OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
This is absolutely gold:
https://electrek.co/2019/10/02/revi...-cords-tesla-audi-get-as-gm-jaguar-fail/
Who got it right? Tesla, Nissan (mostly) and Audi.
Who got it wrong? Basically everybody else. The review of the Chevy Bolt charger was hilarious.
Review snippets with corresponding letter grade:
Tesla (A+):
Quote
There's no sense beating around the bush. This is it folks. The gold standard from which all others will be compared. The Gen2 UMC comes included with every Tesla, along with the standard NEMA 5-15 adapter (Teslas used to also come with the 14-50 pictured on the far right as well as the 5-15, but no longer, now it's a $35 extra.) On a Model 3, you'll get 5 miles per hour of charging from the 5-15 (120V * 12A), so 60 miles of range with a 12-hour overnight charge. Not enough? I recommend to everyone to also spend the $35 and buy the 5-20 adapter. Now we're up to 120V * 16A, which gets you 7 miles per hour of charging (40% more!). That's 84 miles of charging overnight from an outlet you probably already have in your driveway at home or at work. The Gen 2 UMC supports up to 240V at 32A (7.7kW), enough for everyone but extreme grinders, and also the maximum that the Model 3 Standard and Mid-Range trims even allow. The Model 3 Long-Range, Model S, and Model X have higher capacity on-board AC inverters that can support 240V at up to 48amp (11.5kW), but to get those extra 16 amps that the portable Gen2 UMC can't provide, you'll need to purchase a wall-mounted charger hard-wired to a 60amp circuit to your panel. For context, modern North American homes typically have 200amp service. 60 is a lot to dedicate.
Other points about the Gen2 UMC:
- Temp operating rating of 50°C to -30°C. This is pretty standard, so we'll note any deviations on others below, otherwise assume the same.
- Comes in a very nice case.
- To switch adapters, just give the plug a tug, and it comes out. Easy to push in too. This writer has used his daily outdoors for almost a year, had it exposed to all sorts of weather, and never had an issue.
- Lose it or somehow manage to break it? Tesla sells them new for $275, an absolute bargain when you look at what else is on offer below.
GM (D-):
Quote
GM should never be allowed to claim it's "all in" on EVs until they can fix this sadness. Pathetic:
- Versatility? Zero. It has a fixed 5-15 plug, so 12 amps max. The actual cord is 16 gauge, which isn't rated for more than 13 amps, so truly this is it.
- But wait, it gets worse. The Bolt's software will default to 8 amps each time you plug in at 120V. At least you can save your "home" location and program it to take the 12 amps without manually adjusting each time.
- GM sells this for $525 as a standalone. Run away.
- Hold on, still gets worse. Even if you buy a capable third party portable charging cord, the Bolt's software is too dumb to accept the amperage the pilot signals. If it detects 120V, it's always going to cap you at 8 amps. Dumb.
We've used some strong language here, but that's because the Bolt isn't some city-only compliance EV. It's GM's leading EV effort.
Nissan (B):
Quote
If you buy the Nissan S & SV models, you're going to get a sad 120V-only charging cord with the car. Unfortunate. But at least unlike the Bolt, the car will accept whatever amperage the pilot signals, so you can upgrade by buying a third party charging cord.
With the Nissan Leaf SL and Nissan Leaf Plus, however, Nissan will give you a respectable portable charging cord. Let's see how it compares with Tesla:
- Pro: you get both a 14-50 plug and 5-15 adapter with your car. Nice. Tesla stopped including the 14-50, so it's now a $35 extra.
- Con: instead of swapping out plugs like on the Tesla UMC, the 14-50 plug is hardwired, and the 5-15 adapter fits on top of the 14-50 plug. This was a poor design choice. The 5-15 adapter is absurdly bulky, and will not fit in to an outlet that has an enclosure (so most outdoor outlets). This will be so frustrating.
- Con: Nissan doesn't offer any other plug adapters for it. You will have to buy a new 3rd party portable charging cord if you want to plug into a dryer outlet or a 5-20, for example.
- Pro: it's rated to -40°C.
- Con: instead of a nice case, it comes in bubble wrap. Update: people are reporting that they did get a nice case, it just wasn't with this dealer demo pictured above).
BMW (F):
Quote
If you buy a BMW i3, it'll come with what BMW worryingly calls its "Occasional Use Charger (OUC)", pictured above. 120V NEMA 5-15 only. Do you void your warranty if you use it nightly? How many amps do you get? Who knows! According to forum posts, a 2014 OUC could get the 5-15's standard 12 amps, but for 2015-2016 model years, BMW downgraded to 10 amp. Supposedly now we're back to 12 amps? But be careful! Another forum poster noted their dealer just grabbed one out of a bin, and apparently it was not for their year. Anyway, clearly zero cares given.
