4-4 to the HPWC.
Cost in total was about $500 to do the work yourself. Anyone can do it. You don't need an electrician. However, please make sure you whatever you do, just follow the electrical code.
Cost in total was about $500 to do the work yourself. Anyone can do it. You don't need an electrician. However, please make sure you whatever you do, just follow the electrical code.
Yinn
Active Member
I have a 14-50 as well as 2x TWC installed. I installed the 14-50 after the TWCs were already installed for emergency and flexibility. If I had it already installed, I'd probably save the money and not buy a TWC - unless I had the high amp charger.
@cmaster What size breaker are you connected to? 72 amp would be faster than 40 mph. I get 46mph with my hpwc set at 64amp (80amp breaker). My point here is in you are on a smaller breaker you should turn your setting on the hwpc to match. Won’t cost you any speed but will just make sure all safety limits are in sync. If you get 40mph it sounds like 56amp draw on a 70 amp breaker?
You get voltage loss over long distances.
72 amp settings needs a 90amp breaker (90 * .8 = 72). But, there are conductivity issues with carrying it over some distance. You loose some voltage.
The controller on the HPWC is smart enough to adjust the output accordingly.
72 amp settings needs a 90amp breaker (90 * .8 = 72). But, there are conductivity issues with carrying it over some distance. You loose some voltage.
The controller on the HPWC is smart enough to adjust the output accordingly.
If you have a new 75D I think it only charges at 48A anyway, so not sure if WC will speed up your charging by much. I have the 75D but they swap out the new Gen 2 UMC (40A) and the old Gen 1 UMC (48A) so I am charging at about 29 miles per hour with the 240V. We only drive about 40 miles per day average so that's just over 1 hour of charging.
I'm pretty sure the Gen 2 UMC is 32A vs. 40A on the Gen 1 UMC. Compared to the HPWC which is capable of up to 80A, but maxes out at 48A with the normal charger and 72A with the high amperage charger.
I bought the wall charger just because I liked how it looked and I was installing it myself anyway. If you already have a 240V outlet and you don't need the slightly increased charge rate (20-50% depending if you're comparing to Gen 1 or Gen 2 UMC), then it's really just an issue of what you want.
If you're making frequent trips with limited charge windows in between them, then you might want to look at upgrading to the high amperage car charger and using the HPWC on a 90A or better breaker, since that's the fastest level 2 charge you're going to get.
Ah yeah I got confused, it is 32A and 40A. I am charging at 40A then. I was charging at 32A for the first 2 or 3 days when I still have the Gen 2 UMC until they swapped it out.
Sawyer8888
Member
I also contemplated as to whether or not I absolutely needed to install the Tesla high-powered wall charger. For my routine, it would be more of a want than a need.
Some of the reasons previously mentioned here as to why you would need or want the faster charge do make sense. Unlike you who already had a 240v outlet, I needed to have the 240v outlet with 50 amp breaker installed ($400). This works perfectly well for my 80-mile roundtrip each weekday (uses more like 90 miles of charge). Temperatures are rarely below 70° F. Colder temps would require more battery power for the same distance. After returning home, within about 3 hours, the car is charged back to 70% (140 miles) - 60 kWh battery and max charge is 200 miles after about 10 months and 17K miles of ownership (down from 210 when new).
29 mph for a charge rate with the NEMA 14-50 is sufficient for my daily usage. The car is ready to go again before I even fall asleep.
If I know I am going to need more miles the following day, I'll charge to 95% the night before and top it off to 100% just before I leave in the morning. It helps to have a Supercharger relatively close by for the rare instances that something unexpected pops up.
Fortunately, you have time to try out your current setup and then decide if a faster charge time is necessary.
The HPWC is nice to have in an emergency, but, when are those times realistically anyways. I wished I listened to your advice before buying the HPWC and doing the install myself. Would've saved myself about $600. Then again, if you have the money, you can install it and not use it. Like I did. LOL.
Akikiki
A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
Anyone can do it? Have you seen the Liberty Mutual commercial where the millennial can't figure out if he's got a lug wrench to change the flat tire? Well, we are seeing more Americans that can't change a flat tire, replace a bad cord on a lamp or change the oil in their ICE. IMO, no one should attempt to install a 240 circuit except a qualified electrician - to be safe. Others do so at risk of frying themselves or burning their house down. And its not an either or, but a possible both.
As with most things, the reality is somewhere in between the two extremes. Electricity; 120V, 240V or whatever is dangerous and if you don't understand the codes, concepts and proper safety then you should rely upon a licensed electrician. Even if you're not doing the work yourself, it's valuable to understand what's actually required so you can avoid getting ripped off. If you do hire an electrician to do the work, they should be able to break down the costs into permitting (if required), materials and labor.
Akikiki
A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
Mr. Jaws, most of these people are correct. (Particularly those that call the cable/cord a connector - not a charger.) But, you will not charge faster using a wall connector (WC) than your mobile connector (MC) unless, your car has the high amperage charger AND you have larger than a 240/50 amp circuit. You must have both. 1. Find out if your house is capable of installation of a 90-100 amp circuit. 2. Does your Tesla have the higher amp charger already? If not its probably too late to do at least one of these.
Since the price of the WC and the MC are close in price, that neutralizes that part of the decision. The WC is flexible/adaptable. It has dip switches that allow it to be configured for the circuit size/amperage. So you can use it on the same 240 circuit that you use the MC. But if the circuit is higher than that allowed for the MC, you are going to need to use the WC. But again, is the car and the house's circuit high enough to require the WC?
Read this forum and TM. You will find folks that are having charging issues and can't determine what's causing the problem. Some think its their WC, but can't test it because its hard wired in the wall/box. Others think their MC is bad, and can't test it themselves with another because they don't have a spare. However those folks that simply bought another MC so they could leave one in their car, already have the second/spare they need to test either one. I mean, if you are determined to leave your MC in your car, and want another cord to remain at the house +(plus) your car has the standard charger and the house has only a 50 amp circuit, why not just get another MC to allow you the flexibility of testing your connector yourself?
As for faster charging. Why? You already mentioned you don't charge every night. If you plan to own only one Tesla and don't need to compress your charging time, what difference does it make if it takes 4 hour or 5 hours to charge provided its done by the time you leave each morning. I schedule my charge start time for 11:00 pm, (after the rates drop). Its always finished before 5:00 am.
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