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Tesla wall charger or not
- Thread starter Spikytops
- Start date
davewill
Active Member
They are the cheapest, in general, and most convenient, because they have a Tesla plug (no adapter) and will open the charge port wirelessly. However, I have two non-Tesla EVSEs (because I installed them for non-Tesla EVs) and find them perfectly usable.
All that said, Tesla Wall Connectors don't have any scheduling functionality, so you have to live with what the car gives you. In this case, it means you can either start the charge at the beginning of your window, or set the car to depart near the end of your window. The car will still charge outside the window if needed to reach the configured charge level.
I personally don't think that's a problem, but there it is.
All that said, Tesla Wall Connectors don't have any scheduling functionality, so you have to live with what the car gives you. In this case, it means you can either start the charge at the beginning of your window, or set the car to depart near the end of your window. The car will still charge outside the window if needed to reach the configured charge level.
I personally don't think that's a problem, but there it is.
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If you have an android phone, you can use "Dashboard for Tesla" to schedule precise start/stop times even with the HPWC. Last I checked, it was like $20 and is not a subscription based app. Buy it once and use it forever. It relies on your phone to contact the car and tell it to turn charging on and off.
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jrweiss98020
Tessa's Tesla
Some utilities give rebates for certain chargers. Mine gave me $500 back for a ChargePoint. That's worth having to slip on the 1772 adapter...
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GregBallantyne
Member
Much depends on your situation. I've been charging my Tesla at home for nearly 5 years, and never bought any charger. I simply added the appropriate receptacle to an existing 30A 240V circuit that I had for a generator feed for use during power outages on the barn wall where I park my cars. The mobile connector that came with the car, thru the 30A adapter, stays there for use. The cost was nearly nothing, just the price of the outlet from Lowe's. The car and the app provide any required charging control capability.
Of course the building I park in made that fairly easy. The only reason I replied is to point out that good solutions can exist that don't necessarily involve buying a wall charger.
Of course the building I park in made that fairly easy. The only reason I replied is to point out that good solutions can exist that don't necessarily involve buying a wall charger.
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@GregBallantyne Wellll sure, my outlet was cheap when I had it installed 9 years ago too. But that's kind of like telling people college is cheap because it was when you went to school a few decades ago. Things just aren't like that anymore.
With more recent changes where wall connectors are much cheaper now, and the stupid NEC requirement of using finnicky, annoying, nuisance-tripping, ridiculously expensive GFCI breakers on charging outlets now, doing it "on the cheap" with just a receptacle just doesn't reflect the current circumstances. I generally just wouldn't recommend doing an outlet anymore to anyone, because a wall connector is both better AND cheaper now.
With more recent changes where wall connectors are much cheaper now, and the stupid NEC requirement of using finnicky, annoying, nuisance-tripping, ridiculously expensive GFCI breakers on charging outlets now, doing it "on the cheap" with just a receptacle just doesn't reflect the current circumstances. I generally just wouldn't recommend doing an outlet anymore to anyone, because a wall connector is both better AND cheaper now.
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GregBallantyne
Member
sorry, a wall connector cannot be cheaper than adding an outlet to an existing circuit, unless the price drops to under $50. Of course it can be better. All depends on case by case circumstances. I'm not making recommendations to anyone about what they need - only pointing out some things to think about while deciding. Elapsed years and the price of college tuition don't mean a thing here.
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But it is. It's not less than $50, because I am not going to recklessly recommend to people to blatantly violate electric code. I'll go over the parts list:
$50 14-50 outlet
$130 GFCI breaker
$230 Mobile connector (not included with the car anymore)
$25 Cord hanging thing for the wall. (Tesla has one for $35 that also holds the mobile connector box)
$XX Some extra wire cost since a 14-50 would need an extra wire versus the wall connector.)
That is about $435 EXTRA (plus wire cost difference) that a 14-50 outlet requires, versus the $425 for the wall connector.
Installing Wall Connector is better than NEMA 14-50
I dunno a GFCI is only 100 bucks more.. Plus plug adapter ($45), plus wall hook of some kind. Plus the outlet itself, (around $50) Granted, they did change the new cord bundle so it comes with 14-50 plug again, but if someone is going to use a 14-30 or 6-20 or 6-50 or something, they would...
