Is this UMC for mainland Europe?

[Mitrovic]

Dear friends
Seeing all those plugs, I have to admit that I'm a little bit confused.



That is the charging cable that came with my car.
Is this the Tesla UMC charger with the plug for mainland Europe?
Why does it say 30A and not 32A most of you are refering?

[dpeilow]

That's the old MC240.

The plug is capable of 32A, but the charger was originally designed for the US market and is limited to 30A.

The new UMC can do 32A.

[AndrewBissell]

Also the UMC is much smaller, and has changeable inlet cables ("pigtails"). But, as David pointed out, whereas there is a selection of 10 or so in the US, in Europe Tesla only sells the blue and red 32A ones. So less useful. I have been told by someone at Tesla to buy a US one and change the plug myself!

[Alfred]

The red CEE 32A plug was a good interim choice. These are probably the most frequently encountered 32A sockets, certainly in Germany and Switzerland and there is a commercially available adapter to the red 16A CEE (even more common). It is no problem to go to a 16A blue plug ("Camping plug") either. The blue 32 A plug ("Commando plug") is not permitted in Switzerland e.g. The only problem is, that you should remember to set the charging rate in the car to match the adapter yourself. Tesla and others probably expected that a new standard would soon establish itself, so no pig-tail effort seemed warranted at this point in time and I am inclined to support that view.

The connection then to e.g. new Mennekes or its French-Italian competitor will be another matter as then the signaling between car and charging station has to permit among other things more than the current low default currents (10A in Switzerland, 16A in Germany).

To Mitrovic: I saw the new UMCs in Zurich. The plug remains the red CEE 32A plug. A bit more compact, but not that much. The cable itself is still about the same gauge.

I would favour a new UMC with the capability of handling the signaling also upwards to a new norm Mennekes for full compatibility and additional "pigtails" to CEE reds and blues, setting the proper Amps. Even with new standards, versatility is likely to remain important. Some providers view the "charge point market" in the spirit of mobile phone companies, with monopoly positions on the best parking lots, reserved for those paying base tariffs on top of direct charges or additional whopping "roaming charges" instead. Standardization plans are loaded with spurious safety arguments to create and protect just such markets.

[dpeilow]

Tesla and others probably expected that a new standard would soon establish itself, so no pig-tail effort seemed warranted at this point in time and I am inclined to support that view.

Even if a new standard does get established, you will find 60309/CEE sockets all over the place. Are we not interested at being able to charge at those too?

It's like as J1772 gets established in the US, lots of Roadster drivers will still want the pigtails to be able to charge at NEMA outlets wherever they may find themselves. That need isn't going to go away. Tesla should still provide at least the red and blue 16 and 32A pigtails, plus whatever domestic plug is in that country to European drivers. Mennekes should be a pass-through cable so that the EVSE can talk to the car.

[emq]

I like to see a picture of the new 32A UMC, and if there is a CE declaration.

[Kevin Sharpe]

I like to see a picture of the new 32A UMC, and if there is a CE declaration.

This is the version sold in the UK;

[Alfred]

Even if a new standard does get established, you will find 60309/CEE sockets all over the place. Are we not interested at being able to charge at those too?

It's like as J1772 gets established in the US, lots of Roadster drivers will still want the pigtails to be able to charge at NEMA outlets wherever they may find themselves. That need isn't going to go away. Tesla should still provide at least the red and blue 16 and 32A pigtails, plus whatever domestic plug is in that country to European drivers. Mennekes should be a pass-through cable so that the EVSE can talk to the car.

Agree, but I would prefer to have the Mennekes also just as a pigtail. Evidently with a connector that supports communication. That would obviate the need for a second bulky cable.

[dpeilow]

Agree, but I would prefer to have the Mennekes also just as a pigtail. Evidently with a connector that supports communication. That would obviate the need for a second bulky cable.

I see your point, but not sure that the UMC supports dynamic upstream comms. I suppose they could bury some extra circuitry in the california connector. But I guess the main problem is that this method limits charging to 40A.

[Eberhard]

Because most Mennekes only provide 32A its not a issue.