Mobile Connector Bundle Dilemma

If you talk with the service center, you can order just the UMC without the adapters. Then you can purchase whichever adapter you need.

Have 2, one mounted in the garage using a 14-50 adapter, never needs to be unplugged, the other left in the car for use during travel. Also provides a backup incase anything ever happened to one of the UMC's as we would have a spare while we wait for the other to be replaced/fixed. As for the adapters I'm assuming you will want 1 spare 14-50, but yes the extra 5-15 is a bit of a waste.

Depends on how often you go on a road trip and to where. I've been on ~12 trips that required destination and/or en route charging in the past 8 months. For all but one I left the UMC hanging in the garage due to sufficient supercharger or local J1772 charging options. For my personal destinations I'm happy that I didn't spring for second UMC. It all depends on where you're going to drive.

I've had my UMC in the trunk for a year or so and never used it once in the wild (I have a HPWC in my garage). All my 'away from home' charging has only needed the J1772 adapter (my car is still a supercharger virgin) and unless you're heading on a road trip I'd really suggest to reconsider whether you need to keep bundling up the charger and packing it in the car.

Don't forget: Repeatedly plugging and unplugging the 14-50 (assuming that's what you're using in your garage) does require you to keep an eye on the socket wear and tear.

iffatall said:

Tesla provides us with only one mobile connector. If we keep it in the car, then we need to open the trunk, take it out, put it back in everyday when we charge in the garage. If we leave it in the garage, plugged into the wall, then we need to make sure we don't forget to put it back in the car while going on a trip.

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Leave it plugged in the garage where you charge every night. How hard can it be to remember to take it with you when you go on a trip?

It's been a while but I believe it was around $550. That was around 6 months ago.

iffatall said:

That's a great idea. Do you have any estimate of how much the UMC costs by itself?

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+1 ...I'd still take it with you on the trip though...sh1t happens, and Murphy would suggest the further from home you are, the greater the chance...you'd end up with "packer's remorse" :wink:

NigelM said:

I've had my UMC in the trunk for a year or so and never used it once in the wild (I have a HPWC in my garage). All my 'away from home' charging has only needed the J1772 adapter (my car is still a supercharger virgin) and unless you're heading on a road trip I'd really suggest to reconsider whether you need to keep bundling up the charger and packing it in the car.

Don't forget: Repeatedly plugging and unplugging the 14-50 (assuming that's what you're using in your garage) does require you to keep an eye on the socket wear and tear.

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TexasEV said:

Leave it plugged in the garage where you charge every night. How hard can it be to remember to take it with you when you go on a trip?

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I agree as it is the first thing on my list:

1. UMC and adapters in trunk
2. Pants
3. Where are my pants?

iffatall said:

That's a great idea. Do you have any estimate of how much the UMC costs by itself?

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$450 from a service center with no adapters or bag.

I keep mine in the garage and haven't worried about leaving it behind for road trips.

Delivery was almost 8 months ago. So far its been unplugged about 7 times:
4x when taking it in to service (they've asked that I bring it in each time). 3 of those visits were to correct delivery issues (parts came in at different times)
2x for day trips outside public J1772 range -- although both times I didn't need it as we arrived back home with plenty of remaining range.
1x for a road trip -- stayed at a hotel with a 14-50 plug, so needed it to charge overnight...

The reason I don't worry about leaving it behind for road trips is that I will range charge -- and time the charge to end shortly before leaving. Since I have to unplug the car anyway, its not hard to forget it in the garage!

Oh -- I keep the J1772 adapter in the glove box. I've used it a handful of times when out around town (its handy in an AZ summer to plug the car in and pre-cool the interior before leaving and not worry about using up range...).

FWIW, I leave mine hanging in my garage, and toss it into the storage well in the trunk when I know I will be traveling for an extended distance. I did buy an extra NEMA 14-50 adapter, so that I can leave 1 in the black UMC bag, and 1 always plugged into my garage outlet. This eliminates the insertion-removal cycles that can put excessive wear on a receptacle not engineered for a lot of duty cycles. Yes, this just shifts the wear and tear to the UMC connector, which might be a bit under-engineered, but I would rather have this replaced by TM than have to call my electrician out to replace the NEMA 14-50 if it fails.

I was told that most place when you charge outside you wouldn't be using the UMC anyways, you'd use their cables. So then it becomes the long trips where there is uncertainty. I was going to see how it panned out before buying another UMC.

russman said:

I was told that most place when you charge outside you wouldn't be using the UMC anyways, you'd use their cables. So then it becomes the long trips where there is uncertainty. I was going to see how it panned out before buying another UMC.

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Depends on where you are charging. I use the UMC exclusively on every trip and have yet to use the J1772, except once to test whether the UMC or on-board charger was bad. When I'm not on a trip the UMC stays plugged into the wall.

My UMC is in the trunk, it's only been used once, at an RV Park 180 miles from my house.
At home I built a 75A J-1772 OpenEVSE for about $725, that's what I use to charge my Model S nightly.
I have dual chargers, so I time the charging to end just before I leave for work, sometimes I prewarm the car as well, which uses shore power, and often ends up heating the battery at the same time (for example, it's 10 degrees F here now in Boston)

For a bit more money as a 2nd UMC, you can build your own high power EVSE, if your electrically and mechanically adept, if your building a 40A version, the costs are about the same, but what your building is higher quality than the UMC

My 75A OpenEVSE build:
https://code.google.com/p/open-evse/wiki/75AOpenEVSE

mitch672 said:

For a bit more money as a 2nd UMC, you can build your own high power EVSE, if your electrically and mechanically adept

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Ah, well. There's the hitch. I'm a big believer in not giving a screwdriver to a software guy or gal.