I have a Tesla and will be getting an additional EV from another OEM. What charger is best ?

[Veloseven]

I currently have a Tesla model Y and have a reservation for the VW ID.4 for my wife.

Do you guys think it’s best to have a Tesla wall charger with an adapter for the ID.4 J1772 receptacle? Or is it best to get an EVSE with J1772 on it and use the adapter for my Tesla. I’m just trying to think what system would be best for this situation.

I currently have a Nemah 14-50 outlet in my garage on a 30 amp circuit, that I have the portable Tesla cable plugged into. My garage is a single car garage and can only fit 1 car at a time for charging.

Thanks

 

[Jim in Houston]

Based on reviews so far for VW ID4 and your Model Y, your 30 AMP circuit will take about 8 hours to fully charge each vehicle or 16 hours total.

If you have the space in your circuit panel, you might want a 60 AMP circuit for Tesla and a 30 AMP J 1772 setup outside for the ID4.

 

[msm859]

I currently have a Tesla model Y and have a reservation for the VW ID.4 for my wife.

Do you guys think it’s best to have a Tesla wall charger with an adapter for the ID.4 J1772 receptacle? Or is it best to get an EVSE with J1772 on it and use the adapter for my Tesla. I’m just trying to think what system would be best for this situation.

I currently have a Nemah 14-50 outlet in my garage on a 30 amp circuit, that I have the portable Tesla cable plugged into. My garage is a single car garage and can only fit 1 car at a time for charging.

Thanks

If you have a 14-50 outlet, it is odd you only have a 30 amp breaker. You need to check the wire size and if adequate I would put in a 50 amp breaker. You need to check on adapters. I know you can get one for the Tesla to use with other chargers. Not sure about the other way around.

 

[Krypto Kat]

get an EVSE with J1772 on it and use the adapter for my Tesla

This is what I did, with a Bosch and a Juicebox EVSEs, The adapter for the other way around is too complex.

 

[Rocky_H]

I would not go from the Tesla handle to adapt it to J1772. There are third party things that can do that, but they are kind of bulky and cumbersome. I would stick with the J1772 unit, and use the included very small and compact adapter to make it fit your Tesla.

If you have a 14-50 outlet, it is odd you only have a 30 amp breaker.

Yeah, that's an odd thing that some EVSE makers do. They sell units that are only made for 30A circuits and recommend 30A circuit installs, but for some reason think they should have a "more common" type of plug on them, so they have a 6-50 or 14-50. It's kind of dumb but does comply with code. They really should be having 6-30 or 14-30 plugs on them if they are made for 30A circuits.

 

[SageBrush]

We also have one J-1772 EV and one Tesla. A J-1772 EVSE is plugged into the 14-50 receptacle and I use the J-1772 to Tesla adapter.

If I was wiring again my preferences would be:
1. Two receptacles
2. As I have it now
...
...
15. A Tesla EVSE and a J-1772 adapter.


---
I have thought about buying an extra J->Tesla adapter to leave on the wall instead of fishing the adapter out of the car. So far it has not been enough of an inconvenience to bother with at $100 for the adapter.

 

[Veloseven]

Based on reviews so far for VW ID4 and your Model Y, your 30 AMP circuit will take about 8 hours to fully charge each vehicle or 16 hours total.

If you have the space in your circuit panel, you might want a 60 AMP circuit for Tesla and a 30 AMP J 1772 setup outside for the ID4.

Hi,
I would also have to rerun a lot of cable as the gauge for my cable limits the amperage. I have no interest in doing all that work, thanks but my question is: do I use a Tesla wall charger or generic EVSE? Which one will be more useful/appropriate.

 

[Veloseven]

If you have a 14-50 outlet, it is odd you only have a 30 amp breaker. You need to check the wire size and if adequate I would put in a 50 amp breaker. You need to check on adapters. I know you can get one for the Tesla to use with other chargers. Not sure about the other way around.

The gauge is for a 30amp circuit. I installed the 14-50 plug for convenience since a 10-30 adapter wasn’t available from Tesla when I bought my first Tesla years ago

 

[Veloseven]

This is what I did, with a Bosch and a Juicebox EVSEs, The adapter for the other way around is too complex.

Thanks. I think I’ll do this

 

[Veloseven]

I would not go from the Tesla handle to adapt it to J1772. There are third party things that can do that, but they are kind of bulky and cumbersome. I would stick with the J1772 unit, and use the included very small and compact adapter to make it fit your Tesla.


Yeah, that's an odd thing that some EVSE makers do. They sell units that are only made for 30A circuits and recommend 30A circuit installs, but for some reason think they should have a "more common" type of plug on them, so they have a 6-50 or 14-50. It's kind of dumb but does comply with code. They really should be having 6-30 or 14-30 plugs on them if they are made for 30A circuits.

