Why spend over $600 for L2 chargers if $275 Tesla Connector is fine?

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mpulsiv

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Joined
Apr 22, 2019
Messages
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Can someone please shed some light as to why someone would not use $275 Mobile Connector bundle https://shop.tesla.com/product/gen-2-mobile-connector-bundle with $35 adapter https://shop.tesla.com/product/gen-2-nema-adapters?

Alternatives:
$600 https://shop.quickchargepower.com/JESLA-JR-is-THE-32-amp-J1772-portable-charging-solution-JESLAJR.htm
$550 www.openevse.com/stations.html
$550 https://evcharging.enelx.com/store/residential/juicebox-pro-40-smart-40-amp-evse-with-24-foot-cable
$660 https://store.clippercreek.com/level2/level2-40-to-80/HCS-50P-Plug-in-40%20Amp-EVSE-Charging-Station-25-ft-over-molded-cable-NEMA-14-50
$600 www.chargepoint.com/drivers/home/chargepoint-home
$550 www.accellww.com/collections/ev-charger/products/axfast-3202


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This works great for teslas. Not so much for any other brand EV. You could get this setup and a Tesla Tap for ~$230 but then you are up near the price of the others you listed.
 
tbier said:
This works great for teslas. Not so much for any other brand EV. You could get this setup and a Tesla Tap for ~$230 but then you are up near the price of the others you listed.

What does that supposed to mean? :D You own Tesla charger and it doesn't work well for your e-Golf?
And how are you doing the math? $275 + $35 = almost $600?
 
Tesla uses a proprietary connector in the USA, just like Apple does for their iPhone. You need to buy a ~$300 adapter (NOT made by Tesla, but only by third party companies) to make the USA Tesla charging station work with your e-golf (or any other brand of EV that is not a Tesla in the USA). Ever notice a USA Tesla charging at a public L2 station? If you look closely, you will see there is an adapter between the J1772 plug and the car inlet. Too bad the Tesla plug isn't the standard for all EVs. In the EU, all cars use the Mennekes Type 2 vehicle inlet, thanks to government mandate. I imagine a Tesla Type 2 portable connector would work with an e-golf, since both use Type 2 inlets, but I may be wrong - maybe someone from the EU can chime in on this?
 
f1geek said:
Tesla uses a proprietary connector in the USA, just like Apple does for their iPhone. You need to buy a ~$300 adapter (NOT made by Tesla, but only by third party companies) to make the USA Tesla charging station work with your e-golf (or any other brand of EV that is not a Tesla in the USA). Ever notice a USA Tesla charging at a public L2 station? If you look closely, you will see there is an adapter between the J1772 plug and the car inlet. Too bad the Tesla plug isn't the standard for all EVs. In the EU, all cars use the Mennekes Type 2 vehicle inlet, thanks to government mandate. I imagine a Tesla Type 2 portable connector would work with an e-golf, since both use Type 2 inlets, but I may be wrong - maybe someone from the EU can chime in on this?

Are you talking about these? Tesla -> J1772
$240 https://shop.quickchargepower.com/JDapter-Stub-40-Amp-Tesla-Charge-Station-Adaptor-JDPTRSTB.htm
$250 www.evseadapters.com/products/tesla-to-j1772-adapter
$180 www.umc-j1772.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=50
 
Yes. Okay, they cost ~$240. If you are willing to fork over ~$500 to make it work with a USA e-Golf, the Tesla mobile connector is a very flexible product. You can buy a 3.8 kW Amazing E station for only $220. It only provides 16 amps, but if you are planning on sleeping while charging, then it will work just fine.
 
f1geek said:
Yes. Okay, they cost ~$240. If you are willing to fork over ~$500 to make it work with a USA e-Golf, the Tesla mobile connector is a very flexible product. You can buy a 3.8 kW Amazing E station for only $220. It only provides 16 amps, but if you are planning on sleeping while charging, then it will work just fine.

I was looking at 16 amps (3.8 kW) but they only come with NEMA 10-30 plug for $280 www.costco.com/AxFAST-Level-2-Portable-Electric-Vehicle-Charger.product.100489580.html. It won't work without an adapter. I have NEMA 14-50 outlet in garage. Previous owner installed it for his Model S.
Is there another 16 amps charger you can recommend?

16 amps alternatives:
$395 https://store.clippercreek.com/16-amp-evse-14-50-plug
Other not reputable brands www.amazon.com/s?k=EV+Charger+16a+14-50&i=automotive&ref=nb_sb_noss
 
I thought the big difference was Teslas have a built in EVSE in the car and therefore a generic AC input can plug into the car. Wheras our cars do not have that feature and that is why we need to buy an external EVSE.

Is my info correct?
 
All cars need to use EVSE, even Tesla. If you already have a 50 amp circuit, is there some sort of pigtail adapter you can buy to go from the 14-30 plug to the 14-50 receptacle?
 
coupedncal1 said:
I thought the big difference was Teslas have a built in EVSE in the car and therefore a generic AC input can plug into the car. Wheras our cars do not have that feature and that is why we need to buy an external EVSE.

Is my info correct?

Every modern EV can do AC charging via an EVSE, which is external to the actual car. AKAIK, no EV has an AC EVSE built in. The actual plug (J1772, Tesla, Type 2, etc.) used to deliver current from the EVSE to the car differs based on geography and, in Tesla's case in the U.S., brand. See here for more info: https://electriccarhome.co.uk/charging-points/charging-point-connector-types/

Confusion often occurs because people conflate a "charger" with an EVSE. AN EVSE is not an AC charger. An EVSE is a fairly "dumb" device that communicates with and delivers current to the AC charger built into every modern EV. The charger inside the car then converts the AC to the DC that the battery needs to charge. It works the same for Teslas as it does for any other modern EV from Chevy, Nissan, VW, BMW, Porsche, Audi, or whoever. It's just that the actual plug that delivers the AC from the EVSE to the car's charger may look different.

The AC chargers built in to cars are rated as to the maximum current that they can accept in kilowatts (kW=voltage times amperage). For example, a car's internal charger may be rated at 7.6kW, which means it can accept 240v @ 32 amps (240 x 32 = roughly 7.6kW) An EVSE communicates with the car's AC charger and says, "here, I can deliver this much current at this amperage" and the car's charger says back, "I'm ready (or not) to accept this much current at this much amperage" and the EVSE then delivers what it's instructed to deliver and then stops when the car says that it's done charging.
 
If you get the Tesla Mobile Connector with the J1772 connector already fitted, it's the same cost as other 240V EVSE units. The main benefit is that it's more portable and it has smart adapters available for almost any North American outlet.

https://shop.quickchargepower.com/JESLA-JR-is-THE-32-amp-J1772-portable-charging-solution-JESLAJR.htm

I have the first generation Jesla and used it with our 2015 e-Golf for almost 3 years before we returned the car. It's a great solution.
 
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