Where to site Tesla Wall Connector?
Discussion
Tesla ownership is getting closer, so I'm starting to think about the practicalities...
We'll be keeping one of our ICE cars and park both cars on the same drive, but as now we don't always have the same car at the back, which is where it would be the obvious place to put the wall connector.
In addition, because next door's driveway is close to ours, we end up parking our cars very close to our wall to minimise the risks of damage when we all get in and out of our respective vehicles. That means it would be awkward to have one long charge cable and get it to either charging position easily.
I suppose I could have 2 wall connectors, but that seems a bit frivolous...
Any other suggestions?
We'll be keeping one of our ICE cars and park both cars on the same drive, but as now we don't always have the same car at the back, which is where it would be the obvious place to put the wall connector.
In addition, because next door's driveway is close to ours, we end up parking our cars very close to our wall to minimise the risks of damage when we all get in and out of our respective vehicles. That means it would be awkward to have one long charge cable and get it to either charging position easily.
I suppose I could have 2 wall connectors, but that seems a bit frivolous...
Any other suggestions?
One charger in the middle with a decent length (3 meters) cable will be fine. Most chargers come with a stand/mount to tidy the cable with.
If your sure your going to stay at the same house for a while and planning on getting another charger fitted than getting two chargers installed makes sense.
It worth while looking into getting your main house fuse upgraded to 100amp if not already, and also getting wiring/space in consumer unit setup for a second charger even if you don't install one now.
If your sure your going to stay at the same house for a while and planning on getting another charger fitted than getting two chargers installed makes sense.
It worth while looking into getting your main house fuse upgraded to 100amp if not already, and also getting wiring/space in consumer unit setup for a second charger even if you don't install one now.
gangzoom said:
One charger in the middle with a decent length (3 meters) cable will be fine. Most chargers come with a stand/mount to tidy the cable with.
The problem I see with that is if the Tesla is parked at the back, I have to get the cable over the car's roof to plug it in and hang it back up.
Unless each time I park it I get out first to position the charge cable at the rear of the drive, but that's not a good solution IMO as sometimes it will be there when I return and the OH has parked the ICE at the back without re positioning the charge cable first...
This is assuming the charge port will be on the same side as LHD models. Is it on the S/X?
Edited by FurtiveFreddy on Friday 4th January 15:40
gangzoom said:
Charge port in on the passenger side, left sided tail light. So if you reverse in a charger positioned in the middle of the wall will reach front or back with no issues.
Yes, it will reach it but we have to park very close to the wall, so can't walk between the wall and the car with the charge cable.Planning to get the Tesla one? Annoyingly they only do 2.5 or 7.5m length leads - the former would be a bit too tight to put somewhere that would work for both parking spots, the latter means a load of cable spare.
Lots of other tethered charge point options though, the podpoint ones are neat and they're meant to be good to deal with. Andersen ones are pricey but much nicer to look at.
Lots of other tethered charge point options though, the podpoint ones are neat and they're meant to be good to deal with. Andersen ones are pricey but much nicer to look at.
sjg said:
Planning to get the Tesla one? Annoyingly they only do 2.5 or 7.5m length leads - the former would be a bit too tight to put somewhere that would work for both parking spots, the latter means a load of cable spare.
Lots of other tethered charge point options though, the podpoint ones are neat and they're meant to be good to deal with. Andersen ones are pricey but much nicer to look at.
Ah, well that's another consideration. Will they all give the same charging rate for a given supply?Lots of other tethered charge point options though, the podpoint ones are neat and they're meant to be good to deal with. Andersen ones are pricey but much nicer to look at.
Any advantages of non-Telsa ones apart from size/looks?
Looking at the Podpoint, a neat way to do it might be to have two Podpoint Universals fitted and just move the cable between them depending where the car was parked. Not the cheapest solution obviously, but it would avoid long cables and the difficulty of getting them over the car when plugging/unplugging.
Edited by FurtiveFreddy on Friday 4th January 16:20
Similar situation, although admittedly a wider drive with no potential conflicts with neighbours so somewhat easier, and not a Tesla, but the principle is the same, ICE car plus a car to plug in. Went with the middle option and a 5m tethered cable. That way, you can pretty much reach the charge port whichever way round the cars end up.
At the back, the charge pointscstick out, not by much but they do, plus you’ve the cable. If you’re parking close to the wall you’ll want very little down the side of the drive.
An ugly bodge would be to have an untethered charge point at the back and two cables, a long and short one. You might be able to clip the long one to the wall (something like a pipe clip), and you just switch over the cable at the charge point depending which you wanted to use.
An ugly bodge would be to have an untethered charge point at the back and two cables, a long and short one. You might be able to clip the long one to the wall (something like a pipe clip), and you just switch over the cable at the charge point depending which you wanted to use.
When we visit the inlaws the parking is tight, and I always end up having to stretch the cable. But essenitally you need to leave enough space to accommodate unfolded wing mirrors as that's how far fhe cable sticks out.
I would still just get the charger installed in the midway point, as even having two chargers installed doesn't solve the width issue. Also unless your doing 150 miles a day your probably only need to charge 2-3 times a week.
Do you have a garage? If so might be worth clearing it and using it for what its designed for - providing the Tesla fits
.
I would still just get the charger installed in the midway point, as even having two chargers installed doesn't solve the width issue. Also unless your doing 150 miles a day your probably only need to charge 2-3 times a week.
Do you have a garage? If so might be worth clearing it and using it for what its designed for - providing the Tesla fits
.Heres Johnny said:
An ugly bodge would be to have an untethered charge point at the back and two cables, a long and short one. You might be able to clip the long one to the wall (something like a pipe clip), and you just switch over the cable at the charge point depending which you wanted to use.
That's an idea. It could be made reasonably neat. Not that bothered how it looks when the cars aren't parked there, as that means we'll both be out!gangzoom said:
Do you have a garage? If so might be worth clearing it and using it for what its designed for - providing the Tesla fits .
The garage has been re-purposed long ago, much the same as 99% of the garages around here. All made too small in the first place..I still don't think it would be the answer having a second ICE car, as we'd be constantly moving cars around to get the Tesla in and out of the garage (even with 'summon' mode).
Is summon mode only available if you get the full autopilot option?
Having said that, I'm now thinking that perhaps summon mode could be the answer. Does anyone here use it? If I had the charger midway, I could get out of the car and bring the cable to the back of the drive, use summon mode to park it on the drive and plug it in.
Edited by FurtiveFreddy on Saturday 5th January 11:39
Edited by FurtiveFreddy on Saturday 5th January 11:40
gangzoom said:
When we visit the inlaws the parking is tight, and I always end up having to stretch the cable. But essenitally you need to leave enough space to accommodate unfolded wing mirrors as that's how far fhe cable sticks out.
I would still just get the charger installed in the midway point, as even having two chargers installed doesn't solve the width issue. Also unless your doing 150 miles a day your probably only need to charge 2-3 times a week.
Do you have a garage? If so might be worth clearing it and using it for what its designed for - providing the Tesla fits.
Are you plugging into a 13A socket when you visit them or do they have some sort of charging point themselves?I would still just get the charger installed in the midway point, as even having two chargers installed doesn't solve the width issue. Also unless your doing 150 miles a day your probably only need to charge 2-3 times a week.
Do you have a garage? If so might be worth clearing it and using it for what its designed for - providing the Tesla fits
.I'm just thinking if there's anything stopping me from having a proper wall mounted charger for 'fast' charging and another regular socket mounted at the back of the drive so that I could plug into that easily for 'slow' charging. After all, if the Tesla on the drive first it's probably going to then be there overnight.
Edited by FurtiveFreddy on Monday 7th January 09:37
I would be very careful about using 'summon' in tight space when the closests object is a literal brick wall. All it takes is one error and your looking at a pricey bill.
You can charge the Tesla off a 3 pin plug it just takes ages, and if your on an E7 night traiff it'll end up costing you more as your end up using more expensive day time rates.
One option might be to add a £30 32amp commando socket to the garage wall. The Tesla portable charger can charge at 7KW off a 32amp commando socket.
I suspect the only way to know what works for you is to get the car and try how things go. You could just get a commando socket installed first and than see how you end up charging the car.
You can charge the Tesla off a 3 pin plug it just takes ages, and if your on an E7 night traiff it'll end up costing you more as your end up using more expensive day time rates.
One option might be to add a £30 32amp commando socket to the garage wall. The Tesla portable charger can charge at 7KW off a 32amp commando socket.
I suspect the only way to know what works for you is to get the car and try how things go. You could just get a commando socket installed first and than see how you end up charging the car.
gangzoom said:
I would be very careful about using 'summon' in tight space when the closests object is a literal brick wall. All it takes is one error and your looking at a pricey bill.
You can charge the Tesla off a 3 pin plug it just takes ages, and if your on an E7 night traiff it'll end up costing you more as your end up using more expensive day time rates.
One option might be to add a £30 32amp commando socket to the garage wall. The Tesla portable charger can charge at 7KW off a 32amp commando socket.
I suspect the only way to know what works for you is to get the car and try how things go. You could just get a commando socket installed first and than see how you end up charging the car.
I've dismissed the 'summon' idea. I think it only works if you have autopilot anyway and I'm not interested in that.You can charge the Tesla off a 3 pin plug it just takes ages, and if your on an E7 night traiff it'll end up costing you more as your end up using more expensive day time rates.
One option might be to add a £30 32amp commando socket to the garage wall. The Tesla portable charger can charge at 7KW off a 32amp commando socket.
I suspect the only way to know what works for you is to get the car and try how things go. You could just get a commando socket installed first and than see how you end up charging the car.
Yes, I think a plain 32A socket is not a bad option. I don't understand why there's only a 16A charging option using the mobile connector on Tesla's website though.
I've also realised now that if I still want my M3 some time in 2019, I'll almost certainly have to stump up for one of the early spec RHD ones, which means the bigger battery I wasn't originally bothered about getting. In which case, I can't see I'll need to charge as often as I originally thought and charging times at home won't really be an issue to me.
Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff