Home Charger Question

Wrong forum section for Model S questions, but no, a home high power charger is not included, you can buy one from the Tesla store for $750 and have an electrician install it. There is a charger built into the car that can charge from 110 or 220 service cables but that is a very slow charge. See the charging section of the Tesla web site.

Just report your post and a moderator can move it

theslimshadyist said:

Thank you for not bashing me pvogel, I appreciate you pointing me in the right direction.

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Can't possibly think why anyone would feel the need to bash you for a simple mistake in putting a reasonable question in the wrong sub forum.

Peter+

Well, they have pages about all this on their website.
Tesla Charging | Tesla Motors
The car comes with a mobile charging cord, which has adapters for two different types of outlets. A regular 120V wall outlet (dog slow, not recommended) or a NEMA 14-50 outlet. This is the 240V 50A outlets that big mobile homes use and that RV parks have. This is plenty fast (about 29 miles of range per hour) and is fairly cheap to install.

So the two recommended ways are either just install the 14-50 outlet and use the cord that comes with the car, or you can separately order the high power wall connector (HPWC) and install that. It can be set for many different circuit sizes, up to a 100A breaker.

Note that by default, your Model S comes with just the single charger, which can only receive this AC charging up to 40A, which is what the 14-50 outlet and mobile charge cable can provide. You can use the wall charger on that level as well, but if you want faster charging than 40A, you would need to get the second charger installed in the car to process more than 40A.

pvogel said:

Wrong forum section for Model S questions, but no, a home high power charger is not included, you can buy one from the Tesla store for $750 and have an electrician install it. There is a charger built into the car that can charge from 110 or 220 service cables but that is a very slow charge. See the charging section of the Tesla web site.

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There is very little need for the Tesla wall charger. Using a 14-50 outlet is plenty fast enough, it is certainly not a very slow charge. It will charge at 29 miles per hour, easily enough to charge to full overnight. Most Model S owners only have this outlet. You'll still need to have an electrician install it, but the cost will just be their labor and the wire, the outlet itself is only $20 or so.

pvogel said:

Wrong forum section for Model S questions, but no, a home high power charger is not included, you can buy one from the Tesla store for $750 and have an electrician install it. There is a charger built into the car that can charge from 110 or 220 service cables but that is a very slow charge. See the charging section of the Tesla web site.

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Quick correction: The 120V charger is a very slow charge (but can still get you 4 miles for every hour you're plugged in), but the 240V @ 40A charging (via a NEMA 14-50 receptacle) is an overnight charge that will leave you full in the morning. The greater majority of owners will only ever need the 240V/40A charging provided by the UMC cord set shipped with the car and a NEMA 14-50 outlet. There are some cases where faster charging is desirable, and for that you must purchase the wall connector and second charger option in the Model S.

And it may also be worth noting that some people prefer to keep the Mobile Connector that comes with their vehicle in their vehicle so they can charge wherever they go (say a friend's house or whatever). In that case, most people would then buy the Wall Connector for their home since the price delta between a second MC and the WC is about $100.

Also the HPWC has a slightly longer cable which can make a difference.

I have a 2013 model S. 14-50 on the right side of the garage . charging never a problem. frequently go 2-3 days without plugging in. Drive 12-14K miles/year. Have driven from Wi to eastern Pa., frequently go to Minneapolis , Milwaukee, Chicago. No problems. Model X will probably arrive May-June (Good bye Tahoe-it was a really good car) . It will be cheap to tie in another 14-50 to the other side of the garage for the X and have them share it. (expect 12,000 mile out of the X) . Any problems? It will be expensive to upgrade my house service.(currently 2oo amps but stressed). any suggestions?

theslimshadyist said:

So the MS charges at 40A using the 14-50 outlet so do I go with a 40A breaker or something slightly larger?

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50 amp breaker. It's technically a 50 amp outlet, but for continuous use its only allowed 40amp.

Hi all. I ordered my Model X recently. I have a Porsche Panamera hybrid and have a 240 v outlet from which I charge the Panamera. I assume Tesla's 240 plug will plug into the same outlet. Not brushed up on these technical details so thank you in advance!

retinaguy said:

Hi all. I ordered my Model X recently. I have a Porsche Panamera hybrid and have a 240 v outlet from which I charge the Panamera. I assume Tesla's 240 plug will plug into the same outlet. Not brushed up on these technical details so thank you in advance!

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Depends on what kind of 240V outlet it is. There are a few different outlet types, what you want is a NEMA 14-50 which looks like:

Thanks! I'll take a look tonight.

jaguar36 said:

Depends on what kind of 240V outlet it is. There are a few different outlet types, what you want is a NEMA 14-50 which looks like:
View attachment 108559

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I recommend the one made by Hubbell. It is better made for multiple connects and disconnects. Costs more too!!

@retinaguy, If you need some help identifying an outlet type, this site is super useful.
NEMA connector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

theslimshadyist said:

Hi all,

This is my first post as I'm new to the forums. I'm going to be purchasing a Model S later this year when my lease is up on my 550i. I've been looking at the different Model S configurations but I wanted to know if a home charger is included with the purchase of a Model S?

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The charger comes installed inside the car, under the rear seat. A charging power cord (Universal Mobile Connector or UMC) also comes with the car.

What you need at home, is an outlet to plug the car in. Tesla recommends a Nema 14-50 outlet, connected to a 50-amp, 240V circuit. Basically an electric range outlet. Most folks hire an electrician to install the 14-50 near their parking space. Although if you are reasonably handy, you can install it yourself (I did).

If you visit a tesla store, they can show you the 14-50 outlet. There are also images on the web site. They also have something called a Wall Connector. It is handy, but not really necessary. To fully use its 80-amp capacity, you need to buy an optional second charger installed in the car.

Most folks at home, charge at 40-amps with the included charger and power cord.