Hi everyone. I know there are a number of threads on this board and others that tangentially deal with this topic, but most are old and don't come to a full conclusion.
I own a US spec Model S that I have shipped to France. I have three questions I'd welcome answers to:
1. CHARGING:
-The electric car rental and charging company, Autolib, has plenty of stalls with a mix of Type 2 and J1772 connectors. Obviously I have to use the J1772 connector with the adapter that came with my US universal mobile charger. Has anyone done this yet with a US spec vehicle and if so what was the charging rate?
-Relatedly, if I can find a parking garage with a normal European outlet, I could also charge the vehicle using a universal mobile connector. The US version of the UMC can obviously take 220V and higher current, but it comes with either a Nema 14-50 or a 5-15 adapter, both of which are removable. Tesla did not advise using the 5-15 adapter with an ordinary US-to-EU (Schuko) adapter attached, for safety reasons, and I get that. But US Tesla sells the 14-50 and 5-15 adapters separately, leaving me to believe that EU Tesla must sell something like a removable Schuko adapter on the EU version of the UMC. Any idea if this is true? I can't purchase the EU UMC because, per below, it uses a Type 2 charger which my vehicle doesn't support.
2. SUPERCHARGING:
-Unfortunately, I have only recently learned that Tesla EU superchargers all use a Type 2 plug instead of the Tesla US proprietary plug. It would be quite dangerous to convert Type 2 to J1772 to the Tesla US plug. Has anyone designed something that can serve as an adapter between the Tesla US proprietary plug (female) and the Type 2 plug (male)? Has anyone successfully used the European superchargers with a US spec vehicle?
3. 3G INTERNET:
-My 3G Internet connection won't work here because it uses a US SIM which is housed in a box behind the touchscreen. Tesla has said they can swap out the SIM (no price quote yet), and the data would presumably be free, although the service will likely be steep. Has anyone been using a dongle (like the Orange Airbox Auto, which plugs into the cigarette lighter for 50 EUR and provides a 4G hotspot from 2 gigs/mo (10 EUR) to 20 gigs/mo (55 EUR)? If so, will it provide a faster/more reliable connection than the SIM provided by Tesla in EU? Any issue with Google Maps? I have been able to connect the Tesla to my iphone as a hotspot, but it doesn't power the maps or the Slacker service fast enough to run. If I go with the dongle, has anyone determined how much data they use each month between things like the Slacker music service and navigation?
Thanks so much!
I own a US spec Model S that I have shipped to France. I have three questions I'd welcome answers to:
1. CHARGING:
-The electric car rental and charging company, Autolib, has plenty of stalls with a mix of Type 2 and J1772 connectors. Obviously I have to use the J1772 connector with the adapter that came with my US universal mobile charger. Has anyone done this yet with a US spec vehicle and if so what was the charging rate?
-Relatedly, if I can find a parking garage with a normal European outlet, I could also charge the vehicle using a universal mobile connector. The US version of the UMC can obviously take 220V and higher current, but it comes with either a Nema 14-50 or a 5-15 adapter, both of which are removable. Tesla did not advise using the 5-15 adapter with an ordinary US-to-EU (Schuko) adapter attached, for safety reasons, and I get that. But US Tesla sells the 14-50 and 5-15 adapters separately, leaving me to believe that EU Tesla must sell something like a removable Schuko adapter on the EU version of the UMC. Any idea if this is true? I can't purchase the EU UMC because, per below, it uses a Type 2 charger which my vehicle doesn't support.
2. SUPERCHARGING:
-Unfortunately, I have only recently learned that Tesla EU superchargers all use a Type 2 plug instead of the Tesla US proprietary plug. It would be quite dangerous to convert Type 2 to J1772 to the Tesla US plug. Has anyone designed something that can serve as an adapter between the Tesla US proprietary plug (female) and the Type 2 plug (male)? Has anyone successfully used the European superchargers with a US spec vehicle?
3. 3G INTERNET:
-My 3G Internet connection won't work here because it uses a US SIM which is housed in a box behind the touchscreen. Tesla has said they can swap out the SIM (no price quote yet), and the data would presumably be free, although the service will likely be steep. Has anyone been using a dongle (like the Orange Airbox Auto, which plugs into the cigarette lighter for 50 EUR and provides a 4G hotspot from 2 gigs/mo (10 EUR) to 20 gigs/mo (55 EUR)? If so, will it provide a faster/more reliable connection than the SIM provided by Tesla in EU? Any issue with Google Maps? I have been able to connect the Tesla to my iphone as a hotspot, but it doesn't power the maps or the Slacker service fast enough to run. If I go with the dongle, has anyone determined how much data they use each month between things like the Slacker music service and navigation?
Thanks so much!