Tesla Home charger Vs third party chargers

[dboyo]

We were set on the Hypervolt prior to ordering it today when we spoke with Tesla and they mentioned the Tesla home charger had been refreshed with the Generation 3, which included a sleeker design and thinner cable.

What are the thoughts regarding “smart” features?

How does this compare with the scheduled charging the Hypervolt offers - would this now be controlled within the car via scheduled charging?

I’ve seen most people on this forum tend to lean towards the Hypervolt and third party chargers?

 

[pdk42]

AFAIK, the gen 3 Tesla charger, despite being wifi capable, is still not controlled from an OLEV-compatible smart service so it does't qualify for the grant (the full list is here => Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme approved chargepoint model list - GOV.UK).

Having said that, smart charging is IMHO more agro than it's worth most of the time, so unless the OLEV grant is important to you (and I reckon most of the time it only goes to the installer's pocket rather than reducing the fee to the owner), I'd not worry about it. In fact, since all these smart chargers require internet connectivity and a server back-end they introduce complexity that is not really necessary of something that is essentially a switch with some basic safety and load management features. In fact, the need for a server back-end will potentially present yet another need to pay a monthly subscription at some point (since the charge point providers need to pay for it somehow!).

The Tesla charger has a number of advantages over non-Tesla brands:

- It's got the button on the plug to open the charge port
- It's capable of being daisy-chained and will load balance over them
- It's not too expensive
- It looks good

The car will quite happily let you control the charging schedule (you can now do it from the app in fact), so it's not a requirement for the charger to support it. However, if you ever buy another EV, make sure it has its own scheduled charging. We bought a VW ID3 and found its scheduled charging feature to be broken (software problems in the car) and eventually needed to replace our old dumb charge point with a smart one so that we could charge the car overnight at off-peak rates.

 

[pdk42]

FYI - Tesla Gen 3 wall connector installation info here => https://www.tesla.com/sites/default...ng/Gen3_WallConnector_Installation_Manual.pdf

 

[dboyo]

AFAIK, the gen 3 Tesla charger, despite being wifi capable, is still not controlled from an OLEV-compatible smart service so it does't qualify for the grant (the full list is here => Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme approved chargepoint model list - GOV.UK).

Having said that, smart charging is IMHO more agro than it's worth most of the time, so unless the OLEV grant is important to you (and I reckon most of the time it only goes to the installer's pocket rather than reducing the fee to the owner), I'd not worry about it. In fact, since all these smart chargers require internet connectivity and a server back-end they introduce complexity that is not really necessary of something that is essentially a switch with some basic safety and load management features. In fact, the need for a server back-end will potentially present yet another need to pay a monthly subscription at some point (since the charge point providers need to pay for it somehow!).

The Tesla charger has a number of advantages over non-Tesla brands:

- It's got the button on the plug to open the charge port
- It's capable of being daisy-chained and will load balance over them
- It's not too expensive
- It looks good

The car will quite happily let you control the charging schedule (you can now do it from the app in fact), so it's not a requirement for the charger to support it. However, if you ever buy another EV, make sure it has its own scheduled charging. We bought a VW ID3 and found its scheduled charging feature to be broken (software problems in the car) and eventually needed to replace our old dumb charge point with a smart one so that we could charge the car overnight at off-peak rates.

Absolutely spot on - appreciate the reply. Reckon we’ll go Tesla charger. Good to see both sides and ultimately we’ll be a Tesla household for the next 3-55 years from here on in.

The charger does look really smart and as long as we can take advantage of the Octopus Go tariff we are on, that all we’re looking for.

Seen that the Tesla charger has the potential to work well with any updates in regards to the Tesla Power wall which we are considering along with some solar panels.

 

[Mrklaw]

Bear in mind the Tesla doesn’t have ‘simple’ charging - no easy way to say ‘charge at 12:30 for 4 hours’. I use my zappi to control that.

I would like that unlock button but I’d find relying on the car scheduling a big limitation

 

[browellm]

Yeah I find it a bit odd that owners of the most connected car in the world are concerned about smart chargers, but each to their own.

 

[dboyo]

Yeah I find it a bit odd that owners of the most connected car in the world are concerned about smart chargers, but each to their own.

Just wishing there was a way to schedule a time to charge ie between midnight and 4am. Seen a few discussions around using the schedule to charge leaving time at say 4am and using the charging percentage to ensure it doesn’t kick in before off peak hours

 

[browellm]

Just wishing there was a way to schedule a time to charge ie between midnight and 4am

My post was poorly phrased. I agree that that Tesla's on board scheduling is confusing and poorly implemented. What I was trying to say was that I wouldn't be concerned about buying an internet connected charger when you're already in posession of a car that relies so much on connectivity itself.

 

[guru1]

Absolutely spot on - appreciate the reply. Reckon we’ll go Tesla charger. Good to see both sides and ultimately we’ll be a Tesla household for the next 3-55 years from here on in.

The charger does look really smart and as long as we can take advantage of the Octopus Go tariff we are on, that all we’re looking for.

