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Tesla wallcharger or not
- Thread starter Spikytops
- Start date
rowedav
Member
I was set on a Tesla but when I looked into them, they seemed to be missing a few features and needed additional installation to make safe. Not sure if that’s still the case.
My installer recommended a Wallbox and I went with that. It’s been really good. Have a look into them. I got a Pulsar Max and it’s been spot on. Set a schedule in the app and pretty much forget about it
My installer recommended a Wallbox and I went with that. It’s been really good. Have a look into them. I got a Pulsar Max and it’s been spot on. Set a schedule in the app and pretty much forget about it
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
I like having a dumb charger; I think the smart chargers work against me ...
Dumb charger is basically always providing power, and if the car asks for it then it will get it. So just program the car for when you want to charge (or use the APP, or use a 3rd party scheduler if you need something fancy)
e.g. I have used TeslaFi for scheduling (pre Covid when I did have to commute) - I doubt many folk do this sort of thing, I'm a nerd, so just by way of example:
Drop the Charge Limit to 80% at start of off peak
Increase AMPs to 32 (in case I had dropped it for some reason)
Start charge (car also set to start charge at start off Off Peak, so either of them doing that is "good outcome" ...)
I used to leave at 6AM, Schedule at 5AM increased Charge Limit to 90% (10% takes about an hour), I was on Ecconomy-7, so "Off Peak" Midnight to 7AM - adjust to taste.
Start CHARGE (again ... if it didn't need much and had finished already, or was over 80% at midnight, it will now start again)
This was to force a charge for an hour before departure - to warm the battery in winter
5:45 turn on climate
6:15 turn off climate (in case I didn't go to work - bank holiday Mondays ...)
That was set to "If AT HOME" and Mon-Fri only
Then similar for "If AT WORK" - free charging at work, but it trips quite often, so I had a number of ALERTS set, during the day - basically "If it is THIS time and car has not reached X% then I won't have enough to get home" at 3 or 4 times during the day.
Then 15 minutes before normal departure do the climate thing and so on.
For Solar you could have e.g. Zappi - which will detect that PV is generating enough that you are exporting ... and then turn "on" so that car charges ... but you have to set the car to be expecting to charge at that time ... which all gets a bit messy if you also have off-peak scheduling (which probably requires setting Zappi to, separately, turn on during Off Peak ... and if you were happy that charging could complete "Tomorrow, when sunny" then you won;t want overnight Off Peak charge ... hence why I think that "Smart" works against me.
I have a Zappi (and also a dumb Tesla charger) bought specifically to "dump" excess Solar into the car, but actually I don't use it for that. If a cloud comes over grid-export will stop and (there is a bit of a CONFIG buffer) the Zappi will stop charging. Repeated Stop/Start charging is not good for the contactors ...
So my preference is dumb charger, and an APP using the Tesla API which detects when my PowerWall is over 95% and starts charging the car, alters the AMPs to try to balance car charging with PV generation, and stops when PowerWall falls to, say, 90%. The PowerWall will then build up to 95% before car charging starts again - which provides a pretty good hysteresis on Sunny days which have some big clouds floating about.
The Tesla charger:
Has a button on the wand. So unlock car (e.g. have your phone in your pocket
) then press wand-button to release it.
Otherwise you need to use APP or Dashboard (or some other methods, such as buying a keyfob) to release charger wand.
My Tesla charger has a thicker, longer, cable than the Zappi - it will take some abuse / driven over etc. as well as comfortably reaching the far side of the car (if it is parked wrong-way-round)
For looks (e.g. if charger bolted to the front of your house and in full view) people bought Anderson - they went bust, but someone has bought them and is carrying on the business. My charger is on front of house, I have a large planter in front of it so charger is hidden from view.
Some other thoughts:
Consider where you will park on your drive. If you have space for two, or more, cars would one charger location reach both cars? if you had a second charger where would that go? (my suggestion would be to put both of them next to each other, in a way that either could reach either car, rather than spacing them evenly along the wall [as I have done, and as they do at e.g. destination chargers] because I have to play car-shuffle if I want one of the cars to use a particular charger (my MS has a button to release the charger, so generally I have that plugged into Zappi and the MY (no such button) plugged into the Tesla charger so I can use the Wand Button to release that one). Sorry, long story short, if the cars are parked in wrong place then I lose that ability because, chargers too far apart, I can't reach Car-B from charger-A and hence I think that both-chargers-in-middle would work better, for me.
