Wall Connector vs Mobile charger

[Joelc]

If I were in your position, I would wire for 2 circuits. 1 100amp breaker circuit for 80amp charging (wall charger) and a 50amp circuit for back up. Assuming you have the room in your panel for 2 additional circuits

This is exactly what i did. The HPWC is hard wired to the panel (via cutoff switch) and there is an empty 50A outlet next to it as backup in case the HPWC unexpectedly is unavailable or something non-Tesla plugs into it (future proofing).

 

[ptsagcy]

This is exactly what i did. The HPWC is hard wired to the panel (via cutoff switch) and there is an empty 50A outlet next to it as backup in case the HPWC unexpectedly is unavailable or something non-Tesla plugs into it (future proofing).

Me too.

 

[Dr Doom]

thats what im going to ask the electrician when he installs it. i think it makes sense to have a back up

 

[FlyF4]

If I were in your position, I would wire for 2 circuits. 1 100amp breaker circuit for 80amp charging (wall charger) and a 50amp circuit for back up. Assuming you have the room in your panel for 2 additional circuits

Uh, I doubt he will have the capacity in his home to install a 100 amp breaker AND a 50 amp breaker. You might know this already, but it isn't a simple matter of just having spare slots in the breaker panel. It depends on the amperage of other breakers already in the panel as compared to the max allowed for that panel. Example, we just installed a HPWC in our garage and were only able to use 60 amp breakers even though there were several slots available. This is a fairly new home and it is typical in the area to have a 200 amp service coming into the property and then where there is a separate breaker panel in the garage or in the home, it is 100 amps. It all depends on how the power is distributed in the home to high amperage appliances.

So, I would first check with the electrician to see what is still available in terms of 240 V current. That will determine what can be installed. It is a rare home (even a new home) that can accept an additional 100 amp set of breakers without some service upgrade. If you can do it, consider yourself very lucky.

 

[FlyF4]

I am looking online and on ebay found a HPWC for around 530 dollars. looking to see if I can get it a lower price. If I install a 50 amp outlet, I can still use the HPWC at that 50amps? the current electric breaker can only go up to 50amps.

If I am understanding your question correctly, you will need to settle for one or the other (HPWC or a 14-50 outlet) if you are going to have a 50 amp breaker at the panel. Generally, code requirements aren't going to let you have both, but I have seen exceptions, and when there is an exception, you can only use one of them at a time, else you will constantly trip the breaker.

 

[boaterva]

Or you can put in a subpanel with a 100 Amp breaker for the HPWC and a 50 Amp for the 14-50 and a little device that lets you only have one active at the same time. I have a picture of mine in the HPWC photos thread (post #20 if the link below doesn't go directly there). I wanted a 14-50 backup also, in case lightning or other calamity took out both my HPWCs.

Link

 

[rpm001]

So the concensus seems to be to just get a 14-50 outlet installed. However, I don't like the idea of not having the UMC in the car at all times. I suppose I could leave it plugged into the 14-50 during the week for regular nightly top up and then for longer drives unplug from the wall and put it in the car. Would that make sense?

 

[boaterva]

So the concensus seems to be to just get a 14-50 outlet installed. However, I don't like the idea of not having the UMC in the car at all times. I suppose I could leave it plugged into the 14-50 during the week for regular nightly top up and then for longer drives unplug from the wall and put it in the car. Would that make sense?

It makes sense, or for probably the cost of installing some of what I have (subpanel, larger circuit), you can purchase a UMC with a dedicated 14-50 plug (can't be changed to other plugs, so it's not a real UMC at all ). Link to 14-50 MC
It's a little less expensive and you would always have the other UMC in the car (couldn't forget to move it over).

 

[TexasEV]

So the concensus seems to be to just get a 14-50 outlet installed. However, I don't like the idea of not having the UMC in the car at all times. I suppose I could leave it plugged into the 14-50 during the week for regular nightly top up and then for longer drives unplug from the wall and put it in the car. Would that make sense?

Exactly. We only take it when going on trips.

 

[tga]

You might know this already, but it isn't a simple matter of just having spare slots in the breaker panel. It depends on the amperage of other breakers already in the panel as compared to the max allowed for that panel.

To be clear, it's not simply a matter of enough physical space in the panel, nor totalling the ratings of all the branch breakers.

You're supposed to do a load calculation, which includes a certain amount for lighting per square foot, derating factors for appliances, etc. A modest sized new home with 200A service and gas heat, hot water, dryer, and range could easily have headroom for a 100A HPWC.

You need to get an electrician in to be sure.

 

[boaterva]

To be clear, it's not simply a matter of enough physical space in the panel, nor totalling the ratings of all the branch breakers.

You're supposed to do a load calculation, which includes a certain amount for lighting per square foot, derating factors for appliances, etc. A modest sized new home with 200A service and gas heat, hot water, dryer, and range could easily have headroom for a 100A HPWC.

You need to get an electrician in to be sure.

