HPWC v. Upgraded Stereo

[JST]

I'd been planning to get the HPWC, but a consultation with an electrician confirmed that I don't have the juice to do a 100A install without serious panel upgrades. Even then, I was thinking I'd get it, for three reasons:

1. Convenience of having the HPWC mounted to the wall, v. having to drag the cable out of the trunk every night;

2. The possibility of being able to charge faster when on the road, if I find an HPWC; and

3. Resale.

But then I spoke with the consultant at the dealer, who said that even the HPWCs at the dealers don't generally charge at the full 80A.

So then I thought maybe I should skip the HPWC (and twin chargers) and just get the fancy stereo, which costs way more than it should but which I'd actually enjoy (particularly the XM bit).

Thoughts? I could theoretically get both, but I have to draw the line somewhere--and for me, 95K is the limit I've imposed to maintain sanity.

If it's relevant, I don't have a garage and will be charging outside, which is one of the reasons I can see the appeal of not having to wrestle the (possibly wet, snowy, muddy) cable back into the car every morning.

 

[Lloyd]

I would say it depends on how much "on the road" driving you do, and the availability of > 40 amp EVSE's on your routes now and in the future.

I have not heard a standard stereo and it is hard to comment on that.

I charge at home at 20 amps 240 and it is fine. I have an HPWC also.

I think you will find with the internet options available with the car you will care less about XM! I don't use it at all anymore!!

Being outside is relavent also as the HPWC is more weatherproof than a plug.

Later you can add the twin Chargers and the HPWC (for increased cost), but you can't add the stereo. That said, if you have to delete one, I'd delete the HPWC option and get the stereo upgrade.

 

[texex91]

Um, don't waste your money on the 'fancy' stereo as it's not worth it. Just stick with the basic one (both are bad IMHO) and play with the settings to get better sound. I don't use XM anymore, so that's not worth it either.

I would get the charger in a heart beat over the "upgraded" stereo.

 

[DIL]

Hopefully this helps: From what I can tell, in most cases and real world conditions neither the HPWC nor the upgraded stereo are worth it. It is rare that you can actually take advantage of the HPWC. The consensus is that the standard stereo is sufficient. If you're an audiophile you will want an aftermarket system anyway. (I spend way too much time reading this forum. Lots of helpful people and comments = Wisdom of Crowds)

 

[Gizmotoy]

I annoyed the guys at the Tesla showroom for an hour or so comparing the stereos. The stock system did not sound good, mostly in the lack of lows. I found the upgraded system satisfactory for my needs. Not great, but significantly better. I don't have a crazy upgraded system in my current car (just a Rockford Fosgate OEM upgrade), but I don't think I could tolerate the stock system, especially on such an expensive car. The Rockford had the same kind of "this system is terrible" comments and I ended up loving it, so I hope I'll be in the same boat this time around.

I'm on the west coast so I looked into the Reus installs, but I'm not sure I want to pull apart a new car, or drive to LA/ship someone up to do the install. The couple people who post here who were ripped off by them on previous cars probably assisted in scaring me away.

The HPWC is kind of up to you. You already know the pros and cons.

 

[efusco]

Hopefully this helps: From what I can tell, in most cases and real world conditions neither the HPWC nor the upgraded stereo are worth it. It is rare that you can actually take advantage of the HPWC. The consensus is that the standard stereo is sufficient. If you're an audiophile you will want an aftermarket system anyway. (I spend way too much time reading this forum. Lots of helpful people and comments = Wisdom of Crowds)

This is probably your best answer. But it depends upon your specific situation. Your profile doesn't show your location, but if you're in a more rural area where superchargers will take a while to come into vogue and/or if you think you'll keep this vehicle for a long time (>5 years) then getting the twin chargers may well be worth it since I think we'll start seeing more 70amp public chargers (J1772) and more and more people will have HPWCs that they may be able to share with you. You could still use the HPWC even if you can't pull the full 100amps.

I have the upgraded stereo,but haven't heard the base to compare, but the general concensus has been as above, it's probably not worth the cost to upgrade. Do an aftermarket install if it's really important to you.

Finally, if you decide not to get the HPWC/twin charger, you can always buy a second UMC to leave permanantly installed/plugged in in your garage. That reduces the wear and tear of plugging and unplugging all the time and adds the convenience of not having to remember to put the cord back in your car and taking it out again every day. at $650 that's a lot cheaper than the HPWC/Twin charger upgrade.

 

[JST]

Thanks for all the input. I'm in DC/NoVa, so if the SC rollout goes according to plan that's definitely what I'm going to be using most often on road trips. Buying a second UMC might be the way to go.

