Newbie confused by all the charging options

[xyeahtony]

By the time Tesla's supercharger network opens up to non-Teslas nationwide, all of us will be upgrading our cars. Anyone who's owned a Tesla knows those cables are barely long enough to reach a tesla, which has its charge port in the taillight. Absolutely none of them have any cables long enough to reach a Taycan charge port without a serious retrofit.

And there are a LOT of stations to retrofit...

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Do you ever have a situation where you ...

Wow thanks for all this! I cannot say why my 2018 MX doesn't charge at 72. When not connected to any charger, on the charge screen it defaults to the max rate of 72 (the screen where you can set the max rate.). I'll say that this is off of a sub-panel in a detached garage. Perhaps something is not wired as well as it should be. But no, I've never really had to wait for my car to charge and I generally only charge it to 70% anyhow. I imagine I would do the same with the Taycan except for the occasional 'spirited' weekend.

But I was thinking more for road trips, would it be worth it to get the enhanced AC charger when staying at some theoretical BnB in the mountains that might have a tesla destination charger - actually wanting to be a good EV neighbor and not taking up too much time at those chargers. It does sound like though that the destination charger would probably need to be on beefy circuitry to take advantage of it and that might not be common.

I like the idea you mentioned of having two chargers configured to share the circuit. Is that a feature of Tesla chargers or could I get a different charger for the Taycan? I am guessing by your suggestion of two new chargers it means it's a function of the Tesla chargers specifically?

 

[daveo4EV]

Wow thanks for all this! I cannot say why my 2018 MX doesn't charge at 72. When not connected to any charger, on the charge screen it defaults to the max rate of 72 (the screen where you can set the max rate.). I'll say that this is off of a sub-panel in a detached garage. Perhaps something is not wired as well as it should be. But no, I've never really had to wait for my car to charge and I generally only charge it to 70% anyhow. I imagine I would do the same with the Taycan except for the occasional 'spirited' weekend.

But I was thinking more for road trips, would it be worth it to get the enhanced AC charger when staying at some theoretical BnB in the mountains that might have a tesla destination charger - actually wanting to be a good EV neighbor and not taking up too much time at those chargers. It does sound like though that the destination charger would probably need to be on beefy circuitry to take advantage of it and that might not be common.

I like the idea you mentioned of having two chargers configured to share the circuit. Is that a feature of Tesla chargers or could I get a different charger for the Taycan? I am guessing by your suggestion of two new chargers it means it's a function of the Tesla chargers specifically?

Powersharing is supported by Tesla's Gen3 chargers - $550 each for the J-1772 versions $500 for the non-J-1772 version - but you can mix/match Gen3 Tesla-Connector & J-1772 chargers

ClipperCreek also makes EVSE's with this functionality called "share2" - this allows two separate ClipperCreek EVSE's to share a single circuit and dynamically "split" the load based on demand from two EV's charging at the same time

I believe WallBox also has this feature, but you'd have to consult their specficiations - I might be wrong.

I'm doing it right now with 3 Tesla Gen3 chargers (1 tesla + 2 J-1772)

details below

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...pany…-tesla-j-1772-wall-charger-review.13163/

I'm rocking 3 powershared EVSE's - and I love it for it's simplicity, flexibiltiy and performance - I often charge:

• my Taycan
• my Cayenne eHybrid
• my son's Tesla (when he's visiting)

all the same time- and the chargers just work it out for sharing the 80 amp charging load between the 3 cars - and as each car finishes it's now unused capacity gets redistributed to the remaining vehicle's charging - it's fire & forget and "just works" - highly recommend it for the future multi-ev household.

 

[daveo4EV]

Wow thanks for all this! I cannot say why my 2018 MX doesn't charge at 72. When not connected to any charger, on the charge screen it defaults to the max rate of 72 (the screen where you can set the max rate.). I'll say that this is off of a sub-panel in a detached garage. Perhaps something is not wired as well as it should be. But no, I've never really had to wait for my car to charge and I generally only charge it to 70% anyhow. I imagine I would do the same with the Taycan except for the occasional 'spirited' weekend.

But I was thinking more for road trips, would it be worth it to get the enhanced AC charger when staying at some theoretical BnB in the mountains that might have a tesla destination charger - actually wanting to be a good EV neighbor and not taking up too much time at those chargers. It does sound like though that the destination charger would probably need to be on beefy circuitry to take advantage of it and that might not be common.

I like the idea you mentioned of having two chargers configured to share the circuit. Is that a feature of Tesla chargers or could I get a different charger for the Taycan? I am guessing by your suggestion of two new chargers it means it's a function of the Tesla chargers specifically?

it's not to say there are no 19.2 kW chargers - but most are going to be Tesla Destination Chargers - and they are rare, but not impossible to find.

the 19.2 kW charger is super and a great feature - and if you have a 100 amp circuit + 100 amp EVSE in your home it will charge your Taycan faster and that is great

I just advise people to go in "eyes open" - while this a great features - I can not suggest that it will be something that commonly enhances your charging speed when away from home - that's not to say you will not ever benefit from it- but it will be a rare find so you should not "depend" on it being something that generally improves things - it will work great when you encounter it.

