Gen 3 Wall Connector

[COlsen1]

From my reading the power sharing documentation it seems like it would work identical to the Gen2, just different implementation. In a gen2 if you had one direct wired wall connector and wanted to add a second you would do the following: Interrupt the circuit and set a junction box. Inside that box you would basically split the wire and connect a second set of wires that go to your second wall connector. You would than run a signal wire between the two chargers, set the jumper on the first charger to the max amperage and than set the second one to slave.
The way I'm reading the Gen3 wall connector you could still do the same thing if you wanted except you wouldn't need to wire the signal wire. You would than go on the app and set the max charge rate for each connector as the max circuit capacity and also set the max charge rate for the group of connectors the same way. IMO if would be easier to add a second Gen3 wall connector since there is no signal wire.
My preference would still be a dedicated home-run to the panel for the second charger but I know this isn't always practical. You could still set a max rate for the pair of chargers as to not overload the available power for the residence.

Depending if they implement priority charging or not you could do the above wiring method, wire both with the same wire gauge (since they would be ultimately connected to the same over-current protection (breaker) but set one max charge lower than the other so that the power wouldn't be shared evenly but would give more power to a specified charger.

 

[Rocky_H]

What is the price difference between this unit and the previous one?

Apparently no difference; this new less capable one with lower power and shorter cable is still $500. So I am now willing to sell my suddenly more valuable new-in-box Signature Black version2 wall connector for $700.

Sure when you connect more than one wall connector and don't want to make a separate run of wire.

For example if my wife were to get a model Y and I have a model 3, and I want to wire up a second charger for her car, I can simply extend my current run to a second V2 charging station. With V3 I have to run another circuit from the back of my house to the front for the second wall connector. Thats like $1000 + materials vs only the cost of material to DIY a second V2 charger.

I guess I could convert the V2 charger to a sub panel, then connect two V3 chargers to the sub panel... That would be an another option. But the V3 setup would be allot more expensive with little gain. I'd ratehr have 2 V2 stations, and 24' of cord.

That is not a difference between version 2 and 3. The power wiring works the same way for both, and no, there would not be any need to run another circuit from the back of your house.

With either type, you just have to split the single circuit somewhere a little upstream, like in your garage, with a junction box or sub-panel. So the power connections work the same way, but the difference is that the new wall connectors can talk with each other over their wi-fi connections instead of having to do that extra run of twisted pair wiring directly between them.

 

[eladts]

From my reading the power sharing documentation it seems like it would work identical to the Gen2, just different implementation. In a gen2 if you had one direct wired wall connector and wanted to add a second you would do the following: Interrupt the circuit and set a junction box. Inside that box you would basically split the wire and connect a second set of wires that go to your second wall connector. You would than run a signal wire between the two chargers, set the jumper on the first charger to the max amperage and than set the second one to slave.
The way I'm reading the Gen3 wall connector you could still do the same thing if you wanted except you wouldn't need to wire the signal wire. You would than go on the app and set the max charge rate for each connector as the max circuit capacity and also set the max charge rate for the group of connectors the same way. IMO if would be easier to add a second Gen3 wall connector since there is no signal wire.
My preference would still be a dedicated home-run to the panel for the second charger but I know this isn't always practical. You could still set a max rate for the pair of chargers as to not overload the available power for the residence.

Depending if they implement priority charging or not you could do the above wiring method, wire both with the same wire gauge (since they would be ultimately connected to the same over-current protection (breaker) but set one max charge lower than the other so that the power wouldn't be shared evenly but would give more power to a specified charger.

Not quite. The Gen 3 manual clearly shows that each shared Wall Connector has its own breaker. That allows you to share more than the capacity of a single Wall Connector. With Gen 2, there is no way to share more than 80A. If it worked the same with Gen 3, you couldn't share more than 48A.

 

[Rocky_H]

Not quite. The Gen 3 manual clearly shows that each shared Wall Connector has its own breaker.

Yes, you could do the same thing with breakers in a subpanel with the version 2 also. One single 100A breaker in the main, go to subpanel, 4 more 100A breakers there, going to all four connected wall connectors. That was one of the methods you could use to split it.

