Tesla has officially removed the mobile connector as a standard accessory with every new car purchase; now a $400 separate purchase

[ucmndd]

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.

This I would find legitimately wasteful.

 

[STS-134]

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.

Yeah but you never know when you'll need to use a 10-30 or 5-20 or 6-20. The whole point of the UMC is to have something that you can use to charge your car in an emergency, which is why I keep the UMC and all of the NEMA adapters in the trunk at all times.

This I would find legitimately wasteful.

My experience is that I was at the SFO long term parking garage and the garage with the ChargePoints in them was "full", as in the staff wouldn't let me in there. I don't think all of the CPs were full as about half of them were showing up as unused. In any case, I went into the other (older) structure and went to the NEMA 5 outlets, and realized that they were 5-20 instead of 5-15. So I got my 5-20 adapter out and used that one to charge.

Then you've got to at least get the 10-30 and 14-30, because for rental houses or relatives'/friends' houses, if they don't own an EV, they're most likely to have a dryer outlet. And of course, you should have the 6-50 and 14-50 because those are the most common outlets at camping sites and in garages that are equipped for EVs.

And that leaves just the 6-15 and 6-20 out of the mix, but at that point, you might as well buy the entire set.

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.

It's nickel and diming regardless of whether it's $400 for a UMC or $35 for a 14-50 adapter. They should just raise the price of the cars and include everything. I don't believe there is a NEMA 15-40 outlet though. NEMA 15 is for 3 phase power, and it comes in 30A and 50A variants, skipping over 40A.

 

[LoudMusic]

It's nickel and diming regardless of whether it's $400 for a UMC or $35 for a 14-50 adapter. They should just raise the price of the cars and include everything. I don't believe there is a NEMA 15-40 outlet though. NEMA 15 is for 3 phase power, and it comes in 30A and 50A variants, skipping over 40A.

They did raise the price of the car. AND remove items. They've been doing that for years.

 

[RTPEV]

My experience is that I was at the SFO long term parking garage and the garage with the ChargePoints in them was "full", as in the staff wouldn't let me in there. I don't think all of the CPs were full as about half of them were showing up as unused. In any case, I went into the other (older) structure and went to the NEMA 5 outlets, and realized that they were 5-20 instead of 5-15. So I got my 5-20 adapter out and used that one to charge.

Was it literally a 5-20 outlet, or a 5-20 that would also accept a 5-15 plug?

It's nickel and diming regardless of whether it's $400 for a UMC or $35 for a 14-50 adapter. They should just raise the price of the cars and include everything. I don't believe there is a NEMA 15-40 outlet though. NEMA 15 is for 3 phase power, and it comes in 30A and 50A variants, skipping over 40A.

Sorry, typo...14-50. It's been a very long day.

In fact, several hours of it were spent driving to and from a driving electric day where I spent 5 hours out in the sun talking to people and showing them the mobile connector and letting them know that portable connectors come with every EV, as practically everyone I talked to was asking about that.

Now I guess we have to tell them that all EVs except for Teslas come with a portable unit. Really makes Tesla look cheap.

 

[Nosken]

The out of stock Mobile Connector, just like the one that was included with the cars previously is $275 not $400.
This is not wise in the long run, since new owners have no idea about charging. Tesla has been constantly pushing wall chargers, when the Mobile Connector with 14-50 is just fine and less to install.

Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle

The Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle allows you to plug into any standard 110v household outlet to begin charging. Features: Max power output of 1.3kW Charging speeds between 2-3 miles of range per hour Includes: 1x Mobile Connector - 20’ cable 1x NEMA 5-15 Adapter 1x storage bag

shop.tesla.com

 

[ucmndd]

Yeah but you never know when you'll need to use a 10-30 or 5-20 or 6-20. The whole point of the UMC is to have something that you can use to charge your car in an emergency, which is why I keep the UMC and all of the NEMA adapters in the trunk at all times.


My experience is that I was at the SFO long term parking garage and the garage with the ChargePoints in them was "full", as in the staff wouldn't let me in there. I don't think all of the CPs were full as about half of them were showing up as unused. In any case, I went into the other (older) structure and went to the NEMA 5 outlets, and realized that they were 5-20 instead of 5-15. So I got my 5-20 adapter out and used that one to charge.

Then you've got to at least get the 10-30 and 14-30, because for rental houses or relatives'/friends' houses, if they don't own an EV, they're most likely to have a dryer outlet. And of course, you should have the 6-50 and 14-50 because those are the most common outlets at camping sites and in garages that are equipped for EVs.

And that leaves just the 6-15 and 6-20 out of the mix, but at that point, you might as well buy the entire set.

Meh, for me the days of feeling like I need to plug my car in at every possible opportunity and be that weird guy at every friend and relative’s house are long gone.