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davewill
Active Member
For completeness, there are situations where a mobile connector makes sense:But it is. It's not less than $50, because I am not going to recklessly recommend to people to blatantly violate electric code. I'll go over the parts list:
$50 14-50 outlet
$130 GFCI breaker
$230 Mobile connector (not included with the car anymore)
$25 Cord hanging thing for the wall. (Tesla has one for $35 that also holds the mobile connector box)
$XX Some extra wire cost since a 14-50 would need an extra wire versus the wall connector.)
That is about $435 EXTRA (plus wire cost difference) that a 14-50 outlet requires, versus the $425 for the wall connector.
Installing Wall Connector is better than NEMA 14-50
I dunno a GFCI is only 100 bucks more.. Plus plug adapter ($45), plus wall hook of some kind. Plus the outlet itself, (around $50) Granted, they did change the new cord bundle so it comes with 14-50 plug again, but if someone is going to use a 14-30 or 6-20 or 6-50 or something, they would...
1. You already have the outlet
2. Have need to occasionally plug something else into the outlet (if it's a lot of unplugging, then I'd do a separate circuit).
3. Already own the mobile connector or just want to own one (you like to camp at RV parks or some such).
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Tesla wall charger is relatively inexpensive, looks good, and has some technology. Good value if your car did not come with a charging cable.
If you already have a charging cable, a good quality 14-50 socket is often cheaper, and while just a little slower, can also be a good choice.
If you already have a charging cable, a good quality 14-50 socket is often cheaper, and while just a little slower, can also be a good choice.
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It all depends on circumstances. Our garage subpanel is fed by a 50amp 240v breaker. To install a TWC I'd need to upgrade the breaker and cable to the garage, then use more expensive wire than the 12-2 that I used to install a NEMA 6-20 outlet outlet in the garage to charge the car at 15/16 amps 240v via a generic J1772 16a/240v EVSE.
I could probably have added a 30amp breaker to the garage panel and used an TWC or other EVSE with the amperage reduced in the EVSE to charge at ~24 amps but the ease of adding a NEMA 6-20 outlet swayed my decision.
I could probably have added a 30amp breaker to the garage panel and used an TWC or other EVSE with the amperage reduced in the EVSE to charge at ~24 amps but the ease of adding a NEMA 6-20 outlet swayed my decision.
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You could have used 12-2 to feed 20 amps to an HPWC(or 10/2 to feed 30 amps to an HPWC), and it wouldn't have been more difficult than the 6-20 outlet. the HPWC is designed to handle even as low as 15 amps(that'd be 14/2 !) Its specifically designed to auto-limit based on the circuit breaker setting you make while provisioning the HPWC.
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yeah, but it's still a lot more money for the same effective charge rate and I can unplug my EVSE and use the plug for another purpose. iirc 14-2 would only give a usable 12 amps.
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No, none of that is true. Using the wall connector does not require using a higher amp circuit. You can use it on a 20A circuit just like that 6-20 outlet is.
Well, those are preferences. Using a plug-in outlet requires putting in a GFCI breaker for it, and that is very expensive and prone to so much nuisance tripping and unreliability that I wouldn't want to deal with it at all, so that's a big negative against doing an outlet in my estimation.
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But it is. It's not less than $50, because I am not going to recklessly recommend to people to blatantly violate electric code. I'll go over the parts list:
$50 14-50 outlet
$130 GFCI breaker
$230 Mobile connector (not included with the car anymore)
$25 Cord hanging thing for the wall. (Tesla has one for $35 that also holds the mobile connector box)
$XX Some extra wire cost since a 14-50 would need an extra wire versus the wall connector.)
That is about $435 EXTRA (plus wire cost difference) that a 14-50 outlet requires, versus the $425 for the wall connector.
Installing Wall Connector is better than NEMA 14-50
I dunno a GFCI is only 100 bucks more.. Plus plug adapter ($45), plus wall hook of some kind. Plus the outlet itself, (around $50) Granted, they did change the new cord bundle so it comes with 14-50 plug again, but if someone is going to use a 14-30 or 6-20 or 6-50 or something, they would...
Plus the wall connector looks way more badass.
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