Which home Wall Connector

[Ric Shaner]

Hello,

I am looking to have a wall connector installed in my garage. There are several options available both the Tesla brand and others. I am dead set on buying a Tesla M3, although not sure it it will be Standard or Long range. What I know about electricity, amps, volts and the like can fit on the head of a pin. I would like advice on whether or not to by the Tesla Wall Connector or another brand, if another brand which one. My Tesla will be mostly a daily driver.

Thank you,

Ric

 

[father_of_6]

Tesla Wall Connector hands down.

 

[father_of_6]

Also, there are two wall connectors. The "universal" one has a plug for non-Tesla vehicles... don't get that one.

$450.

 

[Ric Shaner]

Tesla Wall Connector hands down.

Thank you for your prompt reply.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Yep the Tesla Wall Connector. There’s nothing cheaper at the same high quality and feature level. The electrician can install it on a 60A circuit or a 40A one. I think the Model 3 standard wouldn’t be able to use the full 60A circuit (long range would), but you could install one anyways for future proofing.

 

[ucmndd]

The Tesla wall connector is the highest quality and best value option available.

All North American car companies are switching to the Tesla plug standard (NACS) in the next couple years, so buy the right connector and get ahead of the curve.

 

[Sophias_dad]

The electrician can install it on a 60A circuit or a 40A one.

Or a 50, 30, 20, or even 15A circuit.

 

[Ric Shaner]

Yep the Tesla Wall Connector. There’s nothing cheaper at the same high quality and feature level. The electrician can install it on a 60A circuit or a 40A one. I think the Model 3 standard wouldn’t be able to use the full 60A circuit (long range would), but you could install one anyways for future proofing.

It is possible I'll buy a long range M3, do I ask the electrician install a 60A circuit?

 

[bruce4000]

For reference, I have a TWC on a 50 amp, 240V circuit so can charge at up to 40 amps continuous. I set my MYLR to charge at 30 amps which gives me 10% an hour so would be even faster on a M3.

 

[Sophias_dad]

It is possible I'll buy a long range M3, do I ask the electrician install a 60A circuit?

Unless you drive a LOT, you don't need 60A. That's roughly 44 miles per hour of charge, or ~300 miles per 8 hour night. Unless you are driving 300 miles a day(or I suppose you have a VERY small time-of-use power plan), there's no need for such a high power circuit. TBH, most people could get away with a 30 amp or even less circuit.

 

[DuncanM]

Hello,

I am looking to have a wall connector installed in my garage. There are several options available both the Tesla brand and others. I am dead set on buying a Tesla M3, although not sure it it will be Standard or Long range. What I know about electricity, amps, volts and the like can fit on the head of a pin. I would like advice on whether or not to by the Tesla Wall Connector or another brand, if another brand which one. My Tesla will be mostly a daily driver.

Thank you,

Ric

Is your electrical panel close to your garage?

You probably have NEMA 5-15 outlets in your garage and these will provide a continuous 120v/12A or about 1.4kw/hr which will provide about 5 miles of range/hr of charging even if you derate the current to 11A for safety. If your outlets are fed by 12-2 wire and a 20A breaker you can swap out the master outlet for a high quality NEMA 5-20, which can provide 120V/16A continuous or about 7 miles of range per hour of charge.

If you have a dedicated (one outlet fed by a single breaker) NEMA 5-15 outlet in the garage fed by 12-2 wire you can, possibly, change the breaker to a 20A 240v breaker and the outlet to a high quality NEMA 6-20 and then charge at 240V/16A which will give about 15 miles of range per hour of charging. Your electrician can make these changes for you for very little expenditure.

The above options can be met by using a TMC (Telsa Mobile connector) or other low cost EVSEs with a J1772 adapter. I use a NEMA 6-20 outlet and a low cost EVSE in our winter home and it all works fine and it was very inexpensive to install. The UMC can also be wired into a 240/20A circuit.

If you have to feed a 240v/50a or 60A line into your garage over a lengthy distance, you may be looking at a very hefty bill.

 

[father_of_6]

Unless you drive a LOT, you don't need 60A.

That said, if your panel is close to where the Wall Connector will be and you have the capacity, then getting a 60A circuit won't cost much more... so you might as well max it out.

Mine is a 50A circuit, so 40A charging (80% rule). It's true what @Sophias_dad said... our heaviest driving days use 30% of the battery and it's recharged in about 3 hours (overnight, while we sleep).

