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

[daveo4EV]

…and your car from a car company.

Aug 2023 Update: Tesla is an aggressive tech company that relentlessly pushes change and eschews the past - to that end they have retired the Tesla J-1772 Wall Charger as an option and now offer the Tesla Universal Charger - while the EXACT product is no longer available from this thread the new alternative is also a great option - my personal opinion this "pivot" to a universal NACS/J-1772 EVSE is a great product for anyone - the "core" feature set is still the same - 48 amp EVSE, good reliability, powersharing with up to 6 units, and fair price…so while the exact product is no longer available - the "replacement" generation is a step forward…and I'd still consider it…the conversation in this thread is still valid in the context of the "new" Universal product - so I feel this thread is still relevant and helpful.

https://shop.tesla.com/product/universal-wall-connector

ORIGINAL TEXT BELOW

I'm a Porsche customer because I believe they make the best cars and in other aspects of my life I gravitate towards "the best" in what ever category I'm choosing to spend money - that doesn't always mean spending a lot of money, but often the two correlate

even the most die hard Tesla hater and Porsche fan (sometimes one in the same but not always) has to admit Tesla does tech way way way better than Porsche - that doesn't mean you have to buy a Tesla vehicle, but you can leverage their tech expertise to make up for for Porsche's lack of tech expertise - and the primary way you can do that is to ditch the wonky and troublesome PMC+/PMCC and replace it with a Tesla J-1772 wall charger

I can love my Taycan and admit Porsche makes about the worst EVSE in North America and I can purchase an EVSE from someone else - cause it's not supposed to matter…

just like I did - and having spend less than 2 hours swapping my PMCC w/NEMA 14-50 plug for a Hardwired Tesla Wall Charger w/J-1772 connector - we're up and running.

all I can say is so far so good

and it's only $550

no Tesla Tap required - it comes native with one of the nicest, sleekest and easy to use J-1772 handles I've seen - and I splurged for the $75 "colored" glass front that almost matches my Gentian Blue Taycan

over the next few days and weeks I'll report on any problems but given my past experience with their EVSE's this one is a great product

• Small
• Easy to Install
• Personalization with colored face plates (optional)
• Adjustable amps (12 amp to 48 amps) - 15 to 60 amp breakers
• best charging animation n in the business
• LED's are also diagnostic
• PowerShare/Load Sharing via Wifi with multiple units - so you can add a 2nd one and have it split the load when charging two or more EV's
• easy to setup/configured via simple web-portal
  • great webportal - easy to access - no random password on a random card to lose
• and it doesn't overheat
• 25Ft cord to the vehicle
• $550

https://shop.tesla.com/product/j1772-wall-connector

order yours today and get it in like 3 business days if they ship as fast for you as they did for me

 

[daveo4EV]

so far so good

it charged my Cayenne @ 7.2 kW
it charges my Taycan @ 8.8 (9.6 kW)

I'll report more as I discover any issues.

but good J-1772 charger for $550.

 

[daveo4EV]

ROFL the Tesla wall mounted unit is smaller and lighter than the PMCC - and takes up less space on the wall…

my PMCC(s) are now packed away waiting for Porsche's next move - I anticipate I'll never use them again and will provide them with the vehicles they came with when I sell/trade-in either one…

now what to do with the hideous Porsche PMCC Dock that cost me $470…{sigh} so big, so empty, and so pointless.

 

[daveo4EV]

of course there are other non Tesla Choices

• CliperCreek
• JuiceBox
• WallBox
• ChargePoint
• Electrify America
• Leviton
• etc…

but Tesla now makes a j-1772 wall charger and it has great feature set for price - and appears to work with my Porsche's (as expected no actual surprise here).

but it's an option for those of you willing to consider it.

 

[Jhenson29]

now what to do with the hideous Porsche PMCC Dock that cost me $470

Put the Tesla EVSE in the Porsche dock.

And post a picture.

 

[DerekS]

my PMCC(s) are now packed away waiting for Porsche's next move - I anticipate I'll never use them again and will provide them with the vehicles they came with when I sell/trade-in either one…

Oh man you had more than one?

Mine is in the trunk in the subfloor as an emergency-use-only charger.
I'll probably never need it.

 

[daveo4EV]

Oh man you had more than one?

Mine is in the trunk in the subfloor as an emergency-use-only charger.
I'll probably never need it.

