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Charging at Tesla service center..

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Not dumb at all. Tesla charging is a paradigm shift, and for someone without a Tesla, the whole process seems very strange. Enjoy your Tesla when it arrives.
I also just got a Tesla and was looking into charging for an upcoming road trip and saw a Tesla service center on plugshare under "free" so is it not free? And some say "wall" retergon I think but in the picture I see cables hanging are they wall chargers?
Also almost all the free chargers on plugshare are 6.5kw to 8kw chargers and I see a lot of teslas checking in, is there any point for us to charge that slow? Would it take hours?
 
I also just got a Tesla and was looking into charging for an upcoming road trip and saw a Tesla service center on plugshare under "free" so is it not free? And some say "wall" retergon I think but in the picture I see cables hanging are they wall chargers?
Also almost all the free chargers on plugshare are 6.5kw to 8kw chargers and I see a lot of teslas checking in, is there any point for us to charge that slow? Would it take hours?
In some cases the free charging comes with a parking garage/lot fee or else a time limit when parking (for free) for perhaps 2 hours.) Check these charging options out when you have more time. I charge at a public 6kW charging station all the time. I can add 8% to the battery state of charge per hour. You would need to use the Tesla J1772 charging adapter that should have been included inside your Tesla vehicle (check in the hatch storage area lower storage bin for the J1772 adapter.

Unless it is a Tesla Wall Connector (sometimes earlier examples are labeled Tesla Destination Chargers.) These are both examples of Level 2 charging at 200V - 240V. (Commercial ~200V power is usually 200V - 208V; residential 200V power is nominally rated at 240V.)

You should test using a Supercharger and also make sure that you have a valid credit card or debit card linked to your Tesla account else you won't be able to use the Supercharger network.
 
In some cases the free charging comes with a parking garage/lot fee or else a time limit when parking (for free) for perhaps 2 hours.) Check these charging options out when you have more time. I charge at a public 6kW charging station all the time. I can add 8% to the battery state of charge per hour. You would need to use the Tesla J1772 charging adapter that should have been included inside your Tesla vehicle (check in the hatch storage area lower storage bin for the J1772 adapter.

Unless it is a Tesla Wall Connector (sometimes earlier examples are labeled Tesla Destination Chargers.) These are both examples of Level 2 charging at 200V - 240V. (Commercial ~200V power is usually 200V - 208V; residential 200V power is nominally rated at 240V.)

You should test using a Supercharger and also make sure that you have a valid credit card or debit card linked to your Tesla account else you won't be able to use the Supercharger network.
Yeah I'm definitely gonna check out the free 6.5 kw charger by my job. There's a few in stop and shop parking lots (2 hr max) I think they're called volta. So there is public chargers that are wall connecters? Like bring your own cable?
 
Yeah I'm definitely gonna check out the free 6.5 kw charger by my job. There's a few in stop and shop parking lots (2 hr max) I think they're called volta. So there is public chargers that are wall connecters? Like bring your own cable?
If these are Tesla Destination chargers, i.e. Tesla Gen1/Gen/Gen3 Wall Connectors you don't need to bring any charging cord set (such as the Tesla Mobile Connector) or the J1772 adapter. Most of the time public Level 2 charging stations have the J1772 (for Level 1 and Level 2 charging) charging connector. You would need to use the Tesla SAE J1772 charging adapter that you should have received with your Tesla vehicle (when purchased new from Tesla.) You can purchase this adapter from Tesla for $50. (The adapter currently shows as being Out of Stock but you can enter your email on the Tesla site to be notified when this item is available.) Similar Tesla-J1772 adapters are available from other sources besides Tesla.

Tesla J1772 charging adapter
 
Full confession: I’m a 68yo super charger virgin.
  • Does Tesla have my credit card on file from my original down payment?
  • Do I need to do anything before using a Tesla charger.
If there is a nearby Supercharger then stop there and plug in for a minute or so to verify that you are all set to use the Tesla Supercharger network. If you can successfully charge at one Supercharger you can use any Supercharger at any location (unless the individual Supercharger stall happens to be broken.)

If you are unable to charge at the Supercharger you will need to update your Tesla account. Log in to your Tesla account using your email as the User Id and the password you set. Add or update a valid credit card or debit card.

Important! For extra security add multifactor authentication (MFA) to your Tesla account. Tesla does not support use of your cell phone number and text messaging for MFA. You must use one of : Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Apple Authenticator or Authy authenticator apps. I use Authy. The Authy authenticator app is based on Google's Authenticator but with some enhancements including the ability to recover of your Authy account should something happen to your phone by using a saved Authy password.)

You should not need to do anything other than plug in to charge at a Tesla Supercharger or Tesla Destination Charger. The Tesla Gen3 Wall Connector can be set to only accept specific vehicle Id numbers (VINs) for charging. It is unlikely that you will encounter this security challenge at a public charging location.
 
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Yeah I'm definitely gonna check out the free 6.5 kw charger by my job. There's a few in stop and shop parking lots (2 hr max) I think they're called volta. So there is public chargers that are wall connecters? Like bring your own cable?

Be careful using Volta stations. I've had two different stations at two different locations melt two different J-1772 adapters. Those two "free" charges cost me $50 each. To add to that, their customer service is completely unresponsive to both email and app inquiries. I don't use Volta anymore.
 
is there any point for us to charge that slow?
Not really, if you're sitting in your car doing nothing but waiting for it to charge up. But if you have something else worth while that you can do in parallel (sleep, eat, go to the theater, go shopping, spend morning/afternoon at your workplace), then it makes sense.

