Model S - HPWC (High Power Wall Connector)

[fully]

Soon to be tesla owner here, so please excuse the elementary questions:

1: are you able to charge 80A if you did not elect the high amperage charger upgrade (synonymous with dual chargers?) when you ordered the car?
2: If you purchase the HPWC and run 80A to it, but you did not elect the high amperage charger upgrade, there is no benefit?
3: Installing a HPWC with 40A, is not beneficial other than convenience of only plugging in once (plug to car only vs plug to wall and plug to car)?

thank you in advance for suggestions and answers

 

[FlatSix911]

See my answers below in bold text ... hope this helps.

Soon to be tesla owner here, so please excuse the elementary questions:
1: are you able to charge 80A if you did not elect the high amperage charger upgrade (synonymous with dual chargers?) when you ordered the car? No, you will need the High Amperage dual charger to charge at 72Amps - can be add be enabled after delivery.
2: If you purchase the HPWC and run 80A to it, but you did not elect the high amperage charger upgrade, there is no benefit?
Correct, the car will not accept the higher rate of charge without the High Amperage dual charger onboard.
3: Installing a HPWC with 40A, is not beneficial other than convenience of only plugging in once (plug to car only vs plug to wall and plug to car)? Correct, however you can charge at 48Amps with the HPWC vs 40Amps with the UMC.
thank you in advance for suggestions and answers

 

[fully]

Thank you FlatSix911

 

[HankLloydRight]

3: Installing a HPWC with 40A, is not beneficial other than convenience of only plugging in once (plug to car only vs plug to wall and plug to car)?

I think most people (myself included) leave the UMC plugged into the wall unless I'm going on a long road-trip. For your average day-to-day or week-to-week driving, there's no need to unplug and store the UMC in the car each and every day.

Unless you're:
- driving more than 200 miles per day
- need someplace to charge that's not a Supercharger, HPWC, or L2 J1772 charging location
- and the only option you have to charge is a NEMA 14-50 or 110v wall socket.
.. then you need to take the UMC with you.

** I've taken a dozen long-range road trips, and only needed to use the UMC twice in 2.5 years.

 

[fully]

Thanks HankLloydRight

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Soon to be tesla owner here, so please excuse the elementary questions:

1: are you able to charge 80A if you did not elect the high amperage charger upgrade (synonymous with dual chargers?) when you ordered the car?
2: If you purchase the HPWC and run 80A to it, but you did not elect the high amperage charger upgrade, there is no benefit?
3: Installing a HPWC with 40A, is not beneficial other than convenience of only plugging in once (plug to car only vs plug to wall and plug to car)?

thank you in advance for suggestions and answers

Are you looking to buy a new Tesla or an older one? The newer ones (Model S since April and all Model X) have 48 or 72 amp chargers. Older Model S cars had either 40 or 80 amp chargers.

1. You can only charge at 80 amps if you have an older Model S with the 80 amp (dual charger) charging option and the appropriate EVSE, such as the HPWC. There are other EVSEs that could be used as well but they would require the use of the J1772 adapter since only Tesla's UMC and HPWC use Tesla's proprietary charging port/connector. Newer Teslas would charge at up to 72 amps with the HPWC and appropriate wiring if you get the high amperage charger upgrade. By default, they would charge at up to 48 amps using an EVSE or 40 amps with the UMC.
2. Some people will tell you that the HPWC looks better that the UMC, lasts longer, etc. The UMC has its own benefits as it is smaller, more portable and can be used almost anywhere there's an electrical outlet. The HPWC could allow you to charge at up to 72 or 80 amps, depending on the vehicle. The UMC will only go to 40 amps maximum. If you don't have dual chargers (80 amps) or the 72 amp charging option on newer Teslas, then you'd only be able to charge at 40 to 48 amps maximum with the HPWC.
3. As I mentioned above, some like that the HWPC is hard-wired. That could be a benefit but also a liability. If it has a problem, you'll need Tesla or an electrician to come out and service or replace it. With the UMC, you could take it into a Service Center and swap it out yourself. The cable lengths also differ between the UMC and HPWCs.

Most owners that I know use the UMC at home and never unplug it unless they are going on an extended road trip where Superchargers or other public charging are not available. I'll be going on a 2000 mile r/t road trip next week and won't really need to unplug and take the UMC since the route is covered entirely by Superchargers (and other chargers could be used with the J1772 adapter). When traveling to places like Nebraska where there are currently no Superchargers and public charging is rather sparse, I would have to take the UMC in order to charge for the return trip.

 

[fully]

MorrisonHiker I ordered a 2016 Model S, confirmed 7/15/16... Since i did not opt for the dual chargers, i will only be able to charge up to 48 amps. I ordered the HPWC for convenience, then, after speaking with an electrician, i would need a breaker upgrade to connect the HPWC at 80 amps. Thank you all for responding, now i know i don't need the breaker upgrade since my car can't handle 80 amps.... I will upgrade one my model 3 is in production

 

[HankLloydRight]

Just so you have the correct info, you'll need to install a 60amp feed to supply 48 charging amps, or a 50 amp feed to supply 40 charging amps.

 

[jerry33]

MorrisonHiker I ordered a 2016 Model S, confirmed 7/15/16... Since i did not opt for the dual chargers, i will only be able to charge up to 48 amps. I ordered the HPWC for convenience, then, after speaking with an electrician, i would need a breaker upgrade to connect the HPWC at 80 amps. Thank you all for responding, now i know i don't need the breaker upgrade since my car can't handle 80 amps.... I will upgrade one my model 3 is in production

You will also need a wiring upgrade. 50 amp wire (#6) can't handle 80 amps (#3 or #2 wire).

 

[fully]

thank you for your responses. very helpful

Is there a way to plug the car in, but not start charging until off peak rates kick in? like a charge timer or something. I can only find posts from 2012 when this feature was not available.

 

[jerry33]

thank you for your responses. very helpful

Is there a way to plug the car in, but not start charging until off peak rates kick in? like a charge timer or something. I can only find posts from 2012 when this feature was not available.

Yes. You can set the start charge time. This has been available all along. What I think you saw was that you couldn't set an end time. That's still true, but it's mostly irrelevant because you'll know how long it takes your car to charge in a day or two.

You can also start and stop charging with the App.

 

[fully]

great!!! thanks!

 

[BigAirHarper]

Got to see this beauty light up today...now where's the car...

 

[wlciii]

Installed my own HPWC last night. Took delivery today. HPWC was actually super simple to install -- I'm handy and good at following instructions in the manual but by no means an electrician. Took me about 1.5 hrs in the house 2 runs to Home Depot (with a quick trip ot Lowes across the street during 1 run).

A few pointers for anyone looking to do on their own:

1. Install manual calls for metal conduit. I wanted to do liquid metal type to give more flexibility but couldn't find 1" size at HD or Lowes in less than 100 foot rolls so went with these two 1" metal angle pices (see pic) that worked perfectly for my setup.
2. I went with 90AMP install (up to 72AMP charge rate) although my car only has single charger so can only charge at 48AMP currently. Breaker was essentially the same price at www.superbreakers.com and upgauging wire was easy for my short run. Seemed like a no brainer to "future proof".
3. The low profile bracket was actually kind of a pain to install in masonry b/c it requires screws to be super flush to get the HPWC onto to bracket -- my first Tapcon sytle with hex heads wouldn't work so had to change to flat heads and even those were very (very) tight. This was honeslty the hardest part of the process.
4. The (US) manual is completely void of any indiciation of where the ground terminal is in the HPWC. For some reason took me a while to find. Down in the lower left corner of the "motherboard".

Give me a shout if you need any other tips. This board has been super helpful to me as I learned about my new car.

Got my model S today and charging happily at home tonight! I have to say that the connector is very difficult to insert. Requires a lot of force to fully connect -- otherwise jjust stays blinking yellow vs. green on car. Honestly not sure my wife will be able to do it. Is that normal?

.

 

[BigAirHarper]

I saw that it called for metal too but ended up just using the flexible conduit you can buy in rolls. It's rated for high temps.

The manual definitely could use a picture update. The ground isn't illustrated right at all.
Nice install, is the breaker in the box to the left? I was reading somewhere in the depths of TMC that the NEC requires an "emergency off switch" for high amp car chargers but a breaker would qualify if it's close. I have no idea tho.

Congrats on the car. I keep looking at that little green light on the HPWC waiting to be put to use! 3 more weeks!

 

[wlciii]

Nice install, is the breaker in the box to the left? I was reading somewhere in the depths of TMC that the NEC requires an "emergency off switch" for high amp car chargers but a breaker would qualify if it's close.

Yes. Sub-panel that feeds the HPWC is about 2 feet left of the connector so think that counts.

 

[Tucker48]

Had the HPWC installed yesterday by the tesla certified electrician around here. However, I got a message on my car dash saying something along the lines of "bad wiring or extension cord. charging speed reduced". That said, it's charging at a 49 mi/hr 225 V 71/72 amp rate. The rate doesn't seemed reduced to me. Anyone else see this?

 

[FlatSix911]

Had the HPWC installed yesterday by the tesla certified electrician around here. However, I got a message on my car dash saying something along the lines of "bad wiring or extension cord. charging speed reduced". That said, it's charging at a 49 mi/hr 225 V 71/72 amp rate. The rate doesn't seemed reduced to me. Anyone else see this?

Based on the dash warning message, I would recommend that you dial down the charging rate manually to 48Amps.
The voltage is also low and should be closer to 240V ... are you experiencing any hot wiring or cables on the HPWC?
What is the wire gauge used for the installation? ... you could have higher heating and resistance in the feeder circuit.

 

[fully]

Beginner questions here: The HPWC is on back order and potentially won't be here for the electrician. I spoke with the electrician to reschedule, but he said he could install a nema 14-50, then when the HPWC arrives, it easily plugs into the outlet. Is that true?

I read through the installation manual provided by tesla and could not determine if that was possible.

 

[davewill]

Beginner questions here: The HPWC is on back order and potentially won't be here for the electrician. I spoke with the electrician to reschedule, but he said he could install a nema 14-50, then when the HPWC arrives, it easily plugs into the outlet. Is that true?

I read through the installation manual provided by tesla and could not determine if that was possible.

It sounds like he's confusing the UMC that comes with the car and the HPWC. The UMC just plugs into a 14-50. Some people have wired a 14-50 range plug onto their HPWC, but it is not included, and it's not clear that it's to code if you do so. Personally, I have no problem with doing it, but it's up to you and the inspector. The electrician can also simply run the circuit and then come back to mount and wire the HPWC up.

Also a 14-50 means charging is limited to 40a. If you expected to charge at a higher rate, then a 14-50 (and the 50a circuit that goes with it) will not do the job.

It's also possible that he just meant for you to use the UMC and the 14-50 until the HPWC arrived and he could complete the install.