Wall Connector or 240V Charger adapter

[freeAgent]

Right on !!

One thing to be aware of for the SR+ is that I believe its L2 charging is limited to 32amps regardless of what EVSE/charger you hook up to, so for that particular car any theoretical higher amperage (>40a) that would be possible with a hard-wired EVSE/Tesla Wall Connector would be wasted, as would the additional cost from your electrician since the line would have to be thicker to safely carry the larger load. I'd still go with a 50a circuit on the NEMA 14-50 outlet even though the extra 8 amps (50a circuit supports 40a charging) will not be used by your SR+. That way you're future-proofed.

 

[MLXXXp]

any theoretical higher amperage (>40a) that would be possible with a hard-wired EVSE/Tesla Wall Connector would be wasted, as would the additional cost from your electrician since the line would have to be thicker to safely carry the larger load.

Saying "having thicker wire is a waste" isn't entirely true. Thicker wire has lower resistance over the same distance than thinner wire. Lower resistance means less power wasted, due to heating of the wire, at any given current. So, a thicker wire rated for 60 amps will still waste less less power than a thinner wire rated for 40 amps when running only 32 amps through each of them.

However, whether the additional cost of installing thicker wire will ever be recovered by the savings from less wasted power, due to wire heating, will mainly depend on electricity prices and the total lifetime use of the wire. (There are other small cost factors, such as in cold weather the wire heat may offset some of the costs of the regular building heating equipment, or in warm whether it could add additional costs for needed extra air conditioning.)

 

[PartyBoy]

Let me give you all the right answer. It depends.

I have a 14-50 Hubbel on 4 gauge hooked into a 60 amp breaker. I burn about 15% of my battery a day commuting. When I get home the car is recharged before I go to sleep.

The Wall Charger provides capability that is, in my application, unneeded .

Others may have a requirement to stuff a lot more energy into their car in a shorter span of time. They need a higher rate of charge.

Look at the options mentioned above and determine which solution best fits YOUR needs.

 

[jlim]

Whatever the case, I’m going with this set-up because it gives me more flexibility going forward. The Tesla will not be my last EV going forward and I’m not committed to always owning a Tesla.

 

[Rocky_H]

Let me give you all the right answer.

OK, let's see what you've got...

I have a 14-50 Hubbel on 4 gauge hooked into a 60 amp breaker.

Oh jeez. That is a blatant code violation, and is definitely NOT the right answer. Electric code is perfectly clear that the breaker must never be higher rated than the outlet. You should switch that over to a 50A breaker, and it almost certainly is supposed to be a GFCI breaker too, if your state has adopted at least the 2017 version of NEC.

This doesn't have to do with whether people should choose to use a wall connector or mobile connector, but following electric code is generally a good idea.

 

[PartyBoy]

OK, let's see what you've got...

Oh jeez. That is a blatant code violation, and is definitely NOT the right answer. Electric code is perfectly clear that the breaker must never be higher rated than the outlet. You should switch that over to a 50A breaker, and it almost certainly is supposed to be a GFCI breaker too, if your state has adopted at least the 2017 version of NEC.

This doesn't have to do with whether people should choose to use a wall connector or mobile connector, but following electric code is generally a good idea.

Rocky_H:

You're right and I misspoke. It is in fact on a 50 amp. Thanks for pointing out and clarifying.

 

[3sr+buyer]

If you want a permanent solution, get a wall connector. If you get a nema 14-50 you’ll have to keep plugging and unplugging the mobile connector if you want to keep it in the car when you leave.

If you decide to buy a mobile connector to leave at home, it costs nearly the same as a wall connector.

Wall connector is $550, while mobile connector is $275 + $45 for a 14-50 or 6-50 plug (total $320). Of course, it depends on whether your garage already has a suitable 14-50 or 6-50 outlet as to which is more is favored in terms of installation / wiring costs.

Wall connector is likely more expensive, but is more featured and goes up to 48A, while the mobile connector is a basic EVSE that does up to 32A.

You may not need more than just the mobile connector that comes with the car if you only occasionally go on trips where you would need the mobile connector to charge away from home. I.e. you can leave the mobile connector plugged into the garage most of the time, and unplug it to put in the car only for those trips.