Now we're cheating a bit here, because this BMW portable charging cord, called the "Turbocord" appears to be a $500 option and not standard issue. But we can't help but gawk at this garbage. It looks like BMW tried to step up, but instead released something spectacularly awful:
- Pro..?: a flashlight that points towards your face when you try to plug it in.
- Con: it will not fit into any outlet with an enclosure.
- Con: while it does a 5-15 on the 120V side, it's only 240V option is… the 6-20 welder's outlet? Weird. This means even at 240V, you're getting 16 amps max. Everyone else goes with 14-50 for the 240V default because they're standard at RV parks and for your stove, and you can pull up to 40amps if your EV supports that much. The 6-20 is far more rare. Needless to say, there are no other outlet options for the Turbocord.
- Con: all units subject to recall (PDF). It wasn't made to spec and can catch fire.
- Con: comes in a cardboard box.
Audi (A):
Quote
Shown here with the wall mounting kit (extra), we like it a lot. It's the most handsome.
- Pro: interchangeable plugs, like Tesla, see video here.
- Pro: the control unit automatically recognizes voltage, amperage.
- Pro: it beats out the Tesla UMC and can handle up to 240V at 40A, greater than the UMC's 32A - nice! 240V at 40A = 9.6kW, hoowee!
- Con: currently only 5-15 and 14-50 plugs are offered; only thing keeping us from giving it an A+. But Audi should be able to add more easily. Audi, send all your e-Tron customers a 5-20 plug for Christmas!
- Pro: the 5-15 plug is slim, you shouldn't have any issues with outdoor outlet enclosures.
- Pro: Audi gave competent consideration to their portable charger, wanted to make it nice, and that should give you confidence about the entire vehicle.
Another big point is that the brick portion (control unit) of the cord gives you a lot more information than the Tesla UMC. It'll actually spell out "50%" charge, and then "100%" charge when those numbers are hit. I can't list this as a pro or con, because I think it's subjective to your lifestyle. If this is going to be used at home and taken to the lake house, then sure, that's a nice feature, especially for an older set who may not be big fans of phone apps. For myself, I use my portable charger daily in urban streets, I'd prefer not to have any buttons or information readouts on my charging cord. In any event, I strongly support what Audi did here. It's so important that people understand they don't need a separate hard-wired wall-mounted unit from a company they never heard of. So Bravo Audi! I can't imagine why any Audi customer would buy a third party wall mounted charger when the included Audi charger looks so nice, offers 9.6kW, and has a nice wall mount.
Jaguar (F-):
Quote
Completely unacceptable for a BEV starting at $70k. This might be the worst:
Con: only 120V, 5-15 plugs, and astoundingly, caps out at 10amps, instead of the 12 it should be getting. This is horrible. I can't believe Jaguar Landrover put their names to this garbage, even if it is just on a sticker.
According to posts on the I-Pace forum, the following message was sent to Jaguar dealers on July 13, 2018:
CHARGING CABLE - The previously communicated standard Multi-Function Charging Cable has been removed from the program and will be replaced with a standard Home Charging Cable, capable of charging via domestic sockets. This Home Charging Cable is not capable of Level 2 AC charging. As previously communicated, the preferred home charging solution for the customer is the Jaguar approved wall box which itself comes with a tethered charging cable.
What else in the I-Pace received zero thought or consideration?
Hyundai (D):
Quote
The charging cord only does 120V, 5-15 outlets, at 12 amps. As Seth notes, given the high efficiency of the Ioniq, those 12 amps at 120V get you 5 miles per hour of range when charging, same as Model 3. But that won't translate to the less efficient Kona EV, where we'd expect 3-4 miles per hour of charge. And it's frustrating that you'd likely have a 5-20 outlet sitting in your driveway, and you can't take advantage of that extra 40% charging for lack of a simple 5-20 adapter? You'll want to buy a third party adapter.
- Con: can only do 120V, 12 amps.
- Pro: nice case.
I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed, Hyundai.
They touch on the Porsche cord at the end of the article, which is somewhat similar in function (no surprise there) to the Audi one.
https://electrek.co/2019/10/02/revi...-cords-tesla-audi-get-as-gm-jaguar-fail/
Who got it right? Tesla, Nissan (mostly) and Audi.
Who got it wrong? Basically everybody else. The review of the Chevy Bolt charger was hilarious.
