Is Daniellane's HPWC (HPDC?) installed on the garage door?
If so, I have to say I have never seen that configuration! I would love to hear how it works out long-term.
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If so, I have to say I have never seen that configuration! I would love to hear how it works out long-term.
The HPWC is mounted between two of the garage doors. There was just enough width to mount the sub-panel and the HPWC between the right track of the left most door and the left track of the right door.
Most find this not necessary. The only thing I take with me on a regular basis when I leave the house is the J1772 adapter. The Mobile Connector is now in a box under the workbench, only taken out if I know I'll be using it (e.g. to my brother's house). Before I got a wall charger, the MC was left plugged in to our dryer outlet, with the charging cord hung from a hook on the ceiling. I think I unplugged it only a couple of times in the two years that I charged that way.
I believe the HPWC is rated up to 58 mph with a 72 anp onboard charger on a 100amp circuit.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen it get that high.
But, close enough... 55. Took screenshot 20 minutes ago. So if you have a 72 inch charger the HPWC really takes advantage of it.
That's because you're mixing two things. The 58 mph was from the older cars where they could draw 80 amps. 72 amps will obviously be a little lower.
Azathoth
Member
I originally installed a NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage mid-2016 about a month before taking delivery of my Model S. Works fine and I get about 29 miles/hour charging at 40A, but when Tesla dropped the price of their HPWC a few months ago I decided it would better serve in two ways: (1) allow me to keep the mobile connector in the trunk and (2) put less stress on the NEMA outlet over time.
So I recently bought the 24' HPWC and a 14-50 (6 gauge) dryer cable and wired it up just above the NEMA outlet. My wife promptly complained about the messy hanging cable, so a quick search on Amazon led me to the "Gecko Toes" water hose rack and problem solved (see below).
When we get around to installing solar next year, I may upgrade the main panel and hardwire the HPWC with heavier gauge wire to bump up the charge rate a bit.
So I recently bought the 24' HPWC and a 14-50 (6 gauge) dryer cable and wired it up just above the NEMA outlet. My wife promptly complained about the messy hanging cable, so a quick search on Amazon led me to the "Gecko Toes" water hose rack and problem solved (see below).
When we get around to installing solar next year, I may upgrade the main panel and hardwire the HPWC with heavier gauge wire to bump up the charge rate a bit.
I just had my HPWC installed today. I ended up going with the wall charger for a couple reason. I had considered just having a 14-50 installed, but I could charge at a slightly higher rate with the HPWC on a 60 amp circuit instead (charging at 48amp vs 40 amps; 8amp difference x 220volt = 1.76kW difference = 6 miles per hour additional charging). More importantly, I have three young kids that play in the garage a lot, and I was worried one might get into the 14-50 outlet with trimming shears or something. Lastly, I got tired of moving my mobile charger in and out of my car. I can trickle charge at work, so I will usually take it and plug in while I am there.
The additional 6 miles per hour isn't huge now, but in the future there is a good chance that we'll have an X that can also use the HPWC. Those additional 6 miles per hour may be a bigger deal when we're splitting the charge between two vehicles.
The additional 6 miles per hour isn't huge now, but in the future there is a good chance that we'll have an X that can also use the HPWC. Those additional 6 miles per hour may be a bigger deal when we're splitting the charge between two vehicles.
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Also, it's getting into vehicles with different efficiency levels. The Model X eats more energy from being heavier and less aerodynamic, so that may be more like 5 miles per hour, rather than 6, so having a little more power might be helpful. Not a lot of difference here, but it's something to think about with 3 versus S versus X. Lower power charging with a 3 would still be OK because it will get more miles for the same amount of energy.
Sorry this might be a stupid question. So pardon my ignorance as I wasn't clear on some things. I live in a condo and I don't think I can get more than a 50A from my panel. Actually I think the Max might be 40A. I was going to trying to go in the route of a nema 14-50 connection, but my friend was giving me the hpwc that he'll be getting (as I used his referral). From the pix above, it looks like we can connect that with a 14-50 or is that custom? My issue is that my car will arrive before he receives his hpwc gift so I'll have to wait until that arrives before I install it. Also, I'm assuming the hpwc can be dialed down (read some of the docs) to a lower amperage since my panel can probably only do 40A so I'll probably need to dial down to the 30A range on the hpwc.
If I could install the nema 14-50 connection before hand and have the hpwc connected to it after the fact (without too much addition cost) that would be the scenario for me, but I wasn't sure.
If I could install the nema 14-50 connection before hand and have the hpwc connected to it after the fact (without too much addition cost) that would be the scenario for me, but I wasn't sure.
The HPWC is made to be hardwired in, so if you're going to use a wall connector, I would not recommend installing any kind of outlet. Yes, the wall connector has an internal switch where you set what level of circuit it's on. You can set it for 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, etc. So it is a really good solution if you can only spare a smaller level of circuit, like a 20 or 40A. So best recommendation from me is find out what amount of circuit you can spare, and just install the wall connector on it directly, rather than trying to connect an outlet and plug to it.
thx for the info. Ok, i guess i'll hold off on install until my friend gets me the hpwc.
An electrician may be able to install some sort of temporary outlet where the HPWC will be mounted. If you only have 40a, you could still get a 14-30 installed and purchase the proper EVSE adaptor from Tesla. The outlet/box isn't that much. What will cost more is electrician time to return and reconfigure.
Brass Guy
Active Member
I have used UMC for more than 4 years. I don't think I ever had occasion where I needed to charge faster, and as many above stated, rarely unplug it to take it with me.
