Review: rating OEM's EV charging cords (Tesla, Audi get A's; GM, Jaguar fail)
In this post, we review the portable EV charging cords that come standard with the following electric vehicles sold in...
OEM charger review article
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Electrek is incredibly biased toward Tesla. Never see any criticism toward them or Musk. However - I agree that the Telsa is a superior EVSE, but I would give the Bolt a C rather than a D- (which by the way is barely passing, rather than fail as the headline reads).
Definitely agree that the Tesla adapter is better designed. Really bummed that GM did not specify to have the OEM charger to be 16A and come default with a NEMA 14-50 plug - and then give us an adapter to convert that to a NEMA 5-15 for 120v operation... like what Nissan provided.
I am leaning toward buying the Tesla Gen2 UMC plus the Tesla to J1772 adapter... maybe price will drop end of this year. Might come in handy next summer... still debating whether to take the EV or the Hybrid... probably take the hybrid just to at least put some miles on it...
I am leaning toward buying the Tesla Gen2 UMC plus the Tesla to J1772 adapter... maybe price will drop end of this year. Might come in handy next summer... still debating whether to take the EV or the Hybrid... probably take the hybrid just to at least put some miles on it...
I'm hugely impressed that Tesla does true load management/sharing. I have the JuiceNet, and it does loadshare but only via cloud service interaction. I give that a B+/A- grade for the effort but Tesla really did it right. I'm thinking of a 2nd charger, long story, my electric company is 'thinking' about offering a credit next year which is my catalyst to putting in a second one. I have the capacity already in my garage but the second charger will be inside the garage so that it can service a car inside, but also centrally located to extend outside a bit and if the electric company is paying for it I'm all for it. I may put the Tesla one in, just not sure.
Interesting article, but the BMW charger they tested is NOT the one that comes with the BMW i3's that I test drove, 2019 model year. The article did mention that it was possible an optional charger, but come on ...... review the OEM chargers that COME with the car if that's what you claim you are doing.
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In point of fact, if you plug in your OEM Bolt EVSE (aka, charger...) into a 240v outlet, it does a credible job. Been doing that since May. Just picked up a second, non-OEM unit, as a backup. But, don't really need it.
I detected some clear bias in the article.
Rich
I detected some clear bias in the article.
Rich
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I don't believe the Tesla EVSE that comes with the vehicle does load management. That would be the wall unit.
Ahhhh, yes, you are correct. Sorry, I went far left field on that.
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The Bolt’s OEM EVSE blows chunks. 1.4kw caters to the least common denominator and assumes you don’t drive more than 40 miles per day, which is about all you can get in an overnight charging session. it should have come with at least a charger CAPABLE of 3.3kw and a 120V plug adapter.
Tesla has it figured out.
Tesla has it figured out.
I agree with your last statement. However, I am 'pleased' that the Bolt OEM EVSE does support 240V even though it's not officially documented as such by Chevrolet. For that, I am slightly pleased.
How has Tesla figured it out? 120V @ 12A is the most you can get out of a 120V outlet. If you connect the OEM EVSE to a 240V outlet, you would get around 2.88KW. If you spend $200, you can probably get a 240V 16A EVSE that gets you 3.3KW.
From Tesla site:
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With the right 240V adapter, the Tesla gen2 mobile connector can do 7.Xkw. The Bolt adapter can do only 2.88kw and adapting it is a hack.
shop.tesla.com
they only recently stopped proving the NEMA 14-50 adapter because of cost cutting.
Gen 2 NEMA Adapters
Use a variety of household outlets to charge your Tesla with a Gen 2 NEMA Adapter. Simply attach the appropriate adapter to your Mobile Connector, plug into the corresponding outlet and begin charging. Adapter Max Distance Gained Per Hour of Charge Model S Model 3 Model X Model Y 5-15 3...
shop.tesla.com
they only recently stopped proving the NEMA 14-50 adapter because of cost cutting.
Nice article. But the Bolt charger simply works in 90% of households in the US. Is it nerdy? No, not really. Does it look good? No, not really. But it gets the job done and came “free” with the vehicle.
The only thing I don’t like is that it uses 30 watts when just plugged in. First world problems.
The only thing I don’t like is that it uses 30 watts when just plugged in. First world problems.
30W vampire load. I'll be unplugging mine when not in use.
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