Help with Level 2 Charger Recommendation

[GoNDeep11]

Hello all, My apologies in advance if this has been asked. I searched and couldn't find a post with the info I needed. I just had a 14-50 outlet installed. I wanted the versatility of the outlet vs. hard-wire for the Tesla Branded wall charger. I purchased a JuiceBox 40 Wi-Fi Enabled EV Charging Station - 40 Amp

I am having second thoughts, looking for a recomendation on a top level charger, This is only 40amps and from what I see I can charge my M3LR Performance up to 48amps
I got the charger from my local power company with a rebate of 250 so it only cost me 399, should I just stick with it when it gets here or buy something else, im good with spending the money
to upgrade. Any help appreciated for this newbie! THank you!!!

​

 

[Frank99]

I charge my Model 3 LR RWD at 32A, and in three years haven’t needed more.
The first question to ask yourself is, do you need 48A charging? If you expect to drive 250 miles in the morning, and pull into your garage for a lunch break before heading out to do another 250 miles in the late afternoon, you might need the fastest charging you can get. For 99.9% off owners, however, plugging in when you get home at night and letting the car charge overnight works fine, and in that case it simply doesn’t matter whether you charge at 32A, 40A, or 48A - in all three cases the car is fully charged when you walk out to it in the morning.
The chart on this page

Wall Connector

The Tesla Wall Connector is the most efficient way to charge a Tesla at home — just plug in your vehicle overnight and wake up to a charged vehicle.

www.tesla.com

shows how many miles of range you can expect to add for various charging currents- for example, a 60A circuit will charge at 48A and will add 44 miles of range for every hour spent charging on a LR model 3 (SR/MR models are lower).

 

[GoNDeep11]

I charge my Model 3 LR RWD at 32A, and in three years haven’t needed more.
The first question to ask yourself is, do you need 48A charging? If you expect to drive 250 miles in the morning, and pull into your garage for a lunch break before heading out to do another 250 miles in the late afternoon, you might need the fastest charging you can get. For 99.9% off owners, however, plugging in when you get home at night and letting the car charge overnight works fine, and in that case it simply doesn’t matter whether you charge at 32A, 40A, or 48A - in all three cases the car is fully charged when you walk out to it in the morning.
The chart on this page

Wall Connector

The Tesla Wall Connector is the most efficient way to charge a Tesla at home — just plug in your vehicle overnight and wake up to a charged vehicle.

www.tesla.com

shows how many miles of range you can expect to add for various charging currents- for example, a 60A circuit will charge at 48A and will add 44 miles of range for every hour spent charging on a LR model 3 (SR/MR models are lower).

Thanks Frank, this makes perfect sense. I need to stop always looking for the best of everything... I drive less than most people and you are correct, what I have if more than adequate... Appreciate you bringing back down to earth! Stay Safe

 

[jjrandorin]

Hello all, My apologies in advance if this has been asked. I searched and couldn't find a post with the info I needed. I just had a 14-50 outlet installed. I wanted the versatility of the outlet vs. hard-wire for the Tesla Branded wall charger. I purchased a JuiceBox 40 Wi-Fi Enabled EV Charging Station - 40 Amp

I am having second thoughts, looking for a recomendation on a top level charger, This is only 40amps and from what I see I can charge my M3LR Performance up to 48amps
I got the charger from my local power company with a rebate of 250 so it only cost me 399, should I just stick with it when it gets here or buy something else, im good with spending the money
to upgrade. Any help appreciated for this newbie! THank you!!!

​

Hello OP, welcome to TMC,

Your desire to want to charge at the fastest speed your vehicle can do is a common one. The best value for doing that is actually the hard wired tesla wall connector.

With that being said, 2.5 years ago when I bought my model 3 performance, I also wanted to charge at "the fastest speed my car would charge", so I got a tesla wall connector (version 2 at that time). While I can charge my car at 48amps, and love the fact that It charges at roughly 44 miles per hour charge rate, there has not been 1 single time in my ownership of the car where that charge rate was "needed" even in the slightest.