Review snippets with corresponding letter grade:
Tesla (A+):
Quote
There's no sense beating around the bush. This is it folks. The gold standard from which all others will be compared. The Gen2 UMC comes included with every Tesla, along with the standard NEMA 5-15 adapter (Teslas used to also come with the 14-50 pictured on the far right as well as the 5-15, but no longer, now it's a $35 extra.) On a Model 3, you'll get 5 miles per hour of charging from the 5-15 (120V * 12A), so 60 miles of range with a 12-hour overnight charge. Not enough? I recommend to everyone to also spend the $35 and buy the 5-20 adapter. Now we're up to 120V * 16A, which gets you 7 miles per hour of charging (40% more!). That's 84 miles of charging overnight from an outlet you probably already have in your driveway at home or at work. The Gen 2 UMC supports up to 240V at 32A (7.7kW), enough for everyone but extreme grinders, and also the maximum that the Model 3 Standard and Mid-Range trims even allow. The Model 3 Long-Range, Model S, and Model X have higher capacity on-board AC inverters that can support 240V at up to 48amp (11.5kW), but to get those extra 16 amps that the portable Gen2 UMC can't provide, you'll need to purchase a wall-mounted charger hard-wired to a 60amp circuit to your panel. For context, modern North American homes typically have 200amp service. 60 is a lot to dedicate.
Other points about the Gen2 UMC:
- Temp operating rating of 50°C to -30°C. This is pretty standard, so we'll note any deviations on others below, otherwise assume the same.
- Comes in a very nice case.
- To switch adapters, just give the plug a tug, and it comes out. Easy to push in too. This writer has used his daily outdoors for almost a year, had it exposed to all sorts of weather, and never had an issue.
- Lose it or somehow manage to break it? Tesla sells them new for $275, an absolute bargain when you look at what else is on offer below.
GM (D-):
Quote
GM should never be allowed to claim it's "all in" on EVs until they can fix this sadness. Pathetic:
- Versatility? Zero. It has a fixed 5-15 plug, so 12 amps max. The actual cord is 16 gauge, which isn't rated for more than 13 amps, so truly this is it.
- But wait, it gets worse. The Bolt's software will default to 8 amps each time you plug in at 120V. At least you can save your "home" location and program it to take the 12 amps without manually adjusting each time.
- GM sells this for $525 as a standalone. Run away.
- Hold on, still gets worse. Even if you buy a capable third party portable charging cord, the Bolt's software is too dumb to accept the amperage the pilot signals. If it detects 120V, it's always going to cap you at 8 amps. Dumb.
We've used some strong language here, but that's because the Bolt isn't some city-only compliance EV. It's GM's leading EV effort.
Nissan (B):
Quote
If you buy the Nissan S & SV models, you're going to get a sad 120V-only charging cord with the car. Unfortunate. But at least unlike the Bolt, the car will accept whatever amperage the pilot signals, so you can upgrade by buying a third party charging cord.
With the Nissan Leaf SL and Nissan Leaf Plus, however, Nissan will give you a respectable portable charging cord. Let's see how it compares with Tesla:
- Pro: you get both a 14-50 plug and 5-15 adapter with your car. Nice. Tesla stopped including the 14-50, so it's now a $35 extra.
- Con: instead of swapping out plugs like on the Tesla UMC, the 14-50 plug is hardwired, and the 5-15 adapter fits on top of the 14-50 plug. This was a poor design choice. The 5-15 adapter is absurdly bulky, and will not fit in to an outlet that has an enclosure (so most outdoor outlets). This will be so frustrating.
- Con: Nissan doesn't offer any other plug adapters for it. You will have to buy a new 3rd party portable charging cord if you want to plug into a dryer outlet or a 5-20, for example.
- Pro: it's rated to -40°C.
- Con: instead of a nice case, it comes in bubble wrap. Update: people are reporting that they did get a nice case, it just wasn't with this dealer demo pictured above).
BMW (F):
Quote
If you buy a BMW i3, it'll come with what BMW worryingly calls its "Occasional Use Charger (OUC)", pictured above. 120V NEMA 5-15 only. Do you void your warranty if you use it nightly? How many amps do you get? Who knows! According to forum posts, a 2014 OUC could get the 5-15's standard 12 amps, but for 2015-2016 model years, BMW downgraded to 10 amp. Supposedly now we're back to 12 amps? But be careful! Another forum poster noted their dealer just grabbed one out of a bin, and apparently it was not for their year. Anyway, clearly zero cares given.
Now we're cheating a bit here, because this BMW portable charging cord, called the "Turbocord" appears to be a $500 option and not standard issue. But we can't help but gawk at this garbage. It looks like BMW tried to step up, but instead released something spectacularly awful:
- Pro..?: a flashlight that points towards your face when you try to plug it in.
- Con: it will not fit into any outlet with an enclosure.
- Con: while it does a 5-15 on the 120V side, it's only 240V option is… the 6-20 welder's outlet? Weird. This means even at 240V, you're getting 16 amps max. Everyone else goes with 14-50 for the 240V default because