 

[joefee]

I would get the prem sound sys ... Makes a huge difference for HD radio & audio files

 

[TexasEV]

You don't need to drag the cable out of the trunk every night. Just keep it plugged in and hang it on a hook on the wall. You only need to unplug it and take it with you if you're going out of town.

 

[Electric Dreamer]

We got the upgraded stereo and LOVE it! Got the twin chargers for road trips but decided not to get the HPWC, because on a daily basis we don't need it. I only unplug the charger when we are going on a road trip, which is about every-other week, so I can charge when far away from home (at my son's or our lake house), but the twin chargers are in so we can use the Supercharger system, which is awesome! You are going to Love the Model S no matter what you decide, the beauty is being able to get the things that are best for your driving preferences

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I am not someone who would spend $4,000 on an after market audio system no matter how good it was. Any differences such a system would bring could only be appreciated if the car were absolutely still and sitting in an absolutely quiet environment. Once you put the car on the road, especially at freeway speeds, you won't notice any of these marginal improvements. No doubt that $4,000 may also buy you some psychosomatic effects.

The upgraded sound system is fantastic and plenty good for over 95% of owners. You'll also want to consider that many of those who criticized the upgraded sound system did so using source material from Slacker and TuneIn, both heavily compressed over 3G wireless. Those sources almost completely lack any bass response. HD Radio is absolutely luscious, deep and full with the upgraded sound - the bass is very strong. You simply cannot judge this sound system using compressed, streamed sources. Remember that anything streamed from your mobile device has gone through two levels of destructive and lossy compression - once when you originally compressed the file to whatever format is used by your mobile phone and again when it is streamed over bluetooth.

So if you aren't going to invest in USB sticks containing uncompressed CD-quality audio, an after market system will not magically help crappy source material sound less crappy.

 

[ecarfan]

I am getting the HPWC and the sound system upgrade on the S85 my wife and I ordered last weekend and think they are both worth it for a variety of reasons as detailed by others who have posted in this topic. But obviously the car is fully functional without those options.

 

[montgom626]

You don't need to drag the cable out of the trunk every night. Just keep it plugged in and hang it on a hook on the wall. You only need to unplug it and take it with you if you're going out of town.

That is what I do. Just keep it plugged into my NEMA 14-50. If I go on a trip, I unplug the UMC and take it with me. The HPWC seems like a complete waste of money. And the better stereo? Most of the time I listen to radio, so it makes no difference. So, save money, install a 14-50, keep the stock stereo and don't buy the HPWC or the fancy radio.

 

[jerry33]

I'd been planning to get the HPWC, but a consultation with an electrician confirmed that I don't have the juice to do a 100A install without serious panel upgrades.

By using the dip switches to limit the output, you don't need a 100 amp install. You can use the HPWC with a variety of lower amp circuits.

1. Convenience of having the HPWC mounted to the wall, v. having to drag the cable out of the trunk every night;

I just leave the UMC plugged into the wall. The only time you need to have it in the car is when you're on a trip. And of course, you can purchase an extra UMC to have in the car.

2. The possibility of being able to charge faster when on the road, if I find an HPWC; and

If Tesla ever comes out with the ChaDeMo adapter, then twin chargers will be quite useful.

But then I spoke with the consultant at the dealer, who said that even the HPWCs at the dealers don't generally charge at the full 80A.

That's only true because of the fuse issue.

So then I thought maybe I should skip the HPWC (and twin chargers) and just get the fancy stereo, which costs way more than it should but which I'd actually enjoy (particularly the XM bit).

I'm really enjoying the Sound Studio (using FLAC), but when I purchased my Model S it wasn't nearly as expensive as it is now.

If it's relevant, I don't have a garage and will be charging outside, which is one of the reasons I can see the appeal of not having to wrestle the (possibly wet, snowy, muddy) cable back into the car every morning.

I charge mine outside, but the actual wall plug is inside. No mess.

 

[Gizmotoy]

If Tesla ever comes out with the ChaDeMo adapter, then twin chargers will be quite useful.

No they won't. CHAdeMO is Level 3 DC, like Superchargers. It would bypass the on-board chargers. Same with SAE Combo, which is what we should all be crossing our fingers for more of.

I charge mine outside, but the actual wall plug is inside. No mess.

There's a guy in my neighborhood with a 2 car garage, and they have a Model S and a Leaf. They put stuff in the garage, and charge the cars in the driveway. They use the UMC for the Model S. So, as you say, outside does not seem to be an issue or they probably would have cleared the stuff out of their garage!