 

[Rocky_H]

Wall connector is $550, while mobile connector is $275 + $45 for a 14-50 or 6-50 plug (total $320).

You are still missing costs on the outlet scenario:
You mentioned $275 for the cable.
I can't tell if the $45 you mentioned is for the adapter plug from Tesla or for the receptacle itself. You will need about $45 for each of those, so you missed one.
And then the other is that electric code requires using a GFCI breaker for an outlet like that, versus being allowed to use a standard breaker for hardwired units. The GFCI breaker is about $100 MORE than a standard breaker. So that is yet another extra cost of doing the outlet setup.
So:
275
45
45
100
So that's about $465. The cost differences are getting pretty small versus the wall connector.

 

[3sr+buyer]

You are still missing costs on the outlet scenario:
You mentioned $275 for the cable.
I can't tell if the $45 you mentioned is for the adapter plug from Tesla or for the receptacle itself. You will need about $45 for each of those, so you missed one.

$45 is for the adapter plug from Tesla to use the mobile connector with a 14-50 or 6-50 outlet.

In any case, the "missing costs" depend on what I wrote before: "Of course, it depends on whether your garage already has a suitable 14-50 or 6-50 outlet as to which is more is favored in terms of installation / wiring costs." If you already have a suitable outlet, then using the mobile connector with matching plug costs significantly less. If you need to get stuff wired up, then the hardwired wall connector becomes more price competitive as you say. With the wall connector, you get more features and possibly higher amperage, but also the tradeoffs with being hardwired.

Also, if you just use the mobile connector that comes with the car (leaving it plugged into the garage all the time except for occasional road trips), that is another $275 not spent on the mobile connector solution. For someone who just wants a basic 32A EVSE and will leave it plugged into the garage all the time except for occasional road trips, using the mobile connector that comes with the car is likely the most cost effective solution.

Obviously, for either EVSE solution, if there is no existing wiring from the panel to the garage, there would be expense to add that.

 

[EmOne]

I guess I'm wondering a bit as to why so many seemed obsessed with high charging speeds; do you put on that many miles and are away from charging that long? Even if I am gone 10 hrs, my 120/20amp set-up gets me 100 miles overnight (much better that the chart someone put up!) Unless you are averaging 35,000 miles a year, seems like you could manage with my set-up and there is no question that slow charging is better for the battery.

 

[Rocky_H]

I guess I'm wondering a bit as to why so many seemed obsessed with high charging speeds; do you put on that many miles and are away from charging that long? Even if I am gone 10 hrs, my 120/20amp set-up gets me 100 miles overnight (much better that the chart someone put up!) Unless you are averaging 35,000 miles a year, seems like you could manage with my set-up

Generally agree, but the 120V charging is impractically slow for many people's real common use. I think 240V and at least a 20 or 30A circuit is about what I would consider low end for practicality.

and there is no question that slow charging is better for the battery.

But no, this is irrelevant. ALL charging at home is EXTREMELY slow charging. Quibbling about over the difference of 11 kW or 6 kW to a battery that can take over 200 kW makes no sense. To the battery's perspective, anything you can get at home is so slow, you're already in that "better for the battery" kind of area. The relevance of "slow" is just about whether it's really fast DC charging or not.

 

[jlim]

I guess I'm wondering a bit as to why so many seemed obsessed with high charging speeds; do you put on that many miles and are away from charging that long? Even if I am gone 10 hrs, my 120/20amp set-up gets me 100 miles overnight (much better that the chart someone put up!) Unless you are averaging 35,000 miles a year, seems like you could manage with my set-up and there is no question that slow charging is better for the battery.

I get what you’re saying and I would be ok with charging via a 120v plug most of the time. But going forward all my cars from here forward will be electric so it will be convenient to have myself set up long term.

 

[dmurphy]

I guess I'm wondering a bit as to why so many seemed obsessed with high charging speeds; do you put on that many miles and are away from charging that long? Even if I am gone 10 hrs, my 120/20amp set-up gets me 100 miles overnight (much better that the chart someone put up!) Unless you are averaging 35,000 miles a year, seems like you could manage with my set-up and there is no question that slow charging is better for the battery.