Whilst you (i.e. your Sparky) are at it:
Maybe put in a Commando socket too - as a backup in case wall charger is bust.
maybe put in infrastructure (e.g. just a bit of cable) for a second charger
maybe put in an exterior 13AMP socket - if you don't have one and if it would be handy for vacuum the car / pressure washer and so on
Dumb charger is basically always providing power, and if the car asks for it then it will get it. So just program the car for when you want to charge (or use the APP, or use a 3rd party scheduler if you need something fancy)
e.g. I have used TeslaFi for scheduling (pre Covid when I did have to commute) - I doubt many folk do this sort of thing, I'm a nerd, so just by way of example:
Drop the Charge Limit to 80% at start of off peak
Increase AMPs to 32 (in case I had dropped it for some reason)
Start charge (car also set to start charge at start off Off Peak, so either of them doing that is "good outcome" ...)
I used to leave at 6AM, Schedule at 5AM increased Charge Limit to 90% (10% takes about an hour), I was on Ecconomy-7, so "Off Peak" Midnight to 7AM - adjust to taste.
Start CHARGE (again ... if it didn't need much and had finished already, or was over 80% at midnight, it will now start again)
This was to force a charge for an hour before departure - to warm the battery in winter
5:45 turn on climate
6:15 turn off climate (in case I didn't go to work - bank holiday Mondays ...)
That was set to "If AT HOME" and Mon-Fri only
Then similar for "If AT WORK" - free charging at work, but it trips quite often, so I had a number of ALERTS set, during the day - basically "If it is THIS time and car has not reached X% then I won't have enough to get home" at 3 or 4 times during the day.
Then 15 minutes before normal departure do the climate thing and so on.
For Solar you could have e.g. Zappi - which will detect that PV is generating enough that you are exporting ... and then turn "on" so that car charges ... but you have to set the car to be expecting to charge at that time ... which all gets a bit messy if you also have off-peak scheduling (which probably requires setting Zappi to, separately, turn on during Off Peak ... and if you were happy that charging could complete "Tomorrow, when sunny" then you won;t want overnight Off Peak charge ... hence why I think that "Smart" works against me.
I have a Zappi (and also a dumb Tesla charger) bought specifically to "dump" excess Solar into the car, but actually I don't use it for that. If a cloud comes over grid-export will stop and (there is a bit of a CONFIG buffer) the Zappi will stop charging. Repeated Stop/Start charging is not good for the contactors ...
So my preference is dumb charger, and an APP using the Tesla API which detects when my PowerWall is over 95% and starts charging the car, alters the AMPs to try to balance car charging with PV generation, and stops when PowerWall falls to, say, 90%. The PowerWall will then build up to 95% before car charging starts again - which provides a pretty good hysteresis on Sunny days which have some big clouds floating about.
The Tesla charger:
Has a button on the wand. So unlock car (e.g. have your phone in your pocket
) then press wand-button to release it.Otherwise you need to use APP or Dashboard (or some other methods, such as buying a keyfob) to release charger wand.
My Tesla charger has a thicker, longer, cable than the Zappi - it will take some abuse / driven over etc. as well as comfortably reaching the far side of the car (if it is parked wrong-way-round)
For looks (e.g. if charger bolted to the front of your house and in full view) people bought Anderson - they went bust, but someone has bought them and is carrying on the business. My charger is on front of house, I have a large planter in front of it so charger is hidden from view.
Some other thoughts:
Consider where you will park on your drive. If you have space for two, or more, cars would one charger location reach both cars? if you had a second charger where would that go? (my suggestion would be to put both of them next to each other, in a way that either could reach either car, rather than spacing them evenly along the wall [as I have done, and as they do at e.g. destination chargers] because I have to play car-shuffle if I want one of the cars to use a particular charger (my MS has a button to release the charger, so generally I have that plugged into Zappi and the MY (no such button) plugged into the Tesla charger so I can use the Wand Button to release that one). Sorry, long story short, if the cars are parked in wrong place then I lose that ability because, chargers too far apart, I can't reach Car-B from charger-A and hence I think that both-chargers-in-middle would work better, for me.
Whilst you (i.e. your Sparky) are at it:
Maybe put in a Commando socket too - as a backup in case wall charger is bust.
maybe put in infrastructure (e.g. just a bit of cable) for a second charger
maybe put in an exterior 13AMP socket - if you don't have one and if it would be handy for vacuum the car / pressure washer and so on
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
Separate thread with a picture of my planter, in case of interest ... also hiding the Commando and (just visible) a 13AMP socket
teslamotorsclub.com
That charger was Rolec so ignore that - I subsequently replaced that with a Tesla charger
Charger installation tips and tricks?
