[North America] - Get your Tech from a Tech company… Tesla J-1772/Universal charger review

[daveo4EV]

ran the unit today for 2 hours @ 48 amps - ambient temps 53-61F - nothing reached more than 90F surface temperature after 2 hours.

90F was only in one spot - the rest was sub 85F - and a lot of it was 79/78F - so it's running cool and a cucumber…

well with in expected norms.

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[daveo4EV]

How to have an hardwire EVSE (Like the Tesla Wall charger) use an existing NEMA 14-50 plug?

something like this makes the install job really easy…and will just reuse your existing NEMA 14-50 outlet.

https://smile.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Prong-14-50P-4-Wire/dp/B084D28DTD/ref=sr_1_46?crid=NPTPGJ6LN47V&keywords=nema+14-50+extension+cord&qid=1666446859&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI1LjczIiwicXNhIjoiNS4yNiIsInFzcCI6IjUuMDAifQ==&sprefix=NEMA+14-50+extn,aps,179&sr=8-46&th=1

on one end of this wire is a NEMA 14-50
on the other end is bare wire leads to go into the hardwired connections inside the Tesla (or any other) hardwired unit.

the 4th neutral wire (white) will be "unused" in this setup - as there are only 3 internal connection points - L1/L2/GND

but using this cord will run your Tesla/EVSE unit off your existing NEMA 14-50 plug - if do not want to remove/covert your existing 14-50 outlet to a hardwired junction box.

wire up the red/black/green (L1/L2/Gnd) and ignore the white Neutral wire…and unlike Porsche this comes with 8/6 gauge wire - tape off the "white" connector to avoid any loose connections inside the box - and you're done!! Personally I'd cut off the metal connectors on the black/red/green and strip the wire for inserting into the connection block - but this 50 amp cord makes the job really really simple.

comes in 4ft or 10 ft segment - get the 10 ft segement and you can cut it down to what ever length is required for a perfect "fit".

make sure to configure the Tesla/ChargePoint/Wallbox unit for 50 amp breaker (40 amp charge rate)

NOTE: this does NOT make the Tesla unit "mobile" - it just makes it super easy to wire the Tesla Unit into your existing NEMA 14-50 outlet - the Tesla Unit will still be mounted the wall - but will reuse your existing NEMA 14-50 outlet.

I have received and am using this cable - it's well made - it comes with 2x6 AWG Copper wires (red & black, AC high voltage) and 2x8 AWG Copper wires (white & green, ground & neutral) - it's high quality insulation rated for 70C temp - and running it over-spec today nothing externally reached more than 90F in 60F ambient temps (so a 30F "delta" from ambient which is more than acceptable for 9.6 kW++++ electrical loads).

 

[GTSCarLife]

@daveo4EV Thanks to you and @DerekS for posting about the Tesla option. My wife's Taycan 4S CT arrives Dec 8 and we are at the point where it is time to pull the trigger on an EVSE and hardwiring installation. It's really too bad that Porsche screwed this up so bad, and of course won't take care of the owners (M96 anyone?) Does the Tesla option charge the car slower than other units, including the Porsche unit if it actually operated as advertised? I understand Porsche's 800 volt architecture is what allows the car to charge so quickly, but wondering of other ESVEs would act as a bottleneck. Also, you state it doesn't need a TeslaTap, but your phot shows one on it. Thank you!

 

[daveo4EV]

@daveo4EV Thanks to you and @DerekS for posting about the Tesla option. My wife's Taycan 4S CT arrives Dec 8 and we are at the point where it is time to pull the trigger on an EVSE and hardwiring installation. It's really too bad that Porsche screwed this up so bad, and of course won't take care of the owners (M96 anyone?) Does the Tesla option charge the car slower than other units, including the Porsche unit if it actually operated as advertised? I understand Porsche's 800 volt architecture is what allows the car to charge so quickly, but wondering of other ESVEs would act as a bottleneck. Also, you state it doesn't need a TeslaTap, but your phot shows one on it. Thank you!

no EVSE charges "slower" - the speed of your charge is directly related to the size of the circuit (breaker+wire) of your installation - any 50 amp circuit (40 amp charge rate) will charge at 9.6 kW regardless of which EVSE you purchase (as long as you purchase an EVSE that can do 9.6 kW)

your Taycan's maximum charge rate is 11 kW (60 amp breaker/48 amp charge rate)
you can purchase any EVSE with any capacity from 12-80 amps (15 to 100 amp breakers)

post #4 on this thread lists some potential excellent choices for your EVSE vendor

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...j-1772-wall-charger-review.13163/#post-196796

prior to spending $700-$3000 on your EVSE install I recommend some quality quiet time reading the following two threads

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...age…for-those-that-wish-to-over-do-it-….2343/
https://rennlist.com/forums/taycan/1260596-school-me-on-home-charging.html

 

[GTSCarLife]

@daveo4EV Awesome, thank you sir! And the TeslaTap?

 

[daveo4EV]

@daveo4EV Awesome, thank you sir! And the TeslaTap?

TeslaTap not required if you order a J-1772 EVSE (basically anything other than a normal wall/mobile Tesla EVSE) - but TeslaTap is useful to have in the vehicle for charging when you are away from home and "encounter" Tesla EVSE's and businesses, hotels, restaurants, etc…

you have a wide range of choices for a high quality home EVSE.