There are several spreadsheets on the web that can help you get an idea of how close you are to 'filling up' your service (are you 'over' your 200 Amps or whatever, if you add a 100 Amp circuit, etc.). If you are moderately techie, you can take a stab at this to confirm what your electrician says (and you do need to have it officially done to be code compliant).

As tga said, there are derating factors for all sorts of things, so you really don't want to tackle this without one of the spreadsheets that does the calcs for you. Looking at a panel with X breakers tells you very little about what the actual load calc will result in, since it depends on what the loads are.

 

[Rocky_H]

So the concensus seems to be to just get a 14-50 outlet installed. However, I don't like the idea of not having the UMC in the car at all times. I suppose I could leave it plugged into the 14-50 during the week for regular nightly top up and then for longer drives unplug from the wall and put it in the car. Would that make sense?

Yes, that is commonly done by many owners. It's usually not possible for most people to use up over 200 miles of range driving around town in a day, so the cable just stays plugged in the garage and hanging on the wall. I don't travel out of town much, but for a few trips a year, I'll bring it with me in the car those times.

Besides, keep this in mind. That cable is for charging from outlets. How often do you really do that? You don't use it for Superchargers or J1772 stations. Think about where you are and where you go. Are you really outside of the range of any J1772 stations that much? So even if you forget it, it's not that big a deal. I did a 700 mile day trip with a friend and didn't even bother to bring it because of the Superchargers along the way. (But just in case, yeah, maybe should have.) Now if you are going on minor side highways, where you might need to use a campground or RV park 14-50 outlet, then yeah, you need to remember to bring it, but that's probably not most people's trips.

 

[FlyF4]

Rocky_H, are you saying that a J1772 will plug directly into an X? I thought I would need some sort of adapter for that.

 

[Rocky_H]

Rocky_H, are you saying that a J1772 will plug directly into an X? I thought I would need some sort of adapter for that.

There is an adapter to use J1772, but it's a little thing that fits in your hand, and it comes with the car. It's not part of the big long charging cable. So that J1772 adapter just stays in your car all the time anyway because it's so small, so it doesn't have to do with remembering to bring the charge cable or not.

 

[FlyF4]

To be clear, it's not simply a matter of enough physical space in the panel, nor totalling the ratings of all the branch breakers.

You're supposed to do a load calculation, which includes a certain amount for lighting per square foot, derating factors for appliances, etc. A modest sized new home with 200A service and gas heat, hot water, dryer, and range could easily have headroom for a 100A HPWC.

You need to get an electrician in to be sure.

yup, totally agree.

 

[Bacci]

I installed the 60amp circuit breaker for the Tesla Wall Charger. I get 34miles/hour. The 60amps is the biggest you can install at home for max charging. Anything above the 60amps only helps if you have High Amp charger option installed.
I believe at 50amp with mobile connector you may only get 30 miles/hour.

You'll have to take into consideration the extra cost of buying the Wall connector. If you are going to i would opt for the 24foot cable.

Just installed HPWC for my MX100D...60amp, slightly faster.
Super happy, wanted the security of keeping extra cable and adapters in the X especially since I drive 100 miles per day, so it made sense...if HPWC goes down, I bought the nema 14-30 adapter that I can plug into dryer plug...

 

[Jrogville]

Hi guys:

going to be installing a 50amp outlet in my garage for charging my incoming model x 100D. What's the benefit of having a wall connector? Would I be able to install it later on if I am not happy with the mobile charger that comes with the model x?Thanks for help.

My only objection to using the mobile connector rather than the Tesla Wall connector is that you then have to unplug and roll up and store the mobile connector every time you want to use the car. I'd rather just keep the mobile connector in the car and have the wall connector when I want to charge and home. You have to spend the money for the wall charger, but it's much more convenient.

 

[FlatSix911]

Install both ... problem solved

 

[TexasEV]

My only objection to using the mobile connector rather than the Tesla Wall connector is that you then have to unplug and roll up and store the mobile connector every time you want to use the car.

No one does that, as has been explained in countless posts on this topic. The "mobile" in UMC is a capability, not a requirement. There is no reason to have it in the car with you unless you're driving on a trip out of town and may need to plug into an outlet overnight. You don't need to take it "every time you want to drive the car" because the car has more than enough range for daily driving for most people, and if it doesn't you're going to be charging at a J1772 or a supercharger during the day.

Most people hang the UMC on a hook on the garage wall and only unplug it for special occasions.

 

[FlyF4]

No one does that, as has been explained in countless posts on this topic. The "mobile" in UMC is a capability, not a requirement. There is no reason to have it in the car with you unless you're driving on a trip out of town and may need to plug into an outlet overnight. You don't need to take it "every time you want to drive the car" because the car has more than enough range for daily driving for most people, and if it doesn't you're going to be charging at a J1772 or a supercharger during the day.

Most people hang the UMC on a hook on the garage wall and only unplug it for special occasions.

Welllllll, I know a person in that "no one does it" comment. She got so used to not having to put it in the car the she left on a trip for a wedding and about 1/2 hour down the road, she forgot she needed it and went back home in San Diego to get it. She then installed a wall charger for convenience so she would never forget the cord again. Agree with your post except for the no one does it part.