Mobile Connector no longer included with new cars [posted 04/16/2022 - Tesla confirms adapter included with cars ordered before 04/17/22]

[father_of_6]

I wouldn’t say that’s the case at all. This is likely a lot of peoples first EV and they plan to use the UMC with a 240V plug as their main EVSE.

I agree... most Teslas are going to first time EV owners, and a lot of them will use the mobile connector. But a lot of them (and possible the majority) won't use them. I didn't... and I'm a first time EV owner.

With a run rate of 2 million cars per year, this could be more than a MILLION unused mobile connectors during a supply shortage.

I feel like a parrot here... I've written like 5 posts saying the same thing. If everyone would just give 2 minutes of thought to this, they would realize that if Tesla wanted more revenue, they would just raise prices. There are supply shortages across the entire auto industry and the world in general. My mobile connector has been sitting in the lower trunk for 18 months, never used. Tesla is solving that problem.

If you need one, buy it - they've just lowered the price. You should be glad they're doing this, or THEY WOULDN'T HAVE ANY LEFT TO SELL YOU. They're solving the supply shortage by reducing demand. Now those who need one can get one, and those who don't won't be wasting one.

 

[3Volts2aTes]

My wife and I are also ticked off if this is true. We had a NEMA 14-50 just installed AND ordered the adapter plug "knowing" the mobile charger would be coming with our vehicle. Otherwise.....why would go through the expenses????

This is ridiculous. I suppose the $1k we spent in preparation with an electrician will be to waste.

Uhm…so, assuming you get the car, it is waste - you won’t put in some kind of charger? Settle down. The only way it is a “waste” is if you cancel your order AND decide to not to buy an electric vehicle from another manufacturer - in which case the waste was your choice.

 

[Big Dog]

I find it very plausible. I’ve used my UMC once, over 2 yeas ago, on a trip where there wasn’t a Supercharger near by. If I were to make the trip again, I wouldn’t need the UMC since there is now a Supercharger in the vicinity.

Sucks cause I was going to take the one from my Cybertruck and use it to make an outdoor charging station. Oh well.

Me too. Going on four years of ownership of two model 3's, and have not used the MC once. Never even opened the case. (Charge at home, use SuperChargers on the road, destination chargers at the hotel, or SC's when I visit my D. Yeah, I could snake an extension cord out of her kitchen window, but its just as easy to go to a local SuperCharger, grab a cuppa Joe, adn read the paper for 30 minutes.)

 

[3Volts2aTes]

I don’t need a Tesla. With the high gas prices ordered model 3 in early March. Small things bug me to the point of saying forget it. If the charger is not included my thought for now but it could change is to wait as long as possible like right before delivery day then cancel since I would loose the $250 deposit anyway and move on the something else.

Seems you accomplish two things with this…you inconvenience yourself, and you make someone else who gets the vehicle earlier happy. Three, if you count costing yourself more.

Just seems a bit silly over a part you probably will get with the vehicle (just guessing - but I’d suspect they make the change with new orders), a part you most likely won’t use, and a part you can easily and cheaply get a replacement for.

 

[ms512]

The frustrating aspect of this change is the poor communication.

As a recent purchase that hasn't taken delivery, I want to know what this means for me, and I have no idea.

This is also going to be unintuitive for new purchases. This needs to be more explicit during new orders so that customers can choose if they want a mobile connector or not.

 

[Tronguy]

FWIW: Own a 2018 M3 LR. In 2019, took a trip from NJ down to Savannah, GA and back, hitting touristy spots on the way. In particular, Charleston.

Interestingly, there weren't any Superchargers in Savannah. There was one at the airport, some 20 miles away, but that was it. The public parking garages had some J-1772 chargers, which we used.

Charleston was worse. But, we got lucky: The hotel we were staying at didn't have any destination chargers but they did have wall sockets in the enclosed, ground-floor parking garage. When asked if they were available for charging the car, they said, "Knock yourself out, go ahead."
So, found a parking spot next to one of those outlets, hauled out the MC, plugged the car in, and let it sit there for a couple of days while we walked around and played tourist. 5 Miles of Charge per Hour isn't much, but one gets there, eventually.