 

[TheLastDon]

Hello,

I am looking to have a wall connector installed in my garage. There are several options available both the Tesla brand and others. I am dead set on buying a Tesla M3, although not sure it it will be Standard or Long range. What I know about electricity, amps, volts and the like can fit on the head of a pin. I would like advice on whether or not to by the Tesla Wall Connector or another brand, if another brand which one. My Tesla will be mostly a daily driver.

Thank you,

Ric

Here is something for you to consider, and what I did. I just installed a NEMA 14-50 plug into my garage. I then use the mobile connector from Tesla to charge. You'll get a slower charge than you would with a Tesla wall charger, but it's still plenty fast. You'll be charged up just fine over night. This way if you ever decide to go with another type of electrical vehicle you could still use this plug and not have any potential compatibility issues.

 

[father_of_6]

Here is something for you to consider, and what I did. I just installed a NEMA 14-50 plug into my garage. I then use the mobile connector from Tesla to charge. You'll get a slower charge than you would with a Tesla wall charger, but it's still plenty fast. You'll be charged up just fine over night. This way if you ever decide to go with another type of electrical vehicle you could still use this plug and not have any potential compatibility issues.

Code in most places requires a GFCI breaker for a 14-50 EV outlet. Once you add the price of that breaker, plus a high quality receptacle, it'll actually cost you *more* than getting the Wall Connector... and the Wall Connector is a safer choice.

There are more than a few posts on these forums from owners who have had electrical fires at their 14-50 receptacle.

Lastly, all North American cars in the near future will be using NACS, so there's no need for anything else.

 

[ucmndd]

Man, I love these threads. OP comes in wanting to do things the right way, admitting they have limited electrical knowledge, and wanting some general high-level advice.

First few posts answer the question actually asked, do so succinctly, and with an amount of technical jargon appropriate and sensitive to OP’s level of understanding.

Then someone comes in telling us what their setup is, using undefined acronyms and immediately talking about volts and amps.

Then a crazy long technical jargon-laced post telling OP that hey, if you don’t want to do things the right way, there’s lots of great ways to do things more crappily.

Then someone else comes in with yet something else to consider, another suboptimal and nearly as expensive solution to accomplish the same thing.

Then we post pictures of electrical fires.

Y’all are really selling the EV experience…

 

[father_of_6]

@Ric Shaner - yeah, @ucmndd is right. Just get the $450 Wall Connector and find an electrician to install it for a reasonable price.

Do 60A if you can, but if it's significantly less expensive for less amps, that'll be okay too.

Enjoy the EV experience! Home charging is fantastic and so much better than gas and internal combustion.

Congratulations!

 

[Ric Shaner]

@Ric Shaner - yeah, @ucmndd is right. Just get the $450 Wall Connector and find an electrician to install it for a reasonable price.

Do 60A if you can, but if it's significantly less expensive for less amps, that'll be okay too.

Enjoy the EV experience! Home charging is fantastic and so much better than gas and internal combustion.

Congratulations!

I ordered my Tesla Wall Connector this morning.

 

[TheLastDon]

Code in most places requires a GFCI breaker for a 14-50 EV outlet. Once you add the price of that breaker, plus a high quality receptacle, it'll actually cost you *more* than getting the Wall Connector... and the Wall Connector is a safer choice.

There are more than a few posts on these forums from owners who have had electrical fires at their 14-50 receptacle.

Lastly, all North American cars in the near future will be using NACS, so there's no need for anything else.

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Do these people with fires not have a 50AMP CFCI breaker? Isn't that the point of the breaker? It was 100 dollars more for me to install the breaker so not too much difference.

 

[RayK]

I don't believe that a fire at the outlet would necessarily trip a GFCI breaker (or a regular breaker for that matter). By definition, the material of the socket is non-conductive so even if it melted, that may not be enough leakage current to trip the breaker. A GFCI is really only intended to prevent electrocution, not an early warning of excessive heat or fire.

 

[TheLastDon]

I don't believe that a fire at the outlet would necessarily trip a GFCI breaker (or a regular breaker for that matter). By definition, the material of the socket is non-conductive so even if it melted, that may not be enough leakage current to trip the breaker. A GFCI is really only intended to prevent electrocution, not an early warning of excessive heat or fire.

I think I was looking at it as more of preventing so much power to go through that might cause a fire like this. I'm not an electrician so I'm just asking. What causes fires like this? A bad electrical install? Too much power going through the plug? Constant charging?