The difference in charge rate between 32amps and 48amps for charging speed, for regular usage, will not make any difference in your life unless you drive the entire capacity of your battery out nightly, AND need to fit charging into a small window in the middle of the night.

I dont regret getting setup for 48amp at all. I also am one who "likes to get the best of everything" if I can afford it. So, I dont regret it at all, and would do it again, but also can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, with full confidence, that, charging at 32amps vs 48 wont impact your life in any measurable way, other than going against your stated desire to "get the best".

Hope that helps.

 

[ETinKC]

I started with a 15-40 outlet and decided to change it to a dedicated Tesla charger. But my situation definitely may not be your situation. First off I park outside in my driveway in the plug on the side of the deck just isn’t as pretty as that Tesla charger. Also I was worried about someone walking away with my cable so I would have to put the cable away after I charged it every time and that was becoming a pain. I like having the dedicated charger at home and then knowing that The cable is always in my trunk if I need it.

 

[Sophias_dad]

rebate of 250 so it only cost me 399

And after the federal tax credit, that's either $205 or $279, depending on whether you try to claim it as a $650 or $399 charger. Even a brand new Gen3 HPWC is only $350 after the credit, and that would get you to 48 amps.

48 amps is totally unnecessary for most people, though.

 

[charlieaf92]

As others mentioned, the full speed of the wall connector is generally overkill. Prior to getting my Tesla I was fixated on miles per hour of charge time and figured I'd want the fastest possible. Now that I've had it for a while I realized it isn't needed. Most days I replenish what I use in less than 2 hours.

 

[Gasaraki]

I say just stick with it since you already got it. It's not going to be much slower.

 

[MaskedRacerX]

Well, a 14-50 should be on a 50a circuit (the NEMA spec means a 14 type receptacle and 50a load), and you want to have about a 20% margin with the amount you run through it, so you shouldn't run a 48a charger on a 50a circuit.

I'm doing the same: N6-50 receptacle on a 50a circuit, with a plug-in 40a (max) EVSE (Grizzl-E Smart), works terrific, I see ~35-36 miles/hour charging rate, use the Tesla_to_J1772 adapter that came with our M3P. We also use it to charge our Wrangler 4xe (at 32a).

 

[GoNDeep11]

Hello OP, welcome to TMC,

Your desire to want to charge at the fastest speed your vehicle can do is a common one. The best value for doing that is actually the hard wired tesla wall connector.

With that being said, 2.5 years ago when I bought my model 3 performance, I also wanted to charge at "the fastest speed my car would charge", so I got a tesla wall connector (version 2 at that time). While I can charge my car at 48amps, and love the fact that It charges at roughly 44 miles per hour charge rate, there has not been 1 single time in my ownership of the car where that charge rate was "needed" even in the slightest.

The difference in charge rate between 32amps and 48amps for charging speed, for regular usage, will not make any difference in your life unless you drive the entire capacity of your battery out nightly, AND need to fit charging into a small window in the middle of the night.

I dont regret getting setup for 48amp at all. I also am one who "likes to get the best of everything" if I can afford it. So, I dont regret it at all, and would do it again, but also can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, with full confidence, that, charging at 32amps vs 48 wont impact your life in any measurable way, other than going against your stated desire to "get the best".

Hope that helps.

Great feedback and thank you for the great advice! Thanks for the welcome as well..... I appreciate more than I can express all the knowledge and wealth of information that you guys/girls have. Looking forward to learning from all here! Stay safe!

 

[GoNDeep11]

Thanks All for the insight!~ I appreciate everyone here....

 

[medphys3]

Don’t over think this. Why not just use the mobile charger that comes with the car and buy the $35 adapter?

FWIW- I drive 120 daily and only have an el cheapo 10-30 outlet in my garage. Easy peasy.