Agree. When I leased my first EV (Nissan Leaf) in 2013, the dealer instructed me to put in a 30amp circuit. So I told the electrician I wanted a 30amp circuit. He installed a 30amp breaker with wire gauge that suited that. I had no idea what that meant, until I got my Model S and learned that I was limited to about 25amps of charging. Now I’m stuck with that unless I want to drop another $2k to rerun a lot of cable. Not worth it IMO. but hey, “live and learn”

 

[freeAgent]

I use a Chargepoint Home Flex charging station even though I only have a Tesla at the moment because I anticipate that I'll have a non-Tesla EV in the future and want to be on J1772 natively. The Tesla J1772 adapter works great and it comes with the car already, so why not use it? The Chargepoint station allows me to set my electric rates and also black out certain hours for charging to avoid peak hour charging on time-of-use billing. It also tells me how much each charging session cost based on the kWH delivered and my electric rate. The cable itself is plenty long and easy to manage. I have no complaints with it so far.

With that said, you should probably have an electrician come out to upgrade your wiring and breaker. If you could put a 50-amp circuit there, you could charge at 40 amps, which would be significantly faster than what you have now. If you hard-wire the EVSE, you could even go with a 60-amp or higher circuit but I doubt the added cost would be worth the marginally faster charging. You would also be forced to hardwire the charger rather than use a plug.

 

[theothertom]

If you can only charge one car at a time, I would look strongly at the Jdapter Stub that will adapt your Tesla charger to J1772.
JDapter Stub

 

[Veloseven]

I use a Chargepoint Home Flex charging station even though I only have a Tesla at the moment because I anticipate that I'll have a non-Tesla EV in the future and want to be on J1772 natively. The Tesla J1772 adapter works great and it comes with the car already, so why not use it? The Chargepoint station allows me to set my electric rates and also black out certain hours for charging to avoid peak hour charging on time-of-use billing. It also tells me how much each charging session cost based on the kWH delivered and my electric rate. The cable itself is plenty long and easy to manage. I have no complaints with it so far.

With that said, you should probably have an electrician come out to upgrade your wiring and breaker. If you could put a 50-amp circuit there, you could charge at 40 amps, which would be significantly faster than what you have now. If you hard-wire the EVSE, you could even go with a 60-amp or higher circuit but I doubt the added cost would be worth the marginally faster charging. You would also be forced to hardwire the charger rather than use a plug.

Thanks, I’ll look into the ChargePoint EVSE. But I’m not going to redo the wiring. It’s never been an issue where I have to charge and go before it’s done charging up to 80%

 

[SageBrush]

Thanks, I’ll look into the ChargePoint EVSE. But I’m not going to redo the wiring. It’s never been an issue where I have to charge and go before it’s done charging up to 80%

You might as well try that first since it is the simplest and cheapest. Time will tell if it works for two EVs

My wife and I share one EVSE between our two EVs but we are retired and do not drive a lot. It is also pretty uncommon for us to use both cars at the same time and we don't have conflicts where we want to charge both cars at the same time. Moreover, our EVSE is ~ 8 kW so a charging session does not take long -- about 1.5 hours for the LEAF and 4-5 hours for the Tesla for our usage patterns

 

[freeAgent]

Thanks, I’ll look into the ChargePoint EVSE. But I’m not going to redo the wiring. It’s never been an issue where I have to charge and go before it’s done charging up to 80%

One trick that makes life easier with the Tesla J1772 adapter is when you want to unplug from your Tesla, press the regular unlatch lever (from the EVSE cord) down but then let off of it and relatch it to the adapter before pulling out. That way you don't have to use two hands to pull the adapter out simultaneously. The Tesla will unlock the adapter when you press the lever to release the latch to the adapter and it won't re-lock right away. That makes it pretty easy to use.

 

[freeAgent]

BTW, if you want to look at other EVSE reviews, Tom Moloughney does the best, most comprehensive reviews I've seen anywhere. This is his review of the Chargepoint Home Flex:

 

[Malaromane]

I'll just add my voice to the people chiming in to recommend going with a J1772 charger and use the Tesla adapter. I've got a Sun Country Highway charger that I installed when I bought my Chevy Volt back in 2015 and didn't bother swapping it out for the Tesla-native charger when I bought my Model 3.

I've not had any issues charging with the J1772 adapter fitted.

 

[Rocky_H]

One trick that makes life easier

There is a good reason why I don't recommend what you are recommending. It's because for many people that doesn't work at all, so it's therefore not easier.

and it won't re-lock right away.

Yes, mine absolutely does every single time--instantly! The port will re-latch onto my adapter if that release button is let go for an instant, and then the adapter can't be removed. And I have talked with many other people whose cars behave in that exact same way.

So I am very happy that works for your car. But I never recommend your method because for many people, it won't work. The way I am recommending always works for all people's cars every time.

 

[freeAgent]

There is a good reason why I don't recommend what you are recommending. It's because for many people that doesn't work at all, so it's therefore not easier.

Yes, mine absolutely does every single time--instantly! The port will re-latch onto my adapter if that release button is let go for an instant, and then the adapter can't be removed. And I have talked with many other people whose cars behave in that exact same way.

So I am very happy that works for your car. But I never recommend your method because for many people, it won't work. The way I am recommending always works for all people's cars every time.

It may depend on the EVSE you're using. I doubt that our cars are performing differently. It works every time for me.

 

[Veloseven]

BTW, if you want to look at other EVSE reviews, Tom Moloughney does the best, most comprehensive reviews I've seen anywhere. This is his review of the Chargepoint Home Flex:

Thanks for the link