Here's how to charge with 32A commando in UK

[Mr Miserable]

if you have a 32A commando its going to draw max 7.4 kw on a single phase, most homes in UK are single, its very rare to see triple phase unless you're a commercial building or you're next to one that shares the same line, especially on old build homes, just wont see it 100%! 32A commando going to work the same as a e.g gen 3 wall connector, as you're likely to be limited 7.4 kw, save that money. all these fancy wall chargers is just a management system to tell you its charging from your phone, you can just look in your car then go to sleep, its still going to take a long time to charge but at least you'll be paying for a low rate. fyi. mine only cost £460 plus labour (buckinghamshire) hope this saves you all money if you're looking for solution, as this is the cheapest solution I've found which makes sense. if you think paying about double of what I got mine for a smart charger to tell you, its charging then thats madness, but if your setup can actually pull more than 7.4kw and you're in need for speedy charging then yeah spend the money.

This is very poor advice.
There are many threads on this forum with sound advice from qualified electriclans on this subject.
As more folk join the EV revolution they 'discover' cheap charging 'solutions'.
The post above is not the answer for long term regular charging.

 

[Avendit]

My emergency charging backup is the same as this (in case my Zappi should be out of action). I strongly suggest that you make a support for the UMC. That kink will be bad news after a while.

Especially at 32a. And as @Mr Miserable said - the UMC is not as well protected as a wall charger. And I say this as someone that used a 16a commando for 8 months before getting a real charger.

 

[Adopado]

This is very poor advice.
There are many threads on this forum with sound advice from qualified electriclans on this subject.

So long as the commando is installed according to regs it's a reasonable option (not always the best). Given that he forked out £460 it may well have been properly installed.

 

[Adopado]

Especially at 32a. And as @Mr Miserable said - the UMC is not as well protected as a wall charger. And I say this as someone that used a 16a commando for 8 months before getting a real charger.

The UMC is specced to be able to charge at 32 amps ... that's why Tesla supplies the appropriate adapter. So long as the commando socket installation follows the appropriate regulations there's no reason why it shouldn't be as safe as any other charge point.

 

[Avendit]

The UMC is specced to be able to charge at 32 amps ... that's why Tesla supplies the appropriate adapter. So long as the commando socket installation follows the appropriate regulations there's no reason why it shouldn't be as safe as any other charge point.

It doesn't have the same level of pen(?) protection I believe, but as long as that's added to the circuit it's installed in it should be fine. But at that point the install stops saving you much. A zappi or EO mini will only be £200 more than this install cost.

 

[Undecided_2]

I’m having the Tesla 3 charger installed and the electrician who also runs several EV vehicles gave me some options. He talked about the commando and that when properly installed (protection) is a viable option. I opted for the Tesla charger on his recommendation as I’ll have additional options for Powerwall and Solar.

 

[scdoubleu]

I’m having the Tesla 3 charger installed and the electrician who also runs several EV vehicles gave me some options. He talked about the commando and that when properly installed (protection) is a viable option. I opted for the Tesla charger on his recommendation as I’ll have additional options for Powerwall and Solar.

Any day now, Tesla will have the WC3 and Powerwall talking to each other over WiFi to enable charging with excess solar.

Any day now...

 

[Undecided_2]

Any day now, Tesla will have the WC3 and Powerwall talking to each other over WiFi to enable charging with excess solar.

Any day now...

I know, any day now… at least I’ll be ready, unless they change the spec and I need the Tesla charger V7.3 in 2028!!

 

[Fursty Ferret]

UMC is not as well protected as a wall charger

I think if you have a look at the inside of a wall charger you'd be surprised. They're just a couple of contactors and not particularly chunky ones at that. Most of them are internet connected and nearly all have a Raspberry Pi inside. This is arguably massive overkill for a charger and is really there to track energy use and make the pretty LEDs flash, but in reality introduces significant vulnerabilities both in terms of failure paths and susceptibility to dodgy third parties.

The UMC is far more robust.

With appropriate PEN fault protection and safe isolation/lockout there is no reason why you couldn't use the UMC with a 32A Commando socket on a regular basis.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

A commando socket and the UMC was the Tesla way for many years. Tesla even paid for the installation of my commando socket in 2015 which I used to charge my car until about 3 years ago when I got a Tesla wall charger as a referral reward.

Regulations change all the time and things like the DC protection you now need wasn’t a thing when I had mine installed, and regulations aren’t retrospectively applied. Is it safer today? Yes. Is it unsafe if you don’t. No, it’s marginally less safe but that’s not the same as unsafe. You also can’t get a new connect signed off unless it meets the new regs.

 

[Artiste]

I’ve been using a 32A commando since September 2019. It was much cheaper for me because I couldn’t get the OLEV grant. I did most of the installation myself - it isn’t difficult - and just got an electrician to wire it into the consumer unit and make sure it was done properly. It’s as dumb as a box of rocks, which I like, and has been 100% reliable. Scheduling and statistics are of no interest to me.

 

[Mr Miserable]

Flying a kite with copper wire during a thunderstorm remains totally legal.

 

[Sparkeur]

To be fair since I purchased my car, I have used a professionally installed 32A socket with a Tesla UMC without any problem - according to Jedlix, I've put 6800kwh through it. It wasn't by choice, it was because at the time, in my remote corner of France, I could neither get a wall-charger or find an electrician who knew anything about them. It was Tesla Bordeaux who steered me the 32A route at the time and I just haven't bothered to change it.

 

[Mr Miserable]

To be fair since I purchased my car, I have used a professionally installed 32A socket with a Tesla UMC without any problem - according to Jedlix, I've put 6800kwh through it. It wasn't by choice, it was because at the time, in my remote corner of France, I could neither get a wall-charger or find an electrician who knew anything about them. It was Tesla Bordeaux who steered me the 32A route at the time and I just haven't bothered to change it.

Is it inside a garage?

 

[Tony Hoyle]

I know, any day now… at least I’ll be ready, unless they change the spec and I need the Tesla charger V7.3 in 2028!!

They're going to have to do some fairly major updates to the TWC to allow it to be sold in the UK after July when all chargepoints sold must be 'smart' (have internal timers, etc.).

I fully expect the WC3 is capable of being modified in software.. when they're doing that they might as well integrate it with everything else like they've been saying they were going to for ages.

 

[Undecided_2]

Flying a kite with copper wire during a thunderstorm remains totally legal.

Fascinating

 

[Sparkeur]

Is it inside a garage?

Yes, well....a three hundred year-old stone outhouse if that counts

 

[Artiste]

Is it inside a garage?

Mine certainly isn’t. It’s on an external wall and open to the elements. Next time I charge I might fly my kite at the same time and see which zaps me first

 

[Type2]

Flying a kite with copper wire during a thunderstorm remains totally legal.

Using a 32A Commando isn’t much different from using a 3 pin UMC. The current might be higher but the voltage and the principle are the same. I’ve never heard anyone express concerns about the safety of the UMC, except that in some very old houses a continuous load of 10A might be too much for the dodgy wiring to the sockets. If that’s the case a commando properly wired into the consumer unit might actually be safer than a 3 pin UMC.

 

[RichardTheKing]

First charge yesterday with my 32a commando 53kWh in 7 hours,