First time EV owner, what charger for the house?

[Tomo]

I just installed the Tesla Universal Wall Connector, and it works great. Universal Wall Connector (tesla.com). I've been using the Tesla Mobile Connector with a J1772 adapter for the last four years on a regular basis and it has been terrific. The advantage of the Universal Connector is that it has both the J1772 plug, currently used on Taycans, and the NACS (Tesla) plug that all U.S. based electric cars will have starting in 2025. Future proofing.

Excellent charger. I switched from EA home charger to the Tesla Universal to charge my Taycan and VW ID.4 as well as Rivian RT1 and Tesla Model 3 when family visits. This charger is flawless with all.

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[DougFrisk]

Hello everyone! Looking to buy my first EV, namely a taycan CT 4S so I honestly don’t know much about charging. I’ve done a lot of searching on the forum but the terminology is not familiar to me so I need to keep educating myself.

My somewhat daily commute is only 50 miles round trip so I won’t need to be charging nightly (although I think I read charge often but to 80%?).

Question is, can I rely on the mobile charger that comes with the car and maybe make some light modifications to my garage to power it as a Level 2? Could someone help explain what a decent setup would be for a beginner in layman’s terms? Really appreciate the help as I continue to get educated!

Can you use the mobile EVSE that came with the car, the short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is that it's better to just leave that in the car to use in travel emergencies and install proper charging in your home.

With that said, this is my standard boilerplate when someone asks about installing EV charging.

Step one: contact your electric utility to see if they have rebates, recommendations, or a preferred charger list. Mine offered a $500 rebate for installing a charger on their list, OCPP 1.6 compliance was their criteria.

Step two: contact an electrician to see how large a circuit you can run without needing a service upgrade. If you can install a 60 amp circuit do that. If your house can only manage a 20 amp by 240 volt circuit (3.8 kW) that's more than enough for a car that does 15,000 mile a year. If you can't get that circuit, then discuss options for load sharing switches, those will let your EVSE and electric stove share a 50 amp circuit and as long as you don't bake cookies at 2:00 AM ovens and EVSEs are non-conflicting.

Step 3: When selecting the EVSE, if you care about data look for one that does good online reporting. If you think you might ever buy another EV, look for one that can share a single circuit (this is a bit different that the switch above) so you can have multiple EVSEs intelligently charge 2 (or more) different cars using the same circuit. If a 20 amp circuit can manage a single EV driving 15,000 miles a year, a 60 amp circuit will happily charge an arbitrary number of EVs that are driven less than a combined 50,000 miles a year.

Step 4: when installing, make certain you specify the EVSE is hardwired. The only reason you would install a plug is if you intend to bring the EVSE with you if you move, but when you sell, having built in EV charging is a bigger selling point than the cost of installing a new one.

 

[BThompson]

I'm in same boat as @Shawn_Turismo -- total newbie to charging. Taking delivery of 2025 Taycan 4S with Performance Plus in late August. My wife has an X5 hybrid and we installed a Charge Point+ with 240v hardwired. She likes to charge it every night to maximize the all electric miles.

Question is, should I get another ChargePoint or go with Tesla? There are some recommendations here to go with Tesla for "futureproofing," but the reason is lost on me. The cable length is a factor as we have a carport and several cars; the ChargePoint has a handy long cable. Another factor/question -- is one of those options better for maximizing/managing two cars charging at same time? What should my expectations be about charging rates/times? (I'll probably be averaging only about 150 miles per week, but it would be nice to know I can charge as quickly as possible for spur of the moment trips).

Thanks in advance for any help on this!

 

[daveo4EV]

I'm in same boat as @Shawn_Turismo -- total newbie to charging. Taking delivery of 2025 Taycan 4S with Performance Plus in late August. My wife has an X5 hybrid and we installed a Charge Point+ with 240v hardwired. She likes to charge it every night to maximize the all electric miles.

Question is, should I get another ChargePoint or go with Tesla? There are some recommendations here to go with Tesla for "futureproofing," but the reason is lost on me. The cable length is a factor as we have a carport and several cars; the ChargePoint has a handy long cable. Another factor/question -- is one of those options better for maximizing/managing two cars charging at same time? What should my expectations be about charging rates/times? (I'll probably be averaging only about 150 miles per week, but it would be nice to know I can charge as quickly as possible for spur of the moment trips).