It's also better for the battery's long term health to change at L2 vs Supercharging (aka DC fast charging, DCFC, or L3).
 
Not really, if you're sitting in your car doing nothing but waiting for it to charge up. But if you have something else worth while that you can do in parallel (sleep, eat, go to the theater, go shopping, spend morning/afternoon at your workplace), then it makes sense.

It's also better for the battery's long term health to change at L2 vs Supercharging (aka DC fast charging, DCFC, or L3).
Does Tesla have L2 chargers I could use since there better for the battery? Are 75kw or 150kw level 2? Or are they as slow as the free chargers I've seen?
 
Does Tesla have L2 chargers I could use since there better for the battery?
Not really. Some service centers/stores have wall connectors (which are L2) in public parking spaces, but they aren't generally promoted.

These are what (L2) wall connectors look like: https://www.tesla.com/home-charging
These are what (L3) superchargers look like: https://www.tesla.com/supercharger

Are 75kw or 150kw level 2?
No, that's L3 (supercharging).

L1 - feeding the car 120V AC wall current. Onboard charger converts AC to DC to charge the battery. 2kW max (16 amps @ 120V AC).
L2 - feeding the car 240V AC wall current. Onboard charger converts AC to DC to charge the battery. 11kW max for current Teslas (48 amps @ 240V AC)
L3 - feeding the car high voltage DC current (350-400V or more, depending on the car's make/model), directly into the battery, bypassing the onboard chargers completely. Power levels limited by car, battery temp and state of charge, and power of charging station. Teslas can draw up to 250kW max for short periods (~700 amps @ 350V DC). Also called DC fast charging ("DCFC")

There are 3 main types of L3 charging - Tesla Superchargers (aka "NACS", 72kW, 150kW, 250kW max depending on station design), CCS (European and other US car companies), and Chademo (Nissan, Mitsubishi). North America is transitioning to Tesla/NACS (CCS/Chademo dying off here). Europe uses CCS. Japan uses Chademo.

Or are they as slow as the free chargers I've seen?
You're probably talking about L2 free chargers, so probably yes. Anything less than 15-20kW would be L2. The max possible L2 charge rate in the spec is 22kW (80A @ 277V), but few cars can draw that much (first gen Model S, F-150 Lightning). Most public L2's (Chargepoint, etc) are 6-7kW (30 amps at 208V or 240V)
 
Does Tesla have L2 chargers I could use since there better for the battery? Are 75kw or 150kw level 2? Or are they as slow as the free chargers I've seen?
There is no evidence that Supercharging has a negative impact on the battery. If concerned about Supercharging then seek out the 75kW Urban Superchargers as these are still up ~10X faster to charge the Tesla vehicle's battery than Level 2 charging.
 
There is no evidence that Supercharging has a negative impact on the battery.
The owners of early S's (myself included) who had capacity and/or supercharging speeds arbitrarily capped by Tesla for "excessive" supercharging might disagree with that blanket statement.

You can ignore that if you like, but I take a "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" approach to unnecessary supercharging when overnight L2 will do.
 
The owners of early S's (myself included) who had capacity and/or supercharging speeds arbitrarily capped by Tesla for "excessive" supercharging might disagree with that blanket statement.

You can ignore that if you like, but I take a "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" approach to unnecessary supercharging when overnight L2 will do.
We shouldn't use 10+ year old Tesla vehicles, and their battery packs in determining how today's Tesla vehicles, battery packs handle Supercharging. Also:

A new study of 12,500+ Tesla EVs concluded there is no statistical difference in range degradation between frequent fast charging and slow charging.

Report: Supercharging Doesn’t Degrade Tesla Battery Life
 
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Not really. Some service centers/stores have wall connectors (which are L2) in public parking spaces, but they aren't generally promoted.

These are what (L2) wall connectors look like: https://www.tesla.com/home-charging
These are what (L3) superchargers look like: https://www.tesla.com/supercharger


No, that's L3 (supercharging).

L1 - feeding the car 120V AC wall current. Onboard charger converts AC to DC to charge the battery. 2kW max (16 amps @ 120V AC).
L2 - feeding the car 240V AC wall current. Onboard charger converts AC to DC to charge the battery. 11kW max for current Teslas (48 amps @ 240V AC)
L3 - feeding the car high voltage DC current (350-400V or more, depending on the car's make/model), directly into the battery, bypassing the onboard chargers completely. Power levels limited by car, battery temp and state of charge, and power of charging station. Teslas can draw up to 250kW max for short periods (~700 amps @ 350V DC). Also called DC fast charging ("DCFC")

There are 3 main types of L3 charging - Tesla Superchargers (aka "NACS", 72kW, 150kW, 250kW max depending on station design), CCS (European and other US car companies), and Chademo (Nissan, Mitsubishi). North America is transitioning to Tesla/NACS (CCS/Chademo dying off here). Europe uses CCS. Japan uses Chademo.


You're probably talking about L2 free chargers, so probably yes. Anything less than 15-20kW would be L2. The max possible L2 charge rate in the spec is 22kW (80A @ 277V), but few cars can draw that much (first gen Model S, F-150 Lightning). Most public L2's (Chargepoint, etc) are 6-7kW (30 amps at 208V or 240V)
Exactly, a lot of the chargepoint/plugshare ones are 6-7kw. There's a lot of stop and shop parking lots with the free volta charging (some guy told me never to use volta it damaged his Tesla) but regardless I guess there's not much point in using free chargers with a Tesla since there 6-7kw if I'd be there hours