During the week, I work from home. So it's a non-issue. I have an L5-30 outlet as well, and have been using it over the last week while I repaired my HPWC disconnect (see my other thread in this forum ....). It's more than fine during the week.

It's the weekends where I like having the ability to "juice up" fairly quickly. More than a handful of times, I've done a bunch of running around in the morning, and need an extra hit of juice for the evening. Having a wall connector lets me get 'er done without stopping at a Supercharger.

There's also the weather sealing aspect for me. Since we park in the driveway (and, since this is NJ, drive on the Parkway!) -- in truly all 4 seasons -- I wanted a permanent install. It works well; also passes the WAF test.

Could I survive with a 120/30? Yeah, I could. But the convenience of the HPWC is worth a couple bucks, IMO.

 

[Jeremy3292]

there is no question that slow charging is better for the battery.

Unless it is DC power, all charging is "slow charging" for any electric vehicle (AC power).

 

[holeydonut]

I guess I'm wondering a bit as to why so many seemed obsessed with high charging speeds; do you put on that many miles and are away from charging that long? Even if I am gone 10 hrs, my 120/20amp set-up gets me 100 miles overnight (much better that the chart someone put up!) Unless you are averaging 35,000 miles a year, seems like you could manage with my set-up and there is no question that slow charging is better for the battery.

I agree with the previous sentiment to getting a TWC and trying to get the thing up to the full 48A.

More often than not someone forgets to plug in the EV. And when we're planning to head out the next day we learn the effing car could use some juice.

Getting 35 miles of charge in the hour or so while you're wrangling to load up the car is worth it to me lol.

The superchargers near me are kind of out of the way from the routes I'd normally take. And getting off the freeway and over to them is often a PITA.

That and the TWC looks so cool.

 

[Jeremy3292]

More often than not someone forgets to plug in the EV. And when we're planning to head out the next day we learn the effing car could use some juice.

Getting 35 miles of charge in the hour or so while you're wrangling to load up the car is worth it to me lol.

That and the TWC looks so cool.

I get 50 miles an hour on my M3 LR and TWC. The The price difference is negligible now but it used to be very high in previous years for the HPWC. And yes it’s definitely way cooler, safer, and less of a hassle than using an outlet.

 

[dmurphy]

And yes it’s definitely way cooler, safer, and less of a hassle than using an outlet.

.... until you run the cable over with the snowblower. Whoops. This was 3 days before my other thread (the melting AC disconnect) -- and no, not related - different HPWCs. We have two (his and hers) - so in 3 days I took them both out of commission. Great week, really.

 

[holeydonut]

.... until you run the cable over with the snowblower. Whoops. This was 3 days before my other thread (the melting AC disconnect) -- and no, not related - different HPWCs. We have two (his and hers) - so in 3 days I took them both out of commission. Great week, really.

Did you have to replace your whole wall connector? Or were you able to just replace the cable? I'm thinking this 18' cable connected to a bad-azz looking TWC in my garage is going to get run over one of these days...

 

[dmurphy]

Did you have to replace your whole wall connector? Or were you able to just replace the cable? I'm thinking this 18' cable connected to a bad-azz looking TWC in my garage is going to get run over one of these days...

Tesla doesn’t sell just the cable assembly; it’s all or nothing.

Could’ve gotten a used cable from fleaBay, but it costs as much as a new HPWC, and ships from China.

So I’m in for a new one. Going to give the old HPWC and handle to an electrician friend / fellow Tesla owner. If he wants to splice the cable back together and use it, more power to him. (See what I did there!?!)

Such a thing would immediately fail the WAF test here at home, so best that he has it.

 

[RayK]

So I’m in for a new one. Going to give the old HPWC and handle to an electrician friend / fellow Tesla owner. If he wants to splice the cable back together and use it, more power to him. (See what I did there!?!)

If giving that project to your friend makes him real happy, I hope that he gets a charge out of it.

Such a thing would immediately fail the WAF test here at home, so best that he has it.

Sounds like you may need to upgrade your W. I've had mine for over 35 years so I know of what you speak.