Thanks in advance for any help on this!

charge point is fine - another Tesla is fine - there is an advantage to going with 2 Tesla chargers however -they can be configured to "share" a given breaker - so you can charge two EV's at once with 2 Tesla EVSE's - and the Tesla EVSE's will make sure you do not exceed the power budget while charging both EV's at the same time…

but there is no problem mixing and matching EVSE's if that's what you want to do …

 

[Graluy]

Hello everyone! Looking to buy my first EV, namely a taycan CT 4S so I honestly don’t know much about charging. I’ve done a lot of searching on the forum but the terminology is not familiar to me so I need to keep educating myself.

My somewhat daily commute is only 50 miles round trip so I won’t need to be charging nightly (although I think I read charge often but to 80%?).

Question is, can I rely on the mobile charger that comes with the car and maybe make some light modifications to my garage to power it as a Level 2? Could someone help explain what a decent setup would be for a beginner in layman’s terms? Really appreciate the help as I continue to get educated!

Good morning

I’ m using the Porche Connect Charger delivered with my car. My electrician put a 32a monophase plug and I installed the Porche Charging station. I set it up to 24a wich is enough for me.
It works well and allow to have full exchanges with myPorche App
Br

 

[daveo4EV]

Good morning

I’ m using the Porche Connect Charger delivered with my car. My electrician put a 32a monophase plug and I installed the Porche Charging station. I set it up to 24a wich is enough for me.
It works well and allow to have full exchanges with myPorche App
Br

the North American and European Porsche chargers are different - the Euro models are much better - the North American models have much to be desired - they are currently under recall and Porsche North America will pay you up to $600 to not use the units…and purchase a non-Porsche alternative…

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...uide-to-the-porsche-evse-pmc-pmcc-pwcc.13886/

experience with the European unit's is somewhat irrelevant given the problems the NA units have demonstrated.

 

[Shawn_Turismo]

the North American and European Porsche chargers are different - the Euro models are much better - the North American models have much to be desired - they are currently under recall and Porsche North America will pay you up to $600 to not use the units…and purchase a non-Porsche alternative…

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...uide-to-the-porsche-evse-pmc-pmcc-pwcc.13886/

experience with the European unit's is somewhat irrelevant given the problems the NA units have demonstrated.

Is the $600 reimbursement for the Porsche mobile connect that comes with some cars? I’ll be going with the Tesla wall connector hardwired like some of you recommended but was wondering if Porsche would reimburse me for the mobile charger that comes with the car?

 

[Vision]

I'm using a tesla charger with the nema 14-50, there super small which I like and works great with a tesla to j-1772 adapter.

 

[daveo4EV]

Is the $600 reimbursement for the Porsche mobile connect that comes with some cars? I’ll be going with the Tesla wall connector hardwired like some of you recommended but was wondering if Porsche would reimburse me for the mobile charger that comes with the car?

not for new purchases - you'll have to speak to your dealer about if/how/what comes with the car - when the PMC+/PMCC was not available at time of purchase for some new owners dealers were either providing alternatives or cash for an EVSE since one was not included with the vehicle due to the recall.

this is a fluid situation for new owners - your dealer is your best source of alternatives/accommodations if any are required.

 

[Shawn_Turismo]

not for new purchases - you'll have to speak to your dealer about if/how/what comes with the car - when the PMC+/PMCC was not available at time of purchase for some new owners dealers were either providing alternatives or cash for an EVSE since one was not included with the vehicle due to the recall.

this is a fluid situation for new owners - your dealer is your best source of alternatives/accommodations if any are required.

That makes sense thank you!

I don’t see the Porsche mobile connect recall open for the vin of the car so I’m assuming it will be ok to use the mobile charger for level 1 charging if needed when traveling?

 

[daveo4EV]

That makes sense thank you!

