New Corded Mobile Connector

[jvonbokel]

Honestly I don't see the point.

Tesla — Corded Mobile Connector - NEMA 14-50

 

[AEdennis]

Honestly I don't see the point.

View attachment 178021

Tesla — Corded Mobile Connector - NEMA 14-50

Wow... A $30 savings and loss of flexibility.

I suppose for "semi" permanent installs at locations wired with NEMA 14-50.

 

[Rocky_H]

Oh, I figured the writing was on the wall for this with their discontinuing of official adapters. Tesla is trying to suck people in with a less capable product at a lower price. The new wall connector was an improvement, but this isn't. Hmm, they conveniently do not say what current level it will supply. I wonder if this is how they get people onto 32A instead of 40A from the UMCs, as they were doing in Canada.

 

[pchilds]

You would be a fool to pay $520 for this, should be $400-450.

 

[TexasEV]

I wonder if this means they plan to discontinue the UMC at some point. Do they think it's too complicated for mainstream buyers? More "dumbing down" of the car as with the 7.0 update that moved the battery level off to the corner?

 

[ZBB]

Interesting, although while I have a good set of adapters for my UMC (14-50, 14-30, 5-20, 5-15), I've never used the 14-30, and only used the 5-20 and 5-15 a couple times each.

With supercharger expansions and more destination chargers, I bet they figured the adapters were no longer needed.

 

[FlatSix911]

Honestly I don't see the point.

View attachment 178021
Tesla — Corded Mobile Connector - NEMA 14-50

It's all about reducing product liability.

 

[mattmass]

This is not going in the direction I was hoping. I was hoping for more adapters, not this....

Tesla — Corded Mobile Connector - NEMA 14-50

 

[AZ Desert Driver]

I just read the Owners Manual - and it says...Dont use a private generator. I saw a tow truck in Tucson that advertised mobil charging...presumably a welder generator to give a Leaf a boost back home. I was entertaining the thought of having such roadside service available though use of a Mobil Connector.
Can some one explain why a generator is a bad idea?

 

[NOLA_Mike]

Can some one explain why a generator is a bad idea?

Because the Tesla is sensitive to variations and irregularities in the incoming power supply. Often, small generators allow for too much variation in voltage, frequency, etc. and the Tesla would detect these and refuse to charge.

Having said that, I had a whole home (25 kW) generator in my previous home that would charge the Tesla at 30 or 40 Amps without a problem. So I think a lot of it will depend on the capability of the generator to output clean power even under load.

Mike

 

[AZ Desert Driver]

So it is a function of clean power (and shutdown) - and not about damage?
So, I can plug in near anywhere, and it will either work or not, but not smoke?

 

[NOLA_Mike]

I can't tell you for certain that you won't damage your car plugging it in to a portable generator - I would not plug mine in to one.

Just wanted to point out that for me, I could charge without apparent issue on a "private" generator.

 

[AZ Desert Driver]

awww - I wanted an iron clad assurance that I can be universally stupid and get away with it. (snark)

 

[brkaus]

The corded connector wouldn't be bad if it had a dial on it to set maximum amps.

 

[Rocky_H]

Interesting, although while I have a good set of adapters for my UMC (14-50, 14-30, 5-20, 5-15), I've never used the 14-30, and only used the 5-20 and 5-15 a couple times each.

With supercharger expansions and more destination chargers, I bet they figured the adapters were no longer needed.

Sure, Tesla has quite a history of doing things according to their California bubble mindset where Superchargers are around every corner and people don’t need to charge at other sources, etc.

 

[Rocky_H]

So it is a function of clean power (and shutdown) - and not about damage?
So, I can plug in near anywhere, and it will either work or not, but not smoke?

Yes, that is correct. It seems to have the logic programmed from the paradigm of consistent building wiring, where fluctuations or non-smooth sine wave AC is usually an indication of wiring or load problems upstream, so it wants to shut it off for safety. It's not really thinking of the jittery power supply which is fairly normal in a lot of small generators. The other issue is that most generators will not supply a very detectable ground, and the Tesla charging system will block that immediately.

 

[mikeash]

With the emphasis on "overhang" in the description, and the fact that the original UMC is still available, I feel like this is more of a HPWC supplement than a sign that Tesla is moving away from outlet adapters. A lot of people use the UMC at home with a 14-50 outlet and pretty much just leave it as a permanent installation. Some of us (I did this) wire the HPWC to a 14-50 plug as a sort of hybrid solution. This is kind of an official version of that, almost.

Anyway, I hope that's true, because I want Tesla to have lots and lots of different outlet adapters!

 

[TexasEV]

Interesting, although while I have a good set of adapters for my UMC (14-50, 14-30, 5-20, 5-15), I've never used the 14-30, and only used the 5-20 and 5-15 a couple times each.

With supercharger expansions and more destination chargers, I bet they figured the adapters were no longer needed.

If so, they figured wrong.

 

[TexasEV]

It's all about reducing product liability.

View attachment 178117

That sounds just like what the UMC 14-50 adapter does. I don't see how it's safer (not that the UMC and adapter is unsafe at all).

 

[Rockster]

As Tesla moves more mainstream with the Model 3 they're going to need to appeal to the plug-and-play mindset of the more typical consumer. I think this is aimed at the people who have installed a 14-50 outlet at home but also want a dedicated charger so that they can keep their UMC in the car all the time. This is a fast and easy alternative to adding an HPWC.