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Tesla has officially removed the mobile connector as a standard accessory with every new car purchase; now a $400 separate purchase
- Thread starter Mockingbird
- Start date
E90alex
Active Member
This is BS for people who’s buying their first Tesla.
The usage statistics are probably skewed by all the people in the Bay Area etc that are buying Teslas without home charging ability, so it looks like a lot of people don’t use it. But in reality I would guess most people that can install a 240V outlet are using the mobile connector with proper adapter to charge.
The usage statistics are probably skewed by all the people in the Bay Area etc that are buying Teslas without home charging ability, so it looks like a lot of people don’t use it. But in reality I would guess most people that can install a 240V outlet are using the mobile connector with proper adapter to charge.
This is disappointing news, if it is true. However:
Assuming that reports are (at least partially) true, this news is a surprising (to me) move by Tesla, especially with its obvious willingness to readily raise prices to remain profitable.
Pretty much all electric cars (sold in North America, at least) come with a connection cable (often with J1772 plug) of some kind, correct? So this move by Tesla will not look good in comparison to its competitors.
What might all this signify? What is Tesla up to? Is it simply down to greed? Some possible reasons:
• A recognized true decline in use of the Gen 2 Mobile Connector, tied to an increase in daily charging via (a) Tesla (Gen 3) Wall Connector and (b) Superchargers (as well as aftermarket home-charging products and 3rd-party charging stations)?
• As a harbinger of new charging standard equipment (e.g., CCS1) coming?
• Simply a desire to reduce individual car production costs?
However, none of these explanations are (entirely) satisfactory.
Will Tesla continue to sell its Gen 2 Mobile Connector and optional plug-adapters online? Is release of the CCS1 adapter imminent? Is there a (secret) long-range plan to change from the TPC (proprietary) connector standard (e.g., to J1772/CCS1)? The answers may contribute to an explanation for this latest puzzling, if true, move by Tesla.
- It may not be true.
- It is not likely to be universally true (e.g., in all countries).
- Or it may not be a permanent change (if enough customers object).
- Or the original message may have been be misconstrued somewhat.
- The (previously $520[US], now $400[US] Corded Mobile Connector was never supplied "free" with a new vehicle (in North America). (The CMC can only connect to a NEMA 14-50 wall receptacle/outlet)
- Instead, what has traditionally been supplied with new cars was (at first) the (Gen 1) Universal Mobile Connector, later to be replaced with the Gen 2 Mobile Connector (currently $275[US]). (The Gen 1 and Gen 2 MCs can connect to a range of different wall outlets using optional adapter-plugs.) Similarly, a Type 2 Mobile Connector has been offered to new car buyers in Europe and Oceania, I believe. (Optional adapter-pugs are for sale by Tesla to connect to the various wall outlets in use there.)
- As far as I can see, the Gen 2 Mobile Connector and Corded Mobile Connector are still for sale (at standard prices) on US and Canadian Tesla Shop websites, albeit "Out of Stock" right now. (Note: Canadian dollar prices are usually higher than USA dollar prices. This discrepancy can fool readers, including at times yours truly.)
Comparison of (April 16, 2022) USA (left) versus Canadian (right) Tesla Shop pages (note different web addresses) for Gen 2 Mobile Connectors. Not the price differences due to the exchange rate difference between US and Canadian dollars.
- I have not yet seen additional independent confirmation that the Gen 2 Mobile Connector is not being included with new cars. However, I will assume that the initial report is correct until I see otherwise. (Please excuse me if I do not immediately accept all EM tweets as the 100% gospel truth.)
- If true, new car buyers in the US wanting a mobile connector need to plan for an additional $275(US) expenditure, not $400.
*****
Assuming that reports are (at least partially) true, this news is a surprising (to me) move by Tesla, especially with its obvious willingness to readily raise prices to remain profitable.
Pretty much all electric cars (sold in North America, at least) come with a connection cable (often with J1772 plug) of some kind, correct? So this move by Tesla will not look good in comparison to its competitors.
What might all this signify? What is Tesla up to? Is it simply down to greed? Some possible reasons:
• A recognized true decline in use of the Gen 2 Mobile Connector, tied to an increase in daily charging via (a) Tesla (Gen 3) Wall Connector and (b) Superchargers (as well as aftermarket home-charging products and 3rd-party charging stations)?
• As a harbinger of new charging standard equipment (e.g., CCS1) coming?
• Simply a desire to reduce individual car production costs?
However, none of these explanations are (entirely) satisfactory.
Will Tesla continue to sell its Gen 2 Mobile Connector and optional plug-adapters online? Is release of the CCS1 adapter imminent? Is there a (secret) long-range plan to change from the TPC (proprietary) connector standard (e.g., to J1772/CCS1)? The answers may contribute to an explanation for this latest puzzling, if true, move by Tesla.
Last edited:
E90alex
Active Member
Tesla certainly has data showing that my car almost always charges with the Gen3 WC. And they'd know because the car apparently communicates with the WC and even updates its firmware. The UMC was never designed to be a permanent charging solution though, so it's not surprising that usage was low. And to be honest, it wasn't very useful since they stopped including the 14-50 adapter for it; I had to buy the full set of NEMA adapters to make it useful. How many people never even do that and therefore don't even have a UMC that's capable of doing anything useful at all? They should really either sell the UMC and the entire set of adapters as a single bundle, or include both with the car.
Yeah but the gen 2 wall connector (which many of us have) does not communicate with tesla, is not wifi enabled etc. This begs the question, is the car capturing some unique identifier data related to the actual device that is used to charge?
We know that there is communication between the car and the wall connector. I wonder how they can say "low usage" of the mobile connector with such confidence. Its true that my mobile connector has very low usage, over the 3.5 years I have had it. I struggle to think that this is the case in general.