I don’t see the Porsche mobile connect recall open for the vin of the car so I’m assuming it will be ok to use the mobile charger for level 1 charging if needed when traveling?

level 1 will be mostly useless for traveling - it takes 3 days to charge at level 1 - while traveling you want to find hotesl w/level 2 chargers - or use fast chargers along the way…

level 1 is 120V household plugs - about 1.44 kW - so Taycan would take literally 75+ hours to charge at L1 charge rates

normal home chargers also support level 2 (L2) charging or 240 volts (9.6 kW) - normally at 50/40 amps - this takes a more reasonable but still long 8-11 hours to charge a Taycan…

commercial FastDC chargers range from 50-350 kW - and can take anywere from 30 minute to 2 hours to charge a Taycan depending on the charge speed (25 kW - 270 kW)

what you do for home use daily - charge overnight at L2 rates - vs. what to do while traveling require different planning

L1 charging (which Porsche no longer recommends in their own tech bulletin) is not a viable plan for any sort of effective charging while away from home.

see this document from Porsche
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10222530-0001.pdf

and my analysis here:
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...-related-porsche-ntsb-article-analysis.13902/

for home charging I recommend starting here:

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/us-over-the-top-the-well-equipped-ev-home-garage…for-those-that-wish-to-over-do-it-….2343/

and if you want alternatives for road tripping along with commercial DCfast chargers I recommend this thread

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...and-useful-road-warrior-ev-charging-kit.6812/

there is a wealth of information already on the forums - nothing is new in this space - I high recommend you review existing threads to come up to speed…

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...uide-to-the-porsche-evse-pmc-pmcc-pwcc.13886/

 

[Shawn_Turismo]

level 1 will be mostly useless for traveling - it takes 3 days to charge at level 1 - while traveling you want to find hotesl w/level 2 chargers - or use fast chargers along the way…

level 1 is 120V household plugs - about 1.44 kW - so Taycan would take literally 75+ hours to charge at L1 charge rates

normal home chargers also support level 2 (L2) charging or 240 volts (9.6 kW) - normally at 50/40 amps - this takes a more reasonable but still long 8-11 hours to charge a Taycan…

commercial FastDC chargers range from 50-350 kW - and can take anywere from 30 minute to 2 hours to charge a Taycan depending on the charge speed (25 kW - 270 kW)

what you do for home use daily - charge overnight at L2 rates - vs. what to do while traveling require different planning

L1 charging (which Porsche no longer recommends in their own tech bulletin) is not a viable plan for any sort of effective charging while away from home.

see this document from Porsche
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10222530-0001.pdf

and my analysis here:
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...-related-porsche-ntsb-article-analysis.13902/

for home charging I recommend starting here:

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/us-over-the-top-the-well-equipped-ev-home-garage…for-those-that-wish-to-over-do-it-….2343/

and if you want alternatives for road tripping along with commercial DCfast chargers I recommend this thread

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...and-useful-road-warrior-ev-charging-kit.6812/

there is a wealth of information already on the forums - nothing is new in this space - I high recommend you review existing threads to come up to speed…

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...uide-to-the-porsche-evse-pmc-pmcc-pwcc.13886/

Thank you very much! Lots of fun reading to do!

 

[Caraholic]

I would recommend the level 2 grizzle e dumb charger. I see no reason to complicate the process with some of these other more advanced chargers.

 

[Shawn_Turismo]

Hey everyone - I had the Tesla universal wall connect installed/hardwired today! Thank you for all the advice and guidance!

I see these figures in the system details in the Tesla one app. Do they look right for a 60amp circuit breaker installation for the maximum output of 48amps? I don’t have my car yet so I can only rely on what I see in the apps right now.

 

[daveo4EV]

Hey everyone - I had the Tesla universal wall connect installed/hardwired today! Thank you for all the advice and guidance!

I see these figures in the system details in the Tesla one app. Do they look right for a 60amp circuit breaker installation for the maximum output of 48amps? I don’t have my car yet so I can only rely on what I see in the apps right now.

that looks correct - unit default to 60 amp breaker (48 amp charge rate) - if you didn't change it that should be the setting - there are other screens on the web portal where you can inspect that

_OR_

you can plug in your car and look at the charge rate on the lower center screen - if the charge rate is above "9 kw" - you're getting the "full" 48 amps.

243 V is 100% in line with specifications and expectations for your hook up.

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