 

[holeydonut]

I dont regret getting setup for 48amp at all. I also am one who "likes to get the best of everything" if I can afford it. So, I dont regret it at all, and would do it again, but also can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, with full confidence, that, charging at 32amps vs 48 wont impact your life in any measurable way, other than going against your stated desire to "get the best".

Hope that helps.

Dude you're missing out on the most important part of getting the Gen 3 HPWC....



It's white with green blinky LED's so it matches Tesla Powerwalls all pretty like.

 

[jjrandorin]

Dude you're missing out on the most important part of getting the Gen 3 HPWC....



It's white with green blinky LED's so it matches Tesla Powerwalls all pretty like.

ROFL... mine is a gen 2, and black. The gen 3 would match better (and its right near my powerwalls too), but at least right now I prefer the gen 2.

 

[holeydonut]

ROFL... mine is a gen 2, and black. The gen 3 would match better (and its right near my powerwalls too), but at least right now I prefer the gen 2.

I just wish Tesla sold branded disconnects in their signature white color...

 

[Big Dog]

Hello OP, welcome to TMC,

Your desire to want to charge at the fastest speed your vehicle can do is a common one. The best value for doing that is actually the hard wired tesla wall connector.

With that being said, 2.5 years ago when I bought my model 3 performance, I also wanted to charge at "the fastest speed my car would charge", so I got a tesla wall connector (version 2 at that time). While I can charge my car at 48amps, and love the fact that It charges at roughly 44 miles per hour charge rate, there has not been 1 single time in my ownership of the car where that charge rate was "needed" even in the slightest.

The difference in charge rate between 32amps and 48amps for charging speed, for regular usage, will not make any difference in your life unless you drive the entire capacity of your battery out nightly, AND need to fit charging into a small window in the middle of the night.

I dont regret getting setup for 48amp at all. I also am one who "likes to get the best of everything" if I can afford it. So, I dont regret it at all, and would do it again, but also can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, with full confidence, that, charging at 32amps vs 48 wont impact your life in any measurable way, other than going against your stated desire to "get the best".

Hope that helps.

Totally agree except that I did have an emergency call from my kid and thought I might have to drive all evening, so that one time I set charge on 48 amps Trip mode (100% charge) while I packed a go-bag. Fortunately, it became a false alarm, so 30 minutes later I was able to throttle it back to 32 amps which is what I normally charge at. So, in 2.5 years, I've used the 48 amp charge speed once.

Don't underestimate teh cool factor, however, showing the Tesla WC off to your neighbors!

 

[holeydonut]

BTW, one of the reasons I wanted the Gen 3 HPWC (aside from it looking awesome) is that my house is maxed out on the NEC load calculation. The sum of all continuous and partial loads is approaching the 200 vA max. Since I can't get two EV chargers installed, I figure I'll need as rapid charge as possible I ever get 2 (or more?) EVs, and we need to charge up a big before work.

PG&E is terrible and basically throttles EV charging to after midnight unless I'm willing to drain the Powerwalls. This means maybe 6 effective hours of charging before the morning commute spread between 2 cars. Gotta squeeeeeze as much juice as possible out of this HPWC contraption.

 

[GoNDeep11]

All you guys are great, great sense of humors as well.... So I show up tonight from getting the vehicle tinted and there's a package on my porch.
I previously ordered the new Tesla Charger and it was lost in the mail. I sent them a message for a refund and ordered the one I originally posted (OP)
Well SHOOT, I think I might call back the electrician since the Tesla one is here, I'll return the other one and Live without the 14-50 circut that I had to have ( Lived over 50 years without one but some strange reason I thought I needed it lol.... I feel like my wife picking out what to wear for dinner!

 

[toolman335]

I have a Juicebox and love it. I wanted to be able to plug it in, plug it out, and easily take it with me if I move. Plus it gives you versatility if you or any guests have a different EV.
35 miles of charge per hour is PLENTY.

 

[Stan930]

I’ve had my Juicebox for almost 5 years now. Has been bulletproof so far!