I have off and on considered a HPWC. The biggest reason for me though would be efficiency. I dial down my charge to 34A because the UMC cable gets quite warm the whole length at 40A, and as it ramps up it drops at least 10V according to the screen display.
If anybody here has both a 14-50 and HPWC, would you please report the voltage drop at 40A using each?
I have off and on considered a HPWC. The biggest reason for me though would be efficiency. I dial down my charge to 34A because the UMC cable gets quite warm the whole length at 40A, and as it ramps up it drops at least 10V according to the screen display.
If anybody here has both a 14-50 and HPWC, would you please report the voltage drop at 40A using each?
Lasttoy
Active Member
Have seen no mention of second inverter option in the car? That allows a 80amp charge with 100amp breaker. 02 wire. I charged at a hotel the other day that had a 100 amp charger. My second inverter was in glory. At home I only have 50 amp breaker. You need the second inverter if you expect to charge at home with a 100 amp breaker for faster charging.
1. If you want to take advantage of the wall charger, you will need to pay the premium for the charger itself + the higher cost for the wiring. It used to be 100A circuit (the dual charger S of 2012-2015 allowed 80A from the wall charger) vs 50 A circuit for NEMA 14-50 (allows 40A charging). If you have the 72A in the later models it may still be a big difference. 48A with wall charger vs 40A through NEMA charger comes down to cosmetics ("cool factor") in terms of charging speed. Up to you to decide if it is worth $500 + extra wiring costs for that
2. As already mentioned by several, unless you are traveling to areas that have no superchargers and no public chargers (use only the J1772 adaptor for the latter) there is no need to disconnect / reconnect the mobile charger. Mine has been plugged in continuously for the last 3 years of ownership. Go on CargePoint to see a map of public charging stations - really lots of them.
3. Plenty of very neat solutions for suspending the UMC (several threads with 3D printed mounts, + all sorts of other DYI solutions). You can buy for $25 the cable organizer directly from Tesla - it is identical to the one that comes with the wall charger. The UMC looks pretty cool too, so with a neat solution you will not look that much different than the HPWC
4. HPWC does not guarantee no melting / fire. I remember a thread with a wall charger that got in trouble due to poor connection of the wiring to the charger itself. Same like if you do not plug your NEMA adapter well enough.
So, after 3 years and 30k miles, if I had to do it one more time: NEMA 14-50 + UMC, use the $500 + extra wiring cost to get a Chademo adapter. You will be better off.
All worth $0.02
2. As already mentioned by several, unless you are traveling to areas that have no superchargers and no public chargers (use only the J1772 adaptor for the latter) there is no need to disconnect / reconnect the mobile charger. Mine has been plugged in continuously for the last 3 years of ownership. Go on CargePoint to see a map of public charging stations - really lots of them.
3. Plenty of very neat solutions for suspending the UMC (several threads with 3D printed mounts, + all sorts of other DYI solutions). You can buy for $25 the cable organizer directly from Tesla - it is identical to the one that comes with the wall charger. The UMC looks pretty cool too, so with a neat solution you will not look that much different than the HPWC
4. HPWC does not guarantee no melting / fire. I remember a thread with a wall charger that got in trouble due to poor connection of the wiring to the charger itself. Same like if you do not plug your NEMA adapter well enough.
So, after 3 years and 30k miles, if I had to do it one more time: NEMA 14-50 + UMC, use the $500 + extra wiring cost to get a Chademo adapter. You will be better off.
All worth $0.02
Thanks for all the wonderful feedback. I’ve personally decided just to install the wall charger as I found out my local electricity company will credit me back $400. I had to pay $100 for a permit and got the wall connector used for $425. Installation by an electrician is about the same and actually I think installing the 14-50 outlet would’ve cost more since he’s providing the outlet.
So in the end going the wall connector route only cost me about $75-125 more.
So in the end going the wall connector route only cost me about $75-125 more.
Good choice. Are you going to install it on a 60 amp circuit to take full advantage of your S 75's 48 amp on-board charger?
wjhepworth
Member
I have both. Unless you enhance your onboard charging it just doesn't make sense to get the HPWC. I actually think it is just fine to use the mobile charger connected to a NEMA 14-50 outlet and only put the mobile charger in the car when on long travel. When on the road, I either a) use the SuperCharger network or b) use J1772 connections with the Tesla->SAE J1772 adapter. I also have a It costs less and frankly the majority of Tesla owners I know don't the capacity to exceed the 50A available on a NEMA 14-50 charger. And, if you happen to be a welder, double plus good because you can reuse the 14-50
I know, probably not too many welders here.
I just had a 14-50 installed in my garage ($300) and think I will be happy using the UMC for the time being. One question I have is what about buying a second UMC for the car and then being able to leave the original plugged into the the 14-50? I don't know what they cost but could be another way to go?
I would not do that. I am certainly an advocate of just using the UMC that came with the car as people's permanent charging at home by itself. That's what I do. It just stays plugged in the garage, hanging on a hook on the wall, and I only take it with me a few times a year when I got on a trip out of town, so I don't think most people need an extra anything. However, if someone is going to buy an extra of some kind of charging device, a second UMC doesn't make any sense to me. The corded mobile connector for a 14-50 is $520, and the wall connector is $500. They are almost the same price, and the wall connector does have a few advantages. The cable is thicker, so less heat from charging at the 40A level, and there are fewer metal to metal connection points, so it is a little safer and more reliable long term solution.
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