Having an electrician install a NEMA 14-50 (Im assuming a 50amp breaker). If I decide to remove the NEMA 14-50 and go with a wall charger, does it require much "electrical work" or is it simply a matter of disconnecting the wires from the NEMA outlet and installing the Tesla Wall charger? WIll 50 amp breaker be enough for either NEMA 14-50 or Wall charger?
Is it easy to change from NEMO14-50 to Gen 3 Wall charger?
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Akikiki
A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
What size circuit do you have on your service to feed the outlet/connection? That's the half the key to your answer. Do you have a 100 amp circuit in the garage? The other half of the key, what max rate can the car charged to - 32, 40, 48, 72 or 80 amps when connected? Its the 80% rule. You can only draw 80% safely whatever the circuit is. So 50 amp circuit, 40 amp draw for charging. 40 amp circuit, 32 amp draw for charging. 100 amp circuit, 80 (or less) amp for charging. Can the car charge at 80 amps?
If you can't charge to the car faster than 40, then yes, 50 amp breaker is perfect for 50 amp circuit or even 100 amp circuit. But if the car can't charge faster than 40, then there's no point (not wise) to use higher than 40 amp.
If your Tesla can charge at 48 amp, and you want to maximize charging, what's the amperage circuit you need? 60 amp? Yes, 60 amp. The Mobile Connector with the car will work for that, so you don't "need" the wall connector. The Mobile Connector that comes with the car can charge whatever the car can handle.
If you need to charge some place else, like parents or in-laws or while traveling, and then you want to take your Mobile Connector and keep it in the car. (Its not a good idea to routinely/frequently disconnect/unplug your Mobile Connector from your NEMA 14-50. It wears out the adapter/contacts.) So, its wise to have another connector/cable for charging? So you are shopping for another connector/cable. Which is the better choice?
The Wall connector can do all. Let's say your home can only safely handle a 50 amp circuit for charging. Then there's no gain in getting a Wall Connector. Wall Connector and Mobile Connector are generally pretty close in price. Rule that out as a factor.
There's a remote disadvantage to installing the wall connector if you don't benefit from it. Remote chance that your installed (permanently hardwired) Wall Connector has a problem. You can't just unplug the Wall Connector and get your Mobile Connector out of your car to test if its connector/cable or car or outlet. If your primary charging cable is the Mobile Connector and you think it has a problem, can swap the home one with the one in the car, or you can take both and move it to another place to test it and the car.
I live in Hawaii. Cold or charging when its cold is not an issue for me. You live in Denver? Doesn't it get cold there? In cold weather, you don't want your car to start charging at 11:00 pm and finish at 3 am and the battery to start cooling down for your departure at 6:00 am. You want it the battery to warm up and charge longer - slower, so it finishing or just finished as close to your departure time, so the battery is still warm and does not need to use stored energy to warm up again. So, charging faster for shorter is not to your benefit or health of the car.
Early on some of us thought we could charge faster with dual chargers in the S. So we ordered dual chargers (paid extra). Then we learned we needed a 100 amp circuit to get the benefit of dual chargers to shave 1-2 hours or part off the charging time. But if you plug the car in at night at 11:00 pm and it finishes at 3 am or 4:30 am what's it matter 95-98% of the time if you don't leave the house until 6:00 am. Then we checked the cost of adding to our service to be able to install a more costly installed 100 amp circuit - thousands. Thousands of additional cost to upgrade house and circuity to shave an hour or two once in a while? Service or Circuit upgrade is not cost effective.
And the car still only charged at 40 amps with dual chargers when the circuit was 50 amp. Dual chargers were a waste of money for many of us. And back then, the Wall Connector was $1500, the Mobile Connector was $650, (I think).
Questions?
If you can't charge to the car faster than 40, then yes, 50 amp breaker is perfect for 50 amp circuit or even 100 amp circuit. But if the car can't charge faster than 40, then there's no point (not wise) to use higher than 40 amp.
If your Tesla can charge at 48 amp, and you want to maximize charging, what's the amperage circuit you need? 60 amp? Yes, 60 amp. The Mobile Connector with the car will work for that, so you don't "need" the wall connector. The Mobile Connector that comes with the car can charge whatever the car can handle.
If you need to charge some place else, like parents or in-laws or while traveling, and then you want to take your Mobile Connector and keep it in the car. (Its not a good idea to routinely/frequently disconnect/unplug your Mobile Connector from your NEMA 14-50. It wears out the adapter/contacts.) So, its wise to have another connector/cable for charging? So you are shopping for another connector/cable. Which is the better choice?