PMCC came w/2020 Taycan
PMCC came w/2021 Cayenne eHybrid

grrr - they are sooo big and so heavy - and now taking up space in my garage and are useless.

 

[daveo4EV]

Put the Tesla EVSE in the Porsche dock.

And post a picture.

ROFL

 

[DCYL725]

Put the Tesla EVSE in the Porsche dock.

And post a picture.

Better yet, Twitter @ Elon musk.
The tweet will catch fire.

 

[masmole]

Tesla J1772 evse looks great! Such a clean and compact design. I asked my electrician who is also a Tesla installer if he could install one for me but he actually talked me out of it because he felt I would have poor wifi connectivity with it based on where my parking spot was. I live in a condo building with a shared basement garage and the closest router was 2 floors above in the building lobby. Concrete floors. Neighbor who has a Tesla charger (not J1772) has no connection. But perhaps the newer J1772 version will have newer wifi chip and fare better. Electrician was skeptical and recommended I go with a Chargepoint or Juicebox instead. I went out on a limb and bought an Autel maxicharger for them to install. Guess what? It connects to the lobby wifi no problem! And stays connected. So if wifi range is an issue for anyone‘s EVSE installation, go try out the Autel. Great unit.

 

[daveo4EV]

you don't need the wifi for anything - to configure it you connect to it's own wifi from your phone.

I wouldn't worry about hte wifi - you need it "once" to run a software update

the wifi issue can be finessed - and once you've updated the software it's never used again.

 

[masmole]

Wifi is useful. I like it and prefer being connected all the time. I’m also a smart-home nut. Some if us like checking up on things, initiating and stopping charging remotely (like when a car being charged doesn’t have that functionality), looking up histories, getting alerts when someone unauthorized tries using my charger (I live in a condo building) though this will be unlikely since my neighbors are all upstanding citizens. If the device has the functionality, I want it to be active and working all the time. Not having wifi connection would just bother me on principle lol

 

[daveo4EV]

most EVSE's don't do that - the car controls the charging - not the EVSE - having the EVSE control the charging simply ends up arguing with the car which actually controls things…

this EVSE in particular does not provide any remote controls - the ONLY thing this EVSE provides via Wifi is:

• limited status - but no control
• software update (infrequent)
• initial configuration - only is done once, and doesn't require external Wifi

beyond that - everything is controlled by the vehicle not the EVSE.

some EVSE's provide more wifi support, but none of it is critical - at most charging stats and current status charging or not charging (same as the car's current status) - but no control like on/off…

again the Wifi really isn't that necessary - nor does it do very much after initial setup - and intial setup does not require access to a wifi network - it requires you to connect to the device directly to configure it.

 

[masmole]

most EVSE's don't do that - the car controls the charging - not the EVSE - having the EVSE control the charging simply ends up arguing with the car which actually controls things…

this EVSE in particular does not provide any remote controls - the ONLY thing this EVSE provides via Wifi is:

• limited status - but no control
• software update (infrequent)
• initial configuration - only is done once, and doesn't require external Wifi

beyond that - everything is controlled by the vehicle not the EVSE.

some EVSE's provide more wifi support, but none of it is critical - at most charging stats and current status charging or not charging (same as the car's current status) - but no control like on/off…

again the Wifi really isn't that necessary - nor does it do very much after initial setup - and intial setup does not require access to a wifi network - it requires you to connect to the device directly to configure it.

well, the Autel unit I have does do these things via wifi, so not sure why you insist on arguing against it.

I don‘t want this thread to devolve into a ”my evse is better than yours” discussion, because all I’m saying is that I happen to like the wifi functionality of my chosen evse and personally find it useful. Perhaps most others including yourself could care less about wifi features and that’s cool, but I’m frankly baffled as to why you’re trying to talk me out of it.

I‘m quite aware that the car ultimately controls charging but when the evse is already connected, my particular Autel unit does indeed have remote initiating and stopping of charge via wifi. I’ve tested it on my sister’s e-tron when she was visiting. It even has rfid/NFC actuvation of charge from a key card or iphone/apple watch, which is a feature I definitely will never use.

I really do prefer the Tesla evse’s slim sleek design. The light animation is indeed the best. My sister uses a crappy audi-supplied plug-in nema 16-50 charger but wants something hardwired. I‘ve sent her the link to order this Tesla one to buy and have installed at her home since like you she doesn‘t care about the wifi stuff.

 

[dutchcourage]

does this one have a nfc reader that you can program? This to prevent the use by unauthorised cars/users.

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