Rest of the trip was Superchargers.

Only other time the MC was used was when visiting friends in Maryland. No nearby Superchargers, but the lady had a wall socket we could get at. And that's when we discovered that having a serious heavy-duty extension cord was a Requirement, not an option.

In the last two years.. not so much.

 

[3Volts2aTes]

Me too. Going on four years of ownership of two model 3's, and have not used the MC once. Never even opened the case. (Charge at home, use SuperChargers on the road, destination chargers at the hotel, or SC's when I visit my D. Yeah, I could snake an extension cord out of her kitchen window, but its just as easy to go to a local SuperCharger, grab a cuppa Joe, adn read the paper for 30 minutes.)

Same here - since 2011, with the other cars I have owned and this, I can tell you when and where I have used the included connectors. It has been that seldom.

Being who I am, I still want one in the trunk, and if it wasn’t included, I would have to get one. I understand why people are disappointed, as I would be too. But I know my end answer would be groan…and move on. Of course I have a brand new UMC kit I doubt I will use more than one cord from.

 

[alstoralset]

This is a win-win. My car came with the mobile connector, increasing its resale value, and now I can get another one for $200 cheaper.

 

[Cybermoose]

Nothing is preventing you from buying it if you want it, and honestly, it's not very useful without this anyway. I wish they had just bundled everything together in a single carrying case because it's kind of dumb having two identical carrying cases, one for the UMC itself and another with all of the adapters in it.

My entire post is about not really needing it. You took one sentence out of a long post and just assumed the entire post was about that. I WANT the mobile connector and then I talked about how I and many others don't really NEED it.

Learn to read.

 

[STS-134]

My entire post is about not really needing it. You took one sentence out of a long post and just assumed the entire post was about that. I WANT the mobile connector and then I talked about how I and many others don't really NEED it.

Learn to read.

Your post makes absolutely no sense. Why are you upset? If you WANT a mobile connector, then buy one. The out of stock issues should not affect you because you aren't getting your car for another month or two and Tesla ships within a day or two of when you order.

 

[Z_Lynx]

It's backwards to take it just away.

So much better to give people the option to get a "discount on their car" if they don't want the included charger.

p.s. I use the mobile connector and a 220V 20 amp circuit to charge my car at home. Bought a spare mobile connector last November. I consider them to be invaluable.

 

[yuhong]

I agree... most Teslas are going to first time EV owners, and a lot of them will use the mobile connector. But a lot of them (and possible the majority) won't use them. I didn't... and I'm a first time EV owner.

Less technical ones are more likely to use it I think.

 

[Randy-12]

Your post makes absolutely no sense. Why are you upset? If you WANT a mobile connector, then buy one. The out of stock issues should not affect you because you aren't getting your car for another month or two and Tesla ships within a day or two of when you order.

They have not been in stock for many months now, so if they are not in stock how will they ship in a few days?

 

[theslimshadyist]

My DD is in May. We recently sold our home, relocated to another state, and we are currently in an Airbnb for the next 60 days until we can purchase a home. My hope is that a) Tesla includes the mobile charger as I ordered the car back in Feb or b) that the charger will be back in stock before my car arrives.

 

[raptor5244]

Not the same at all. Many owners have existing EVSEs or plan to install a wall mounted EVSE. Thus, many of these mobile connectors are going unused. During a supply shortage, this just makes sense.

I am not sure why you think so many go unused. Most new EV buyers I know have a NEMA 5-50 outlet installed and plan to use the a Mobile charger that is supposed to come with your $50k+ EV. I would wager that there are more Tesla vehicles being charged at home via these a mobile connectors than the hardwired Wall Connectors.

 

[raptor5244]

I agree... most Teslas are going to first time EV owners, and a lot of them will use the mobile connector. But a lot of them (and possible the majority) won't use them. I didn't... and I'm a first time EV owner.

With a run rate of 2 million cars per year, this could be more than a MILLION unused mobile connectors during a supply shortage.