5 years, 140k miles… these days I rarely even bother to take the UMC with me. It’s been ages since I’ve needed anything but the J1772. Carrying around a frunk full of adapters and extension cords is already a bygone era for most of the country.

Handing out a million 6-20 and 10-30 adapters a year so that a couple hundred people can opportunistically use them seems a fantastic waste, an overcorrection.

 

[STS-134]

Was it literally a 5-20 outlet, or a 5-20 that would also accept a 5-15 plug?

5-20 outlet that can accept a 5-15. But why charge at 12A when I can take "free" electricity 33% faster charging at 16A?

Handing out a million 6-20 and 10-30 adapters a year so that a couple hundred people can opportunistically use them seems a fantastic waste, an overcorrection.

This industry needs to take a hint from USB, and make a standard connection interface between plug adapters and EVSEs. Then you buy one set of plug adapters per vehicle you own, and when you get rid of an old vehicle and buy a new one, you just transfer the adapters to the new one.

 

[MyJoule]

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.

Exactly! I hope someone with influence inside of Tesla is reading this. Come on - don't be stupid Tesla - This will likely cost a lot more than the cost of the UMC savings in lost sales- and certainly doesn't do anything to promote the change over to Sustainable Transportation.

 

[DerbyCityY]

I don't need anxiety needing a cable when I pick up my car. I don't care if it is included or not. I just need a box to check for charging cables, right below the $1,000 tow hitch and right above the $12,000 FSD option. Not a problem.

 

[mociaf9]

According to Elon, Tesla owners shouldn't buy car insurance. Usage is super low, so it is actually a huge waste of money for people on the whole. /s

 

[E90alex]

The out of stock Mobile Connector, just like the one that was included with the cars previously is $275 not $400.
This is not wise in the long run, since new owners have no idea about charging. Tesla has been constantly pushing wall chargers, when the Mobile Connector with 14-50 is just fine and less to install.

Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle

The Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle allows you to plug into any standard 110v household outlet to begin charging. Features: Max power output of 1.3kW Charging speeds between 2-3 miles of range per hour Includes: 1x Mobile Connector - 20’ cable 1x NEMA 5-15 Adapter 1x storage bag

shop.tesla.com

Elons tweet suggests they will be replacing that $275 UMC v2 with a kit that includes the UMC v2 and extra adapters for $400.

 

[tps5352]

Darn. I'm going to have to modify this table.

Well, maybe not as I see that I stated it would be for pre-refresh/"classic"/"legacy" cars. I am saved.

But the table may be helpful for comparison purposes.

 

[n0tzach]

Elon is already getting cold feet with his decision. Now only $200 and easier to order with the car. Reply to him with your feedback

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515577134437347329

 

[tps5352]

Elon is already getting cold feet with his decision. Now only $200 and easier to order with the car. Reply to him with your feedback...

Hah!

I don't need any charging accessories myself--I've got everything I need, as do many owners, I imagine. (In fact, I should probably dispose of some extra stuff.) But potential new customers should lobby (within the Twitter-sphere, I guess) for re-inclusion of the original NEMA 14-50 adapter plug in the in-car bundle along with or in place of the less-useful NEMA 5-15 adapter-plug. Try to take advantage of Tesla realizing it made a little PR faux pas?

 

[kavyboy]

The Tesla Wall connector (or equivalent) is great for everyone except people who live in apartments, or temporary housing, or lease their home, or park in garages, or move frequently, or live in vacation homes part of the year, or take road trips where there's no L2 infrastructure. For those people, they either pony up the extra money for the charger or have no charging options at home which, according to many many posts here, is a bad idea.
I consider the mobile charger an essential part of the car for most people, so this is really just an add-on price increase.

 

[FFCars]

Bad move. Now it will be out of stock forever.

 

[Amped412]

Tesla can get away with this due to high demand. No one likes it but people will still buy the cars. Once demand tapers off in a year or two they might include the charger again.

 

[DrWaffles90]

Perhaps they should remove reverse drive given usage is low relative to forward drive?
How about the seatbelts given we don't 'need' them 99.999% of drives.

I'd suggest everyone that doesn't have a Twitter get one and reply.. Seems to listen to Twitter feedback at times.

 

[wws]

Was it literally a 5-20 outlet, or a 5-20 that would also accept a 5-15 plug?

All 5-20 receptacles accept 5-15 plugs. Same with 6-20 receptacles accepting 6-15 plugs.

 

[pepperoni]

“Usage statistics were super low, so seemed wasteful.”

Is this the same logic they used when they chose not to include a spare tire?

C’mon, everyone charges. The minority are those who only use the Supercharger network. If Elon were really concerned about waste, he would include the UMC, but offer an upgrade to a Wall Connector instead for a few hundred more. It just feels like Tesla is getting cheap on their consumers after a year of huge price hikes.