Hopefully taking delivery this month of our new MY. I have had the Tesla home charger installed for a couple months now. As I have learned more about all the non super charger possibilities out there when on the road. Do Tesla owners feel like they "need" adapters? Do you find yourself driving off the beaten path enough that super chargers aren't available? I sort of have this feeling living in the midwest where superchargers aren't necessarily all over the place that it might be wise to have a backup? What are your experiences with this? And what the heck should I get if I am supposed to get one? This is a bit confusing for those of us that are new to EV's.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Do we need Charging adapters?
- Thread starter Ace_23
- Start date
The Tesla Model Y comes with a Tesla Mobile Connector (TMC) kit that includes a NEMA 5-15 power plug adapter. The TMC will enable you to plug in and charge your Tesla vehicle almost anywhere there is power. The NEMA 5-15 is the most common 120V receptacle.
For road trips you will want to use the Supercharger network as much as possible as this is the fastest way to charge. New Supercharger locations are coming; check here: supercharge.info
The Tesla vehicle also comes with an SAE J1772 adapter. This adapter enables you to charge at any public Level 2 (208-240V) charging location.
If you stay at a campground you will most likely find campsites with power connections for the good old 5-15, the Travel Trailer TT-30 and the 240V/50A NEMA 14-50.
Before purchasing a set of adapters think about where you are likely to charge when away from home. In most cases the Supercharger network backed up by the SAE J1772 adapter backed up by the TMC with the NEMA 5-15 power plug is all you will need.
Use A Better Route Planner (ABRP) (available on the web and for your phone) to plan your trips.
Use PlugShare (on the web or on your phone) to find public charging options.
Google Maps can display Supercharger locations and EV charging locations.
For road trips you will want to use the Supercharger network as much as possible as this is the fastest way to charge. New Supercharger locations are coming; check here: supercharge.info
The Tesla vehicle also comes with an SAE J1772 adapter. This adapter enables you to charge at any public Level 2 (208-240V) charging location.
If you stay at a campground you will most likely find campsites with power connections for the good old 5-15, the Travel Trailer TT-30 and the 240V/50A NEMA 14-50.
Before purchasing a set of adapters think about where you are likely to charge when away from home. In most cases the Supercharger network backed up by the SAE J1772 adapter backed up by the TMC with the NEMA 5-15 power plug is all you will need.
Use A Better Route Planner (ABRP) (available on the web and for your phone) to plan your trips.
Use PlugShare (on the web or on your phone) to find public charging options.
Google Maps can display Supercharger locations and EV charging locations.
Last edited:
I got my car back in early 2014...in Idaho. It was pretty bad. There wasn't a Supercharger anywhere within range of my house I could drive to at all. Back then, the answer would have been yes. But now, it's 2021, and it's nothing like that, and the answer is generally no--adapters not really needed. It's getting to be very few places in the lower 48 U.S. that aren't pretty reasonably covered by Superchargers or at least some other decent kind of charging. I've done a few multi-thousand mile trips around the country, and it's not a big deal and doesn't even need pre-planning most of the time.
Outside of Tesla Superchargers, there are some areas covered by other charging networks, and those two plug standards are called CCS or CHAdeMO. CHAdeMO is kind of dying, and almost no other car makers use it anymore, so I wouldn't bother buying the adapter for that. But it is looking like within the next year or two, Tesla is probably going to start selling an adapter and probable retrofit to allow Teslas to use CCS. That may be kind of useful, so I would keep an eye out for news on that.
You only really need adapters if you know you'll be regularly needing to charge in a location with a specific outlet. If I were going to my mother in law's, I might just buy a 10-30 so I could plug in to her dryer outlet. But otherwise, between the 5-15 and J1772 that come with the car and the supercharger network you should be fine.
Similar threads