 

[fgwinn]

Already have a Tesla Wall Charger (from 2016) installed in my garage.
Was planning to buy a TeslaTap Mini for the upcoming Taycan.

Is there any any added value to swap my unit for this J-1772 one?

Thanks Dave for taking the time to share your findings

I sold my Tesla Gen 2 Wall Connector for $450 on eBay after using it for three years. Original cost was $500. They seem to hold their value pretty well.

 

[whitex]

screen shots of the web-portal UI for those that are curious - I've included the power sharing screens /(really simple/easy to setup) - and one charger is charging Taycan while other is idle - you can see they are full 48 amp (60 amp breaker) devices, but splitting 100 amps total between them.

That's sharing 100A total charging current, not the circuit capacity, correct? So there is no load sharing taking place since 2x48A is 96A which is under 100A limit.

 

[whitex]

I sold my Tesla Gen 2 Wall Connector for $450 on eBay after using it for three years. Original cost was $500. They seem to hold their value pretty well.

I've seen them sell for even more (e.g. $800), since they are 80A capable.

 

[daveo4EV]

That's sharing 100A total charging current, not the circuit capacity, correct? So there is no load sharing taking place since 2x48A is 96A which is under 100A limit.

48 amp is the "charging" current - it's the equivlant of two 60 amp breakers (120 amps) - so there is only 80 amps (100 amp breaker) of capacity to "share".

 

[whitex]

48 amp is the "charging" current - it's the equivlant of two 60 amp breakers (120 amps) - so there is only 80 amps (100 amp breaker) of capacity to "share".

I was referring to the UI screenshot you showed:

The above suggest that the load sharing assumes there is 100A total charging current (so 125A breaker), which with only 2 48A capable EVSE's will never have to do any load sharing as it can take both of them going at full rate.

Perhaps if you configured it at a lower limit, like 80A, you could see how the load sharing work, e.g. is it dynamic, or does it automatically set the limit to max_current/number of connected vehicles, regardless whether of they are charging at the allocated full rate.

 

[daveo4EV]

That's sharing 100A total charging current, not the circuit capacity, correct? So there is no load sharing taking place since 2x48A is 96A which is under 100A limit.

thank you @whitex - the Tesla webportal UI is inconsistent - they use breaker in one part of the user experience, and actual electrical current in the power sharing - 100 amp is the breaker size, but 80 amps is the maximum current I can allocate for power sharing - so I've adjusted it to prevent my house from burning down.

thank you @whitex

 

[whitex]

thank you @whitex - the Tesla webportal UI is inconsistent - they use breaker in one part of the user experience, and actual electrical current in the power sharing - 100 amp is the breaker size, but 80 amps is the maximum current I can allocate for power sharing - so I've adjusted it to prevent my house from burning down.

thank you @whitex

I'm glad I was able to help identify a potentially dangerous setup. Considering that you know more about EVSE's than the proverbial "average bear", and yet you still managed to misconfigure it, what chance does the average consumer have to get it right every time? I would consider this a non-trivial flaw in their UX design, with potential safety impacts. While I get why they might have though load sharing should use total current rather than breaker size, IMO they should have both - smallest value breaker shared between all load-balancing wall chargers, and max current you want to share between them. They could then pop up an error if you try to set max current above 80% of the shared breaker value, but still allow you to set a lower shared current value while preserving the breaker value for safety reasons.

That said, I suspect there is fine print somewhere stating that only trained electricians are supposed do the provisioning, giving Tesla legal CYA

 

[daveo4EV]

I was referring to the UI screenshot you showed:

The above suggest that the load sharing assumes there is 100A total charging current (so 125A breaker), which with only 2 48A capable EVSE's will never have to do any load sharing as it can take both of them going at full rate.

Perhaps if you configured it at a lower limit, like 80A, you could see how the load sharing work, e.g. is it dynamic, or does it automatically set the limit to max_current/number of connected vehicles, regardless whether of they are charging at the allocated full rate.

it it behaves like the Gen2 - it will split the load evenly until one starts reducing it's draw

at the moment I only have a 32 amp EV (Cayenne) and a 48 amp EV (the Taycan) - so load balancing won't reduce the loads...

when I used to have large EV w/gen2 - both would get 40 - until one was off or started lowering it's load then it shifts the available amps to the other units still charging.

 

[nefilim314]

So I saw this thread when I was shopping EVSEs and ordered the Tesla J1772 wall charger.

I received it Friday in a nice tidy black box that just says "Tesla Wall Connector" on it. Makes sense - the one I ordered was black and called "J1772 Wall Connector"

I didn't unbox it because I had an electrician coming and didn't want to chance losing any parts. He arrives, spends all morning installing a 70amp panel with 60amp circuit, knocks on my door to tell me that the install is finished and... they sent me the basic $400 Wall Connector with Tesla's proprietary plug.

There is no way to contact support through their system, and if you attempt to call it just directs you to an email. I send an email and get an autoresponse letting me know that it may take up to 5 business days before I get a response.

Now I have to do another service call just to get the correct panel installed and I highly doubt Tesla is going to reimburse me for the electrician's time to install the correct panel.

Absolutely not happy with their customer support.

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