Does NEMA 14-50 Adapter No Longer Come with Car?

[beatle]

I plan on picking up a second mobile charger and leaving it plugged into my 14-50 all the time. They're under $300 on ebay.

 

[JPoldo]

I plan on picking up a second mobile charger and leaving it plugged into my 14-50 all the time. They're under $300 on ebay.

Try to get a version 1 UMC because it permits 40 amps of charging vs. 20% less with version 2. However, make sure your circuit can continuously deliver 40A. As others have mentioned, replace receptacle if it gets hot. You should receive around 29 mi/hr charging.

 

[ReddykwRun]

A couple of things to note here...

First up, "get a hard-wired EV charger" isn't as simple or cost-effective for all. Some have VERY expensive installs in order to install an HPWC and it could run several thousand dollars. One person I know parks on the other side of the house from his panel and service as they're both on the opposite side of his house. Due to this, he got quotes approaching $10k just to install an HPWC. Yikes! In his situation, he already had a NEMA 14-50 so he was able to achieve perfectly acceptable charge rates for basically free.

Secondly, the cause of NEMA 14-50 failures/fires is improper installation more often than not. If the wire isn't fully stripped so the wire lands properly and is fully tightened this can cause resistance and over time this will be a bit time no-no. Rarely is a fire caused due to being plugged in and unplugged repeatedly. The spring tension on these sorts of receptacles will survive thousands of plus/unplug interactions. If you're concerned about it you can replace the receptacle every few years or so at the cost of ten to twenty bucks. Doing this you also increase the likelihood of improperly landing one of the wires at some point.

The bottom line is that we want them restrict our options LESS not more due to a few outlier issues. When you own an EV there is a certain number of inherent risks this comes with. Being able to charge quickly is a necessary evil for most and running more juice steps up the potential for danger. Just the nature of the beast.

Offset this with the elimination of gas cans and other flammable chemicals that most store in their garage for your ICE car and you greatly decrease your odds of a fire even with a NEMA 14-50 that you plug in and unplug hourly just for fun.

Summary: removing the 14-50 adapter greatly hampers progress with the average consumer they're going to need to win over if they wish to remain relevant once all the fanbois have bought their Tesla already.

The 14-50 option is a lifesaver in my travels in AZ. The superchargers are far and few in some of the wide-open spaces. Having a little something extra in my charging arsenal is comforting. Look on the map around Young, AZ, there ain't much except for Payson. The 14-50 adaptor along with a 14-50 extension cord made a vacation possible and one less thing to be concerned with. Always gotta have a "Plan B".

 

[ReddykwRun]

I'm mostly worried about a "perfect crap storm" of:

1. cold snap
   
2. drag the car home at 10:00 at night with 15% battery and wicked cranky kids
3. don't plug it in while the battery is still warm
4. plug it in the next morning when the car is covered with ice, has 10 miles of range, and the battery is cold soaked

If the 3.8kwh charger is sufficiently powerful to warm up the battery and possibly the cabin and even add a couple miles per hour after being plugged in for 45 minutes, I'll call that circuit "good enough"

It is certainly more than good enough to charge my car "overnight" in normal usage, even if I let the car go down to 10%, but that's not fighting a deeply cold soaked battery outside in terrible weather.

But, given that I'm in between the 3 superchargers in town, the one in Dedham (that's always busy with service center cars) and the one being built in Chestnut Hill and I've got a 6kwh charger at work, I think I'm pretty much covered for charging needs.

This is the exact reason I recommend PLUGLESSPOWER solution. Takes the "I forgot" senario out of the loop. Drive in, timer does it's thing and wake up to a charged battery.

 

[cduzz]

The 14-50 option is a lifesaver in my travels in AZ. The superchargers are far and few in some of the wide-open spaces. Having a little something extra in my charging arsenal is comforting. Look on the map around Young, AZ, there ain't much except for Payson. The 14-50 adaptor along with a 14-50 extension cord made a vacation possible and one less thing to be concerned with. Always gotta have a "Plan B".

I agree -- 14-50 and other plugs are extremely valuable in the car while traveling. I also believe that for home charging you are much much better off with a hard-wired EV charger setup. The problems crop up when you are constantly plugging / unplugging from a marginal 14-50 plug; the cheap ones are designed to be plugged / unplugged 30 times total before they start to fail. That's fine for an electric dryer, not fine for joe on the go who is grabbing the mobile charger out of the garage twice a week.

A 14-50 at home may be a safe alternative if you never plan on unplugging it, but then you don't get to use it when out and about.

The claim of "it is $2000 or more to get a hardwired EV charging setup instead of a 14-50" is silly -- if you have a convenient 14-50, you can just reuse that circuit. If you do not, the cost of the work is pulling permits, updating the panel, running huge wires through the house or trenching; not the $500 ev charger you install at the end.

 

[SilverGS]

Summary: removing the 14-50 adapter greatly hampers progress with the average consumer they're going to need to win over if they wish to remain relevant once all the fanbois have bought their Tesla already.

100% agreed, its not a good move. Having said that, I just got my 75D 3 months ago (perhaps I wasn't a typical potential EV buyer as I've wanted one for about 5 years) and if it didn't had the 14-50 plug, it would not have made any difference to me.

I can't see how this will actually stop someone from buying an EV though.