That allows you to share more than the capacity of a single Wall Connector. With Gen 2, there is no way to share more than 80A. If it worked the same with Gen 3, you couldn't share more than 48A.

I'll have to check the v3 manual a bit more then to see if that's how that works.

 

[miimura]

Yes, you could do the same thing with breakers in a subpanel with the version 2 also. One single 100A breaker in the main, go to subpanel, 4 more 100A breakers there, going to all four connected wall connectors. That was one of the methods you could use to split it.

I'll have to check the v3 manual a bit more then to see if that's how that works.

The main difference is that the Web UI in the Gen 3 WC allows you to specify the amperage of the shared power. Gen 2 must use the amperage of the breaker on the Master, and all must be the same.

Obviously, I've not tried it, but it might be possible to use a mixture of 40A or 50A circuits with 60A circuits in the same group with the Gen 3 WC. That is definitely not possible with Gen 2 WCs.

 

[eladts]

Yes, you could do the same thing with breakers in a subpanel with the version 2 also. One single 100A breaker in the main, go to subpanel, 4 more 100A breakers there, going to all four connected wall connectors. That was one of the methods you could use to split it.

The difference is that with Gen 2 the max current for the group is the same is the breaker(s) rating, so you can't share more than 100A. Also, if you share 100A all the wiring must support that which makes the installation expensive, even though the chance that a single car will need the full rating is pretty low. With Gen 3 you can share, for example, a 200A panel to 10 40A circuits.

 

[Glamisduner]

The difference is that with Gen 2 the max current for the group is the same is the breaker(s) rating, so you can't share more than 100A. Also, if you share 100A all the wiring must support that which makes the installation expensive, even though the chance that a single car will need the full rating is pretty low. With Gen 3 you can share, for example, a 200A panel to 10 40A circuits.

I dunno, 2 runs is more than a single run for cost, plus a single run that you can / maybe expand later is likely a better solution for most tesla owners. Sure if you do a sub panel, then that will work effectively the same but a sub panel, again, is more cost. But now you have to rely on wifi too? Does it run on it's own network?

My Point is that while this is a great new product, I don't see any real incentive for people to upgrade, when their older charger is more capable than the new version for most home use. Just like the old portable chargers would charge at 40 amps off a 14-50 while the new ones are limited to 32 amps.

I'm not against V3, it just won't matter much for home owners, for businesses it's a great way to expand the number of chargers. If I'm staying at a resort / hotel etc I don't care if I can only charge at 20 amps, I care much more about just having a plug to begin with!

Also it is disappointing that new cars are home charging slower than older models. While it's fast enough for now, I have a feeling things will change again when the cyber truck / roadster are released, and you want to quickly charge up the 500 miles of range at home.

The difference is that with Gen 2 the max current for the group is the same is the breaker(s) rating, so you can't share more than 100A. Also, if you share 100A all the wiring must support that which makes the installation expensive, even though the chance that a single car will need the full rating is pretty low. With Gen 3 you can share, for example, a 200A panel to 10 40A circuits.

I mean technically you could do this before too, the difference is that all chargers would be stuck at a slower rate, vs being able to ramp up when the other chargers are not in use.

I could be wrong but most home owners do not have a 200 amp panel dedicated just for charging their cars. Maybe in the future though! I think once you get to a 3rd or 4th charging station you will really start taking advantage of the new charger. If you only have one or two chargers then the old V2 charger will work the same or better. (Higher maximum charge rate, and longer cord and NO WIFI).

 

[MP3Mike]

I could be wrong but most home owners do not have a 200 amp panel dedicated just for charging their cars. Maybe in the future though! I think once you get to a 3rd or 4th charging station you will really start taking advantage of the new charger. If you only have one or two chargers then the old V2 charger will work the same or better. (Higher maximum charge rate, and longer cord and NO WIFI).

My guess is that they will eventually release more components that allows them to monitor site load and balance total site load to a specific amount. So that you could share your entire 200A service with WCs and it will throttle them based on your other usage in the house. (Makes a lot of sense for commercial, and multi-family residential, installs, not so much for single-family residential.)

 

[TT97]

But now you have to rely on wifi too? Does it run on it's own network?

Per the owner's manual, it will be a "unit-to-unit Wi-Fi" so will not be subject to your network. It also mentions, power sharing "will be available in a future over-the-air firmware update" which always concerns me from Tesla.

 

[TT97]

No breakdown... just overall.

California ISO

Here is the link for the breakdown:

California ISO - Todays Outlook

 

[CSFTN]

Scheduled departure is probably worse than setting a start time as this causes almost everyone to charge in the late morning - like 5-7am. So that would create higher demand on the grid on that time. I wrote a routine in Python that uses the Tesla API to do a scheduled departure charge for 7am.

But that is the optimal way to charge, especially when you live in a cold weather spot as your want your battery to be warm when you leave so that you don't have limited regen. I needed that this morning in Toronto as we had our first very cold day of the year at -14C. And that is nothing compared to Western Canada where the temps have been more like -30 and the newly opened V3 Superchargers aren't operating due to the cold.

So it would seem to me that the smartest future would include your car randomly starting recharge in such a fashion that it is 99% done in time to stop, and restart at low power such that it is 100% done and warm at time of scheduled destination, but it would check with the local utility first to make sure that works.

 

[Fousthvk]

Umm well that sucks I have a $200 coupon for the Tesla store I was going to buy a gen 2 to install in my garage that I need to share the same breaker. Hopefully they can still let me buy one since this one doesn’t support the communication wire.

 

[Sapan211]

Does anyone know the UPC/EAN code for this product? Trying to add it in our IMS at work.

 

[Fobia]

Now there is a 8.5' cable length option besides the 18'

 

[JPELKA]

Just installed. Definitely need the 24” cord. Guess I’m backing in... I park right in front of the charger and literally has to lay over my hood to reach the back of the car. No idea why they would shorten the cable...

 

[Ostrichsak]

Just installed. Definitely need the 24” cord. Guess I’m backing in... I park right in front of the charger and literally has to lay over my hood to reach the back of the car. No idea why they would shorten the cable...View attachment 505316View attachment 505317View attachment 505318

Wire gauge (thickness) is directly related to power and length of run (among other things). So, if all other variables are the same, a shorter run will allow for using thinner wire. In this case, it is most likely for cost savings or the ability to use a thinner cable for ease of use. A few have claimed that the larger thickness cable was difficult for some to manipulate. That seems silly to me but people tend to freak out when I point out the obvious that Tesla did it to save cost for some odd reason so I'll add it to the short list of possibilities. My guess is that the chosen length lands them right under the requirement for a thicker gauge wire and this can make for a not only a larger cable but much more expensive parts costs since the cost of copper rises drastically between various sizes.

 

[JPELKA]

Agreed but they still need a 24ft option of some sort even if cost is more, Id gladly pay.
Plus they no longer sell the Gen 2 chargers online so literally if you need any more than 18 your out of luck.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Agreed but they still need a 24ft option of some sort even if cost is more, Id gladly pay.
Plus they no longer sell the Gen 2 chargers online so literally if you need any more than 18 your out of luck.

Just like previously if you needed anything more than 24' you were out of luck.

 

[JPELKA]

24' is good for 90% of applications. Making a cable 18' just isnt smart considering the car is 15.5 feet give no room for slack.
Even if someone to park directly nose first into the charger it barely reaches.

 

[Ostrichsak]

24' is good for 90% of applications. Making a cable 18' just isnt smart considering the car is 15.5 feet give no room for slack.
Even if someone to park directly nose first into the charger it barely reaches.

99% of stats are made up.

It clearly just means people will have to choose better places to mount the wall unit or park differently which is exactly what most everyone else will do. For the other 99% of people out there it means a thinner cable & lower price. I'm sure those with a 13' reach or 9' reach would rather not pay more money and have a thicker cable when the 19' and along those lines I'm sure you'd rather not pay $100 more for a HPWC that had a 35' reach when it's not something you'll ever use.

In the world of legitimate Tesla decision complaints the difference between a 18' and 24' cable has got to be near the bottom.