Its all anecdotal, but from my reading here of model 3 subforum over the time I have been here (both moderating and prior), it "feels" to me that the majority of the people at least start out using the mobile connector.
I personally dont like this at all, even though I am not buying a vehicle. I think it sends the wrong message. I would rather see them increase the price again and leave it in there, if that needed to be done, but I also would have preferred homelink stayed as an included feature and the price increased to keep it in there if needed.
I am not a fan of "de contenting" however I am also the person who normally buys the "fully loaded" version of stuff.
Shrug... One thing I knew would happen for a fact, when I saw the first thread on this, was that there would be several people creating threads here in a rush to be "first", in the various subforums.
Well the WC obviously has some other stuff it communicates over the proximity pilot and control pilot other than the charge rate. Has anyone put an oscilloscope on these things when the car connects to them and seen if there's something different about the communication with the UMC vs. a standard non-Tesla EVSE? If there is, even if it communicates with the vehicle in exactly the same way (i.e. using the same protocol) that the WC does, they can infer that it is a UMC based on the fact that it isn't a WC.
Agreed. I'd have just preferred that they included Homelink, the UMC, and the entire set of NEMA adapters with the vehicle and charged more for it. Would have saved me the hassle of having to order 2 extra items and them the hassle of having to ship them to me.
LOL, so the UMC is listed as "out of stock"? Tesla goes full Apple and stops delivering cars with included charging hardware, now sold separately
I'm going to go with this: Tesla has a shortage of supplies of the UMC, and rather than holding back vehicle deliveries or delivering vehicles without them along with a promise to deliver them later, Tesla just decided to stop giving them away with each vehicle. It was a bit easier to do this than what they did with the USB ports, since the USB ports are actually part of the car itself. Data showing low usage provided the perfect excuse to do it as well.
I'm going to go with this: Tesla has a shortage of supplies of the UMC, and rather than holding back vehicle deliveries or delivering vehicles without them along with a promise to deliver them later, Tesla just decided to stop giving them away with each vehicle. It was a bit easier to do this than what they did with the USB ports, since the USB ports are actually part of the car itself. Data showing low usage provided the perfect excuse to do it as well.
My car knew it was plugged into my mobile connector and it pushed a firmware update to my mobile connector. The car knows what device you use to charge and it sends the data back to Tesla if it is a Tesla device
If that's the case, it would be given out as a free option for any owner who wants one.
Anyone who doesn't want one wouldn't be given one.
FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
Complete nonsense from Elon... sounds just like Apple.
CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla believes that the usage amongst owners was too low to justify supplying the cable with every new car delivery:
The move is reminiscent of Apple’s decision to stop supplying USB charging bricks with new iPhones a few years ago and the company also cited wastefulness at the time. However, the similarities stopped there. Apple could rely on the fact that most customers already had several USB/Lightning bricks, but that’s much less likely to be the case for Tesla buyers, especially those new to EVs.
Also, even if most users don’t use the mobile cables often, it might be extremely useful to keep them in the car for a worst-case scenario or early in the ownership experience before you can get a home charging station installed. Compounding the concern is that both of Tesla’s mobile connectors are listed as “out of stock” on its website."
MY1stEV
Member
Just FYI, Teslascope had a post on Twitter about this. There is an identifier in the data stream that captures which charger is being used.
RTPEV
Active Member
As much as I respect Elon and his technological prowess, this is just stupid.
Yeah, the usage of my mobile connector is "low". I probably use it for about 5 days out of every year. But without it, I wouldn't be able to visit my in-laws. It's critical for that trip.
Same for Supercharging. As a percentage of time, I hardly ever use Superchargers.
This kind of attitude from Tesla management that probably never have a use for the mobile connectors personally because they either fly on private jets when they travel or only visit homes that are fully equipped with wall connectors drives me nuts.
The uproar should have been that they have never included all of the NEMA adapters with the thing in the first place. It is darn near useless in the configuration they give with the car. They should have simply raised the price of the cars by $650 or so and included both UMC and all adapters with every vehicle.
Dick move by Tesla, Raise the price of the car another $400 - I personally use my Wall connector, but I have the UMC in the car and and when I visit my daughter I use it or I use hers.
This isn't the kind of move that a company that is trying to change the world should be doing.
Embarrassing if you ask me
This isn't the kind of move that a company that is trying to change the world should be doing.
Embarrassing if you ask me
They used to include most of the adapters, actually. I have them all in the bag it came with, in my trunk. I actually understand them not including all the adapters, because its rare that a person would need them all. That part I would believe. What I dont believe, however, is "usage of the mobile adapter is low".
I have 2 tesla vehicles, tesla solar and tesla powerwalls, but thats all "in spite of" not "because of" the person leading the company. I dont believe a twitter statement of "no one uses the mobile adapter" as it goes against what I have observed from our "larger than small" sample size of TMC userbase.
I realize totally that TMC does not represent all users, but as @ucmndd said in another thread on this topic (because of course its sprung up in multiple subforums here now), "anyone spending any time at all in battery and charging subforums here knows this is false". To me, this falls under "dont @$%@$# on me and call it rain" (the statement of "we took it out because no one uses it"), at least until some statistics are provided that I could believe.
RTPEV
Active Member
I don't have think it is useless at all with just the standard 5-15 adapter. When I do use the mobile connector, this is the only one I use (at my son's house, at hotels, at my in-law's house). Paying $35 for a 15-40 adapter (being the most common 240V use by far) is a lot easier pill to swallow than buying a $400 mobile connector.
Nickel and diming is what is going on here. Not a good look.
Having a mobile connector to be able to plug in anywhere is the answer to range anxiety. Whether it is used or not, every car should have one IMO.
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