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Tesla Wall Connector Price Drop to $495 from $550 [ordered direct from tesla]

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Why is the "wall connector" better than a standard 220 volt outlet you can buy for less than $20??? OK, so it charges faster. Whoop-de-do! You plug your car in at night and it's full in the morning, same as the outlet. The main difference seems to be that you have to pay 50 times more for the "wall connector", which, of course, makes it better, right? And, as an extra benefit, you can ONLY use the wall connector for charging your car, while I can plug several different things into my outlet. Who are the ones making a profit from these? What's the push? "Ooooh, it's white, and I had to get an electrician to install it for an additional $500, so it must be better!" NOT.

I've been using the same 220 volt outlet to charge my cars for over ten years. I bought it at The Home Depot for about ten bucks and put it in myself, which is allowed in my county. If I sell my house, I just leave the outlet here for the next owner, so he can charge HIS Tesla. No one needs a "wall connector". Even rich Tesla owners are smart enough to spend their money wisely, and this ain't one of those deals.
The post is surely satirical, as there are too many hyperboles to count and seems like a rant against the wall connector for no reason. It didn't cost you only $20 to install a 240v outlet and the wall connector is not "50 times" more expensive. I have linked the 14-50 outlet thread HERE for your reference and also taken some pictures from that thread below of failed/melted 240v outlets. There are many, many other threads on here about failed 240v outlets also. The wall connector is factually safer as it is hard wired and has no user inputs like an outlet does. You have obviously done your own cost benefit analysis on a 240v outlet vs the wall connector, but what works for you doesn't negate what works and doesn't work for others.

In order to keep this thread on topic, this will be my last post on the veracity of the wall connector as the topic's sole purpose was to advise those who may want to buy one that the price has dropped.

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I thought the same way and picked up a cheapie used generic EVSE and a 10g extension cord. Now I'm considering finding a (likely used) Tesla branded one for a single reason:

Opening the charge port with the Tesla connector/plug/handle. Such a pain to do via the app or the car.
You can press on the bottom of the charge door to cause it to open.


Also, unless you need to keep the included mobile connector in the car or put it there frequently, it is a perfectly good 32A basic plug-in EVSE (probably at least as capable as a "cheapie used generic EVSE"). That may only have the cost of the plug adapter.
 
My thought has always been that Tesla loses money or simply breaks even on sales of the wall connector. They don't need to make money off of it and they want people to use it instead of a 240v outlet setup.

Unlike most other EVSE sellers and car companies, Tesla does not seem to price EVSEs that aggressively.
  • The wall connector is very competitively priced compared to other 48A featured EVSEs.
  • The mobile connector is very competitively priced compared to other 32A basic EVSEs (even when including any needed plug adapter).
  • The cars include the mobile connector, which is a better portable EVSE than what many other EVs include, and can be used as a good basic home EVSE if desired.
Indeed, until very recently, some people with J1772 EVs may have found that a Tesla EVSE with a third party J1772 adapter was price-competitive to the J1772 EVSEs available.

Perhaps Tesla's EVSE strategy is to make it as easy as possible for a Tesla car buyer to set up home charging by including a good basic EVSE (mobile connector) with the car and offering the option of one with a higher charging rate and more features (wall connector) at a not-too-high price. Of course, any needed wiring work is still on the buyer.
 
FYI for any of those in need of one or on the fence.

Thanks for the heads up! Just ordered, rare lately to find a price drop on anything.
 
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You can press on the bottom of the charge door to cause it to open.
  • Press the bottom of the charge port door when Model 3 is unlocked or an authenticated phone is nearby.
Also, unless you need to keep the included mobile connector in the car or put it there frequently, it is a perfectly good 32A basic plug-in EVSE (probably at least as capable as a "cheapie used generic EVSE").
1) I didn't know that, so I walked out and tried it - no dice (even had my phone in my pocket). I'm guessing it has to do with the vagaries of my phone connection (which hasn't been reliable/consistent). The connection might be more robust when I've just parked.

2) I thought of that initially, but I like having a charger in the car for emergencies. I guess I could swap my static cheapie for the portable Tesla brand that comes with the car. I can instead put my cheapie in the sub-trunk for emergency use.
 
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1) I didn't know that, so I walked out and tried it - no dice (even had my phone in my pocket). I'm guessing it has to do with the vagaries of my phone connection (which hasn't been reliable/consistent). The connection might be more robust when I've just parked.

2) I thought of that initially, but I like having a charger in the car for emergencies. I guess I could swap my static cheapie for the portable Tesla brand that comes with the car. I can instead put my cheapie in the sub-trunk for emergency use.
You also have to make sure the car is awake. I usually touch the nearby passenger door handle enough to wake the car but not enough to open the door.
 
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Why is the "wall connector" better than a standard 220 volt outlet you can buy for less than $20??? OK, so it charges faster. Whoop-de-do! You plug your car in at night and it's full in the morning, same as the outlet. The main difference seems to be that you have to pay 50 times more for the "wall connector", which, of course, makes it better, right? And, as an extra benefit, you can ONLY use the wall connector for charging your car, while I can plug several different things into my outlet. Who are the ones making a profit from these? What's the push? "Ooooh, it's white, and I had to get an electrician to install it for an additional $500, so it must be better!" NOT.

I've been using the same 220 volt outlet to charge my cars for over ten years. I bought it at The Home Depot for about ten bucks and put it in myself, which is allowed in my county. If I sell my house, I just leave the outlet here for the next owner, so he can charge HIS Tesla. No one needs a "wall connector". Even rich Tesla owners are smart enough to spend their money wisely, and this ain't one of those deals.
A silly off topic rant from someone who obviously did not read the posts, makes wild and unsubstantiated judgements about others, and clearly needs anger management counseling. Or were you just joking?
 
Nice! Still deciding if I should order the Tesla charger or an aftermarket one. My energy provider gives a $250 credit if you buy a class 2 charger, but it doesn't include the Tesla charger. If I want the credit, I have to buy a JuiceBox or ChargePoint charger.
 
You also have to make sure the car is awake. I usually touch the nearby passenger door handle enough to wake the car but not enough to open the door.
Correct. The car must be awake. You can wake it up by partially pressing one of the door handles (about half way). It might take another few seconds before the button on the charging wand opens the charge port.
 
My energy provider gives a $250 credit if you buy a class 2 charger, but it doesn't include the Tesla charger. If I want the credit, I have to buy a JuiceBox or ChargePoint charger.
That is ridiculous. How does an energy provider come to those terms?
The only thing I can think of is that they get kickbacks from those companies.
No, it's not kickbacks. This has been around for several years and is covered in a lot of other threads. It is because of them needing an internet connected functionality where they can control the timing and on/off activation of the charging unit to manage loads. Tesla's products have never offered that function, so they don't qualify.
 
Nice! Still deciding if I should order the Tesla charger or an aftermarket one. My energy provider gives a $250 credit if you buy a class 2 charger, but it doesn't include the Tesla charger. If I want the credit, I have to buy a JuiceBox or ChargePoint charger.
How much can you get the JuiceBox or ChargePoint EVSE for? If it is about $250 or more higher than the Tesla wall connector, that does not seem like much of a deal, unless you also want to use it to charge a J1772 EV without needing a J1772 adapter that a Tesla EVSE would need.
 
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How much can you get the JuiceBox or ChargePoint EVSE for? If it is about $250 or more higher than the Tesla wall connector, that does not seem like much of a deal, unless you also want to use it to charge a J1772 EV without needing a J1772 adapter that a Tesla EVSE would need.
The cheapest qualifying JuiceBox is $619. So, subtracting $250 from that, it ends up being $369.
 
The cheapest qualifying JuiceBox is $619. So, subtracting $250 from that, it ends up being $369.
This looks like the 32A model, so same charging speed as the mobile connector included in the car; the 40A model is $649 ($399 after $250 off).

However, this JuiceBox EVSE does have some additional features that the mobile connector does not, such as charge scheduling and logging.
 
This looks like the 32A model, so same charging speed as the mobile connector included in the car; the 40A model is $649 ($399 after $250 off).

However, this JuiceBox EVSE does have some additional features that the mobile connector does not, such as charge scheduling and logging.
I was under the impression that you can schedule charging through the car. Is this not the case?
 
I was under the impression that you can schedule charging through the car. Is this not the case?
You can, but the parameters are somewhat limited.
  • You can tell the car to charge to be ready by a certain time. You can also set a start time for peak hours when it will avoid charging, but there is no setting for the end of peak hours.
  • You can tell the car to start charging at a certain time.
  • You can tell the car to start charging now.
If you want to do something like "charge whenever plugged in, except during peak hours", you may need to set that through an EVSE that can do that.
 
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And the car doesn't have full 7 day individual scheduling. You can set a start time like 1:00 AM, but some people have really fine grained needs with their electric company's rates, where they need to set a different start time on Saturdays and Sundays versus Monday through Friday, and the cars don't have that level of detail.
 
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And the car doesn't have full 7 day individual scheduling. You can set a start time like 1:00 AM, but some people have really fine grained needs with their electric company's rates, where they need to set a different start time on Saturdays and Sundays versus Monday through Friday, and the cars don't have that level of detail.
It would be a simple upgrade to the charging control interface if:
  1. You can set peak hours start and end, with option to set for each day, or use settings from known electric utilities (like the app does).
  2. When charging to finish by a certain time, have an option to avoid peak hours completely (even if cannot complete charging by the certain time), minimize peak hours (but still complete charging by the certain time), or not care about peak hours.
  3. When starting charging at a certain time or immediately, have an option to avoid peak hours or not care about peak hours.
  4. Option to have all of the above apply only to home locations.