I feel like a parrot here... I've written like 5 posts saying the same thing. If everyone would just give 2 minutes of thought to this, they would realize that if Tesla wanted more revenue, they would just raise prices. There are supply shortages across the entire auto industry and the world in general. My mobile connector has been sitting in the lower trunk for 18 months, never used. Tesla is solving that problem.

If you need one, buy it - they've just lowered the price. You should be glad they're doing this, or THEY WOULDN'T HAVE ANY LEFT TO SELL YOU. They're solving the supply shortage by reducing demand. Now those who need one can get one, and those who don't won't be wasting one.

I mean there are supply chain challenges with lot of components in auto industry but those other manufacturers list the feature being deleted on the window sticker along with a small credit and a commitment to provide the missing product/feature at a later date when available. Tesla has a history of just removing content from their cars while the prices just keep going up.

Since I bought my Model 3.

No more floor mats
No more NEMA 5-50 adapter for the Mobile Connector
No more USB cables
No more lumbar seats
No more radar
No more lowered suspension on the M3 Performance
No more Mobile Connector

 

[ebartolome]

Me too. Going on four years of ownership of two model 3's, and have not used the MC once. Never even opened the case. (Charge at home, use SuperChargers on the road, destination chargers at the hotel, or SC's when I visit my D. Yeah, I could snake an extension cord out of her kitchen window, but its just as easy to go to a local SuperCharger, grab a cuppa Joe, adn read the paper for 30 minutes.)

Hook a brotha up!!! Send me one of your chargers Or if there is anyone else not using theirs, PM me and I will gladly use it!!!!

 

[Cybermoose]

Your post makes absolutely no sense. Why are you upset? If you WANT a mobile connector, then buy one. The out of stock issues should not affect you because you aren't getting your car for another month or two and Tesla ships within a day or two of when you order.

You really must have trouble reading. I put one short sentence about being disappointed that they aren't giving the mobile connector because I would like one. I then went on for multiple paragraphs on how i don't actually need one and it's reasonable to believe that many others probably don't need one either.
I'm saying Tesla makes a good point. It would be wasteful to just give them out with cars since many people probably don't ever use them.

 

[anem23]

FWIW: Own a 2018 M3 LR. In 2019, took a trip from NJ down to Savannah, GA and back, hitting touristy spots on the way. In particular, Charleston.

Interestingly, there weren't any Superchargers in Savannah. There was one at the airport, some 20 miles away, but that was it. The public parking garages had some J-1772 chargers, which we used.

Charleston was worse. But, we got lucky: The hotel we were staying at didn't have any destination chargers but they did have wall sockets in the enclosed, ground-floor parking garage. When asked if they were available for charging the car, they said, "Knock yourself out, go ahead."
So, found a parking spot next to one of those outlets, hauled out the MC, plugged the car in, and let it sit there for a couple of days while we walked around and played tourist. 5 Miles of Charge per Hour isn't much, but one gets there, eventually.

Rest of the trip was Superchargers.

Only other time the MC was used was when visiting friends in Maryland. No nearby Superchargers, but the lady had a wall socket we could get at. And that's when we discovered that having a serious heavy-duty extension cord was a Requirement, not an option.

In the last two years.. not so much.

I know this is off topic but where were you in Charleston? I live there and there are super chargers right off 26.

 

[STS-134]

I am not sure why you think so many go unused. Most new EV buyers I know have a NEMA 5-50 outlet installed and plan to use the a Mobile charger that is supposed to come with your $50k+ EV. I would wager that there are more Tesla vehicles being charged at home via these a mobile connectors than the hardwired Wall Connectors.

I'm assuming you mean 14-50 and not 5-15. 5-50 doesn't exist but would be a hypothetical 120V, 50A outlet that would put 50A through your neutral line. Anyway, I really wonder how many people who buy Teslas (other than the M3 SR+) don't realize that these cars can charge with 50% more current than the mobile connector is capable of carrying. For me, that simple fact ended any consideration of using the mobile connector as my primary charging method before it even started. In an alternate universe where Tesla capped the OBC at 32A, I'd have at least considered it, although a desire to keep the mobile connector in the trunk may have still pushed me to use a WC.