The Wall connector can do all. Let's say your home can only safely handle a 50 amp circuit for charging. Then there's no gain in getting a Wall Connector. Wall Connector and Mobile Connector are generally pretty close in price. Rule that out as a factor.
There's a remote disadvantage to installing the wall connector if you don't benefit from it. Remote chance that your installed (permanently hardwired) Wall Connector has a problem. You can't just unplug the Wall Connector and get your Mobile Connector out of your car to test if its connector/cable or car or outlet. If your primary charging cable is the Mobile Connector and you think it has a problem, can swap the home one with the one in the car, or you can take both and move it to another place to test it and the car.
I live in Hawaii. Cold or charging when its cold is not an issue for me. You live in Denver? Doesn't it get cold there? In cold weather, you don't want your car to start charging at 11:00 pm and finish at 3 am and the battery to start cooling down for your departure at 6:00 am. You want it the battery to warm up and charge longer - slower, so it finishing or just finished as close to your departure time, so the battery is still warm and does not need to use stored energy to warm up again. So, charging faster for shorter is not to your benefit or health of the car.
Early on some of us thought we could charge faster with dual chargers in the S. So we ordered dual chargers (paid extra). Then we learned we needed a 100 amp circuit to get the benefit of dual chargers to shave 1-2 hours or part off the charging time. But if you plug the car in at night at 11:00 pm and it finishes at 3 am or 4:30 am what's it matter 95-98% of the time if you don't leave the house until 6:00 am. Then we checked the cost of adding to our service to be able to install a more costly installed 100 amp circuit - thousands. Thousands of additional cost to upgrade house and circuity to shave an hour or two once in a while? Service or Circuit upgrade is not cost effective.
And the car still only charged at 40 amps with dual chargers when the circuit was 50 amp. Dual chargers were a waste of money for many of us. And back then, the Wall Connector was $1500, the Mobile Connector was $650, (I think).
Questions?
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I just replaced a NEMA14-50 in an outdoor junction box with a WC. Yes, it was pretty easy. @Akikiki makes good points, but to answer your question of "Is it simply a matter of moving the wires?" the answer is yes.
Akikiki
A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
It does not require any additional permitted "electrical work" as long as you plug the wall charger into the 14-50. There is a little bit (16%) more power to be had for the Y if you hard wired it to a 60A, but you will unlikely need that power.
I put "electrical work" in quotes because it is still a technical job, just not one that legally requires an electrician. You have to make your own 14-50 wire+plug and read the install manual. You can buy "14-50 pigtail" on amazon.
There are a lot of people who use the wall charger with the 14-50 just because it gives them more flexibility to remove it.
I just installed both a Gen 3 wall charger and a NEMA 14-50 (for future use), both with 4/3 wire. It may not be easy to change from a 14-50 to the HPWC. Chances are the wires aren't long enough - you need 10" or so inside the HPWC.
If your 14-50 is installed with the normal 6/3 NM wire, you'll be limited to 55 amp circuit (44 amp charging rate). You'll lose only 10% of that (40 amp charging rate) by putting a 14-50 pigtail on the HPWC and just plugging it in.
If your 14-50 is installed with the normal 6/3 NM wire, you'll be limited to 55 amp circuit (44 amp charging rate). You'll lose only 10% of that (40 amp charging rate) by putting a 14-50 pigtail on the HPWC and just plugging it in.
iamnid
Member
I installed a 6-50 outlet in our garage. My SO bought a wall connector she planned to install at her office. She ended up not installing it so it sat in our garage in a box for a few months (Gen 2 BTW). I decided to install a cord on it and mounted it next to the outlet and simply plugged it in. You could install a short cord with a 14-50 plug on it, similar to what I did but with 6-50. Tesla used to sell wall connectors like this. You just have to make sure you set up the connector for the proper amperage. Gen 2 was set by turning a dial, I believe gen 3 is set via wifi, but still similar. You set it to what amperage your circuit can safely handle and the charger does the rest. If the wall connector fails, I can unplug it and plug in the portable connector. Also, if I decide to install the wall connector elsewhere, it's easy to move.
To answer your original question though, the wall connector is easy to install and likely easy to install in place of your 14-50 if you want to do that. You might run into trouble if there isn't enough wire you can pull out and work with where the outlet is located. Also, the outlet might not be in an ideal place for a wall connector (i.e. too low).
To answer your original question though, the wall connector is easy to install and likely easy to install in place of your 14-50 if you want to do that. You might run into trouble if there isn't enough wire you can pull out and work with where the outlet is located. Also, the outlet might not be in an ideal place for a wall connector (i.e. too low).