Hi All, Ordered the tesla charger, on advice of the forum. For the install does anyone have any tips that I need to consider for placement? E.g. most seem to have the charger on the side or front of their garage, I think I've seen some installed inside the garage but wonder if that is more of a...
teslamotorsclub.com
That charger was Rolec so ignore that - I subsequently replaced that with a Tesla charger
I’d say the Tesla is potentially worth it just for the button which opens the charge port
fholbert
Active Member
I didn't see enough difference in price, needed a long cord, went with the Tesla Charger.
shop.tesla.com
I didn't like the loose cord hanging from the charger so I bought one of these at Harbor Freight and mounted it upside down under the charger. Now the cord rolls up tight.
www.harborfreight.com
Wall Connector
Wall Connector is the most convenient charging solution for houses, apartments, hospitality properties and workplaces. With up to 44 miles of range added per hour of charging, a 24 foot cable length, multiple power settings, and a versatile indoor/outdoor design, Wall Connector provides...
shop.tesla.com
I didn't like the loose cord hanging from the charger so I bought one of these at Harbor Freight and mounted it upside down under the charger. Now the cord rolls up tight.
V-Shape Hang-All
Amazing deals on this V-Shape Hang-All at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
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Have a buddy with 3D printer, print one. Mine’s lasted 4 years and counting.I didn't see enough difference in price, needed a long cord, went with the Tesla Charger.
Wall Connector
Wall Connector is the most convenient charging solution for houses, apartments, hospitality properties and workplaces. With up to 44 miles of range added per hour of charging, a 24 foot cable length, multiple power settings, and a versatile indoor/outdoor design, Wall Connector provides...
I didn't like the loose cord hanging from the charger so I bought one of these at Harbor Freight and mounted it upside down under the charger. Now the cord rolls up tight.
V-Shape Hang-All
Amazing deals on this V-Shape Hang-All at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
If you have ‘scheduled boost’ on the zappi for eg 12:30-4:30 then you can put the car in eco+ for excess solar, and it’ll automatically stop when the sun is down, and come back on for octopus go timing - no need to change setting.
It does stop if excess drops below 1.4kw but you can set up a delay to avoid it doing it too often - max 4 minutes I think which can cover temporary cloud gaps.
alternatively if you have a battery too you can use regular ‘eco’ mode which will do the same 1.4kw but won’t stop if it drops, it’ll pull from the grid (battery) to keep it up to 1.4kw. This can be manageable if you expect enough sun through the day to put back what the battery uses in those periods. If you do use eco you do need to switch to eco+ if you want to boost later in the day.
I have each gen3 on dedicated circuits, but I could have put both on one circuit, programmed them to power share and they communicate with each other as to not pop the breaker.
I think by now, Tesla’s powerwall and Gen3 can PowerShare but not sure.
I think by now, Tesla’s powerwall and Gen3 can PowerShare but not sure.
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
Power-share is a good point, if likely to have multiple cars / chargers on your drive in due course. I think most? are capable of power-share nowadays ... however, PowerWall charging will drop if it detects other heavy use on the circuit, so worth keeping in mind (once you get close to PowerWall installation) if using a 4 hours Off peak tariff as PowerWall needs about that long to charge, and will thus not charge fully if it backs off when an EV is also charging.
I use the Tesla gen 3 charger at home.
It’s easy to set up and you can limit the charging current a bit if your local network voltage falls when there is high load in the area. This had caused the neutral fault detector to trip.
I actually had to get UKPN to move my supply to a less loaded phase in the road.
Does need a neutral fault detector, think all others do as well these days.
The installation including the Matt e unit was £625 and the charge point was £449.
Very happy with the outcome and performance, and the long cable.
However only really practical for me to charge at night.
It’s easy to set up and you can limit the charging current a bit if your local network voltage falls when there is high load in the area. This had caused the neutral fault detector to trip.
I actually had to get UKPN to move my supply to a less loaded phase in the road.
Does need a neutral fault detector, think all others do as well these days.
The installation including the Matt e unit was £625 and the charge point was £449.
Very happy with the outcome and performance, and the long cable.
However only really practical for me to charge at night.
How much before? Do you have any smart tarrifs with your electricity supplier - e.g. Ovo?
Ok, so 19% and 25% respectively...
The 25% is around 2.5kw charge rate (assuming start at 00:30 and finish at 08:00), 19% is 1.9kw with same assumption.
Could it be that the rate is limited to 10A and my charge time assumptions are wrong?
I have a TWC Gen 3 and it’s perfect. I also charge between 0030 and 0430 and I’ve not had one problem with it. I also love the fact that no other vehicle can use it unless I program it to allow other vehicles or specific Vins. This coupled with the fact it appears in the Tesla app and you can see if the car is charging/ scheduled to charge is a bonus. The open port button is also a massive win for me. It’s more expensive due to the requirement for PEN fault protection but I factored this into my purchase.
The only downside is that you need to hold the open port button down on the charger to update the TWC settings, even when going through the app. That being said, I did this when I got it and haven’t changed them since.
The only downside is that you need to hold the open port button down on the charger to update the TWC settings, even when going through the app. That being said, I did this when I got it and haven’t changed them since.
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