Seen that the Tesla charger has the potential to work well with any updates in regards to the Tesla Power wall which we are considering along with some solar panels.

The Tesla charger needs a separate PEN fault detection device installing as well. Zappi, Hypervolt etc have PEN fault detection built in.

 

[Ben_]

Just wishing there was a way to schedule a time to charge ie between midnight and 4am. Seen a few discussions around using the schedule to charge leaving time at say 4am and using the charging percentage to ensure it doesn’t kick in before off peak hours

That’s essentially how I do it; set the scheduled charge start time and then tweak the charge target % so it’ll end around when I want it to. On a 4kW charger the MS takes around +10 miles range per hour of charging. So to make use of the cheap 4 hours I get with Octopus, nightly - I add c.40 miles to the current charge target, daily.

 

[sc20]

For those wondering the value of the open flap button - you can just push the charging flap to make it open, Tesla mention this in their intro videos. Only pushing to close would do damage, it will close by itself once unplugged.

 

[MrBadger]

That open flap button also unlocks the charge port to allow removal of the charge plug. That is far more useful.

 

[Mrklaw]

and the 'press flap to open' needs the car to be unlocked so if you walk up to it I don't think it releases unless you open/press a door handle first.

I've considered buying a keyfob multiple times just for charge port convenience. If they made a cheaper one that just did the charge port I think I'd definitely add it to my keychain

 

[Casss]

The Tesla charger needs a separate PEN fault detection device installing as well. Zappi, Hypervolt etc have PEN fault detection built in.

This is what I came here to say. This adds complexity and cost to an install.

This plus the lack of decent scheduled charging options makes the Tesla chargers a non starter for me currently. If you can’t reliably make use of an ev tariff whilst they’re worth having, you’re missing our big time imo. Some can make do with the scheduling on the car side but it’s more faff, and doesn’t support quickly switching between multiple, pre determined schedules like the Hypervolt app allows. (Which also allows you to remotely lock the charger too which is an under appreciated feature ).

They’re not quite as sleek I’ll admit, but the Hypervolt chargers do look smart and have nice controls for adjusting the led’s etc. their customer service is also class leading. Food for thought perhaps.

 

[dboyo]

My decision has flipped and now flipped back to the Hypervolt again. I just can’t believe that Tesla doesn’t have a decent scheduled charging set up.

 

[spdpsba]

My decision has flipped and now flipped back to the Hypervolt again. I just can’t believe that Tesla doesn’t have a decent scheduled charging set up.

There are few threads discussing this.
In short, Tesla is an American car aimed at customers in America. Elon never thought it will become such a big hit in Europe. Very few states in America have restrictions around cheaper tariff mostly you can charge for around 12 hrs using cheaper tariff. So scheduling isn’t a priority!

 

[Haselsmasher]

I'm interested in understanding this scheduled charging scenario more - outside what the app can currently do.

I'm in 1000% agreement the implementation in the app is very very bad. Highly confusing. What are the "use cases" folks wish were in the app but aren't?

I've written a Python program that has implemented a variety of "custom charging" scenarios for how my wife and I use our car. (For example, we've decided we want a min charge always in the car - for emergencies. So at night and when off-peak pricing has begun, if the car's charge is below that min we've defined, the car charges just up to the min we've established. And, during the day, we only charge when there is excess solar coming off our solar panels.)

While I'm willing to give the software to anyone (it's on GitHub) it does require some techie skills to configure and keep running. After reading this thread I might venture into creating a real app (also for free......I do this stuff for fun) to make scheduled charging easier without having to mess with smart chargers.

 

[dboyo]

I'm interested in understanding this scheduled charging scenario more - outside what the app can currently do.

I'm in 1000% agreement the implementation in the app is very very bad. Highly confusing. What are the "use cases" folks wish was in the app but isn't?

I've written a Python program that has implemented a variety of "custom charging" scenarios for how my wife and I use our car. (For example, we've decided we want a min charge always in the car - for emergencies. So at night and when off-peak pricing has begun, if the car's charge is below that min we've defined, the car charges just up to the min we've established. And, during the day, we only charge when there is excess solar coming off our solar panels.)

While I'm willing to give the software to anyone (it's on GitHub) it does require some techie skills to configure and keep running. After reading this thread I might venture into creating a real app (also for free......I do this stuff for fun) to make scheduled charging easier without having to mess with smart chargers.

That would be a great idea and if there was an easy way to do it I would take up the Tesla charger. Conceded and went with the Hypervolt. I accept a previous comment about Tesla being designed for the American market, however with Musk being an entrepreneur you would think he would adapt within the markets he was selling to…

 

[spdpsba]

…however with Musk being an entrepreneur you would think he would adapt within the markets he was selling

We can rattle off a stream of adjectives that describe Elon: innovator, leader, genius, visionary, futurist, entrepreneur. That entrepreneur bit is being the last, even though he co owned Paypal, and currently the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, there has always been a debate about whether he is the real founder of any of these companies.

 

[Jason71]

Its not cheap but if you want the best of both worlds there is always the charger of your choice +

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