And again since if/when you find one of those rare 100/80 amp 19.2 kW EVSE's in North America - it's very very likely it's a Tesla charger with a Tesla Connectors - so you'll need a Tesla Tap to access the charger…

19.2 kW Tesla Destination chargers are rare, but available
19.2 kW J-1772 non-Tesla EVSE's are very very very very very very rare - so it's very unlikely you'll find many/any of these in the wild.

Using a 19.2 kW charger in your home requires the following:

• 19.2 kW factory option from Porsche - $1680
  • $3000-$5000 retrofit from Porsche…
• 100 amp dedicated EVSE residential 240V circuit - install costs $1000-$10,000 depending on your home's circumstances - consult your local licensed electrician
• 19.2 kW EVSE (Porsche Wall Charger, ClipperCreek, etc) - $1600-$3000

Likely hood of encountering another 19.2 kW EVSE when away from home - very very low - 98% chance when you do find one of these rare EVSE's "in the wild" - it will be a Tesla Destination Charger - so you'll need an 80 amp TeslaTap (or similar).

Also these sorts of chargers are not a "growth industry" - I.e. there is more FastDC infrastructure being built out than a big push for more 19.2 kW L2 J-1772 EVSE's - so while they exist - they will always be in the inconsequential minority, and there is no general trend for "more" of these chargers over time.

 

[whan]

I think the simplest answer for most people is to add none of the charging options. They mostly only provide benefits in edge case scenarios anyways.

 

[Scandinavian]

I think the simplest answer for most people is to add none of the charging options. They mostly only provide benefits in edge case scenarios anyways.

NO that may be the case in the US???? But I think that advice is completely wrong every where else.

 

[daveo4EV]

I think the simplest answer for most people is to add none of the charging options. They mostly only provide benefits in edge case scenarios anyways.

I still think the $460 400V/150 kW option is/will-be useful and honestly sooo cheap - I agree about the other "options".

 

[whan]

I still think the $460 400V/150 kW option is/will-be useful and honestly sooo cheap - I agree about the other "options".

It is pretty cheap so that is the one that I’d be on the fence around. That said, I do think because Tesla hasn’t opened up their network yet, it doesn’t reap any immediate benefits, and even once/if they do the value depends on how often you really plan to road trip the Taycan and utilize DCFC. I guess my point is, for most people, if you didn’t add the option, you wouldn’t feel like you missed a hugely crucial option

NO that may be the case in the US???? But I think that advice is completely wrong every where else.

True the 400V/150kw makes more sense in Europe, but the OP is US based

 

[daveo4EV]

You who are wise in the ways of the charge, may I ask a slightly related question?

There's a little vacation spot not far from my house, 90 miles, up through the mountains, both ways. They offer a charger, but it's just one for the entire community. Easy enough for me to use on a Wednesday night, much harder other times. This charger is the standard L2 at 7 kwh.

There are literally no high speed chargers other than tesla around for 30 miles or so, there's a coffee shop with another L2 at 7kwh.

Now I don't want to have to sit at these places for 5 hours, obviously..

I've seen various devices advertised that convert two 120 outlets into a combined 240? Do these things work? You have to find outlets on two separate breakers? If I brought two sturdy extensions and find two outlets, would this be viable?

Use case is to leave the Taycan in overnight and have a good charge the next day so I don't need to hunt around and waste half a day at a slow public charger?

I have no experience with combining 120V circuits into one 240V circuit - so i can not comment on such a system - personally I'd park the EV at the EV charger and not sweat it - that's what it's there for - just bring your TeslaTap

 

[tchavei]

I've been through the same thoughts lately.

Here in Europe, the 150kw/400v option is standard equipment so less one headache but the 22Kw AC isn't and costs €1700.

I opted to buy a flat in the city center instead of a house outside of its limits. It's convenient, everything is at hand and I can quickly get everywhere I need (kids, work, food, etc). There's one downside though. With the real estate value pressure, no constructor wants to waste premium space in garages so yeah, my taycan will live on the streets (which is an advantage actually. In 28 years I only had two car break-ins and both in garages) and I'll have to live off public chargers.

I have around 20-30 charging stations around me (28 new ones to be installed this year too). We have a few 3.7Kw, lots 11kw and 22kw and about 7 that are 50-60kw. I also have a Porsche Dealership 2 miles away with two 350Kw chargers.

Now I've been pondering if it will be worth to invest into the 22kw option but the more I think about it, the less I'm convinced about it. 2h20m charging vs 4h40m... I mean... It's bad regardless. I most certainly will always prefer charging weekly at the 50-60kw stations (50m-1h). That's still under 1C so in theory it isn't fast charging.

I'm convinced I'll survive just fine on 11Kw AC

My 2 cents.

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