More important is making sure that the outlet you have is correctly installed - and that means, for example, torquing the screws that clamp the wires to the manufacturer specs. My uninformed opinion is that the cheap outlets are much less tolerant of under- or over-torquing the clamp screws than the more expensive outlets, and most of the melting and smoke issues come from people / electricians who don't understand this. A bad connection creates resistance, which creates heat, which causes melty plastic bits.
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Wall Connector charging Question
- Thread starter suceevan
- Start date
Immediately after we took delivery and did a quick test drive of the P3… wife said the coolest surprise (in a good way) so far has been the HPWC opening the charge door without having to fiddle with the touch screen or app.
Congratulations! didnt know you had picked it up yet.
You might want to let her know that whether that works or not (pushing the button on the handle) depends on if the car is asleep or not. If the car is asleep, you will need to wake it up in some manner to push the button on the handle of the wall connector to open the charging door.
I usually open the rear door on that side of the car (or partially open it by pulling the door handle "some") to wake it up, then push the button on the wall connector to plug in.
Yeah they did the home delivery thing and showed up like super late lol. I didn't even take pictures since it was getting dark and the red paint looks kind of scummy at sunset hah. I've gone through most of the delivery checklist... for the most part I haven't seen the horror-stuff that some talk about on TMC.
The worst thing so far has been some plastic underbody thing on the rear of the car that they never screwed on... so it was dragging on the ground when they dropped the car off.
The most annoying part has been the amount of black fingerprints and smudges on the headliner, white dash inserts, metal bits, and white seats. Like holy crap... it's like they told a guy that used to work for a 1920 newspaper to drive the car for a few miles. Like wtf Tesla...
You don't need to open or pull on the door handle - just push in the fat end of the handle 1/4-1/2 inch (~1 cm) and it'll wake up the car without unlatching the door. It's still a mystery to me why I have to do that to unplug the car in the morning - seems like the charging handle should be able to wake up the car. Oh well, if that's the worst thing that I have to complain about I guess it means that I love my Tesla.
You don't need to open or pull on the door handle - just push in the fat end of the handle 1/4-1/2 inch (~1 cm) and it'll wake up the car without unlatching the door. It's still a mystery to me why I have to do that to unplug the car in the morning - seems like the charging handle should be able to wake up the car. Oh well, if that's the worst thing that I have to complain about I guess it means that I love my Tesla.
Yeah, thats what I ment by "partially opening the door some" but I didnt do a very good job of explaining it, like you did. Thanks!
Just hold down on the button on the charging handle...You don't need to open or pull on the door handle - just push in the fat end of the handle 1/4-1/2 inch (~1 cm) and it'll wake up the car without unlatching the door. It's still a mystery to me why I have to do that to unplug the car in the morning - seems like the charging handle should be able to wake up the car. Oh well, if that's the worst thing that I have to complain about I guess it means that I love my Tesla.
I guess I’m impatient-three years of ownership, three years of cursing at Tesla (not really, but it sounds more dramatic to say so), and I never once held the button down for two seconds. I tried this morning and voila, the car woke up and the plug unlatched.
I learned something today; thanks.
I learned something today; thanks.
Oohhhh so this push button thing on the plug thingie isn't unique to the HPWC?! But the HPWC looks so cool... it must have a special button
Oohhhh so this push button thing on the plug thingie isn't unique to the HPWC?! But the HPWC looks so cool... it must have a special button
Well, there *is* a reset button on the side of the HPWC, so maybe that's the special button?
All seriousness, your wife is right -- the convenience of having the wall connector right there all the time is pretty glorious! One of my wife's biggest concerns pre-delivery was the inconvenience of 'having to plug this thing in every day'... Once she did the 2-second operation for the first time, and realized it means you never.have.to.stop.at.a.gas.station.again -- well, that sold her right then and there.
And by the way, congratulations on taking delivery! Very exciting stuff; you're going to grow to love that car more every day. Enjoy the ride!
But we live in NJ with mandatory full service. It's so much better having to wait 5 minutes for the attendant to both start filling the car and another 5 minutes for him to remove the nozzle and process your payment. Or at least that's what my wife says every time I complain about no self service.
Sacramento
2021 Tesla Model Y LR AWD
Great points. Also: the Tesla wall charger only needs two hots and a ground and has ground fault circuitry built in. The NEMA 14-50 needs two hots, a ground AND a neutral– plus a GFCI breaker in the panel.
Yeah, that's not a wall connector advantage. The wall connector and mobile connector are identical in having the same special button on the charging handle that opens the charge port door.Oohhhh so this push button thing on the plug thingie isn't unique to the HPWC?! But the HPWC looks so cool... it must have a special button
My mobile connector is right there all the time on the wall too, and it's glorious. Again--not unique to the wall connector.
For sure, but I park outdoors all year long.
Not sure I’d leave the mobile connector in the elements all year long, at least without a watertight enclosure. I mean, my brain knows it’s fine and all but there’s something reassuring about it being hardwired in some liquid tight conduit.
But yes — having a mobile connector right next to the car is indeed glorious!!
Sacramento
2021 Tesla Model Y LR AWD
I built a solid enclosure for my 60 amp wall charger out of a single sheet of 3/4" plywood and mounted it on a 2' x 2' concrete pad. I also added a second 50 amp circuit with a NEMA 14-50 outlet for friends with non-Tesla EVs, plus a 120v outlet for vacuums and whatnot.
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