You must be meaning either a wall charger or a plug in cable? I like the 25 foot plug in cable because you can take it with you. The wall mounted one stays at your house. I have two cables. One hangs on the wall and the other one stays in the truck with the adapters. More versatile for me anyways . If you do mean an after market one I would advise against it. Might and probably would void your warranty. Haven't you heard about people cheating out on iPhone chargers and then they catch on fire. Stay away from anything made in China.
There are certainly cheaper options than the Tesla charger - depending on where in the world you are, of course - but there's probably none more convenient than the Tesla charger.
I mean, no-one else's is going to come with a button on it to open the charge port door, is it? :-)
(you might also struggle to find one that provides the power output and sharing capabilities of the Tesla Wall Charger, too)
Ok, a bit of confusion here. The car has the charger built into the car itself. There are several cable connection options, but these are not chargers. This is commonly confused though. Options:
1) Tesla UMC - included with the car, and has adapters to various standard NEMA connectors. A common one for a garage is a NEMA 14-50 (50 amp circuit, can draw 40 amps or 32 amps depending the UMC). So you install the power plug, and there is no more costs (i.e. the cheapest solution - full disclosure, I've been using it for 5 years now).
2) Tesla HPWC - This is a wall mounted cable unit (not a charger) that connects a circuit up to 90 amps, to supply up to 80 amps. Most new cars are limited to 48 amps, but some older cars with the dual charger option can go to 80 amps. Use this if you want the fastest home charging, and want to leave the UMC in the car at all times. It also has a longer cable option than the UMC, but the HPWC cable is also heavier and less flexible.
3) J1772 adapter - this allows other (third party) cables and connections. Again sometimes these are incorrectly called chargers. They are just the cable and some safety electronics.
The car's internal charger converts the AC to DC to charge the battery no matter what connection method you use above.
1. I don't think anybody sells cheaper wall connecters than the HPWC, and given the'd likely be J1772 connectors, they'd be less convenient
2. The UMC seems to be slightly more expensive than the HPWC. I don't think anybody sells a cheaper portable connector, and if they did they'd require the adapter
3. The HPWC does load balancing for charging up to 4 vehicles off a single circuit. I use it for two, and it's pretty awesome.
"2. The UMC seems to be slightly more expensive than the HPWC."
???
The HPWC is for sale on tesla.com for $500, while the current generation UMC sells for $300 (note that the older UMC is still available, but for $520).
Yes go with your initial instinct.... Just get the Tesla Wall Connector and be happy. It's a great deal compared with other wall connectors and works well.
Thanks guys. Especially TeslaTap.com. All my questions have been answered. I will stick with the Tesla HPWC. That seems to be the ticket. Thanks again and sorry for upsetting Rocky.
@Hood7 I thought that was the case, but the thinner/lighter/slower one doesn't show on the MS shop page as far as I can see. Maybe it's on the M3 page.
Maybe take one step back and realize you don't need to buy the UMC and you may already have an outlet in your garage unless money's burning a hole in your pocket. Adding an outlet is all you need if you choose to use your UMC has your charging implement. I had a dryer outlet in my garage and have spent $0 in nearly 5 years on charging accoutrements.
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I mean, no-one else's is going to come with a button on it to open the charge port door, is it? :-)
(you might also struggle to find one that provides the power output and sharing capabilities of the Tesla Wall Charger, too)
There are certainly cheaper options than the Tesla charger
Is the UMC no longer included with the car?
1) Tesla UMC - included with the car, and has adapters to various standard NEMA connectors. A common one for a garage is a NEMA 14-50 (50 amp circuit, can draw 40 amps or 32 amps depending the UMC). So you install the power plug, and there is no more costs (i.e. the cheapest solution - full disclosure, I've been using it for 5 years now).
2) Tesla HPWC - This is a wall mounted cable unit (not a charger) that connects a circuit up to 90 amps, to supply up to 80 amps. Most new cars are limited to 48 amps, but some older cars with the dual charger option can go to 80 amps. Use this if you want the fastest home charging, and want to leave the UMC in the car at all times. It also has a longer cable option than the UMC, but the HPWC cable is also heavier and less flexible.
3) J1772 adapter - this allows other (third party) cables and connections. Again sometimes these are incorrectly called chargers. They are just the cable and some safety electronics.
The car's internal charger converts the AC to DC to charge the battery no matter what connection method you use above.
1. I don't think anybody sells cheaper wall connecters than the HPWC, and given the'd likely be J1772 connectors, they'd be less convenient
2. The UMC seems to be slightly more expensive than the HPWC. I don't think anybody sells a cheaper portable connector, and if they did they'd require the adapter
3. The HPWC does load balancing for charging up to 4 vehicles off a single circuit. I use it for two, and it's pretty awesome.
???
The HPWC is for sale on tesla.com for $500, while the current generation UMC sells for $300 (note that the older UMC is still available, but for $520).
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/whats-the-best-home-charger.110335/#post-2604318
Yes go with your initial instinct.... Just get the Tesla Wall Connector and be happy. It's a great deal compared with other wall connectors and works well.
Your numbers are more accurate if rated miles are the metric. 36 might be slightly believable for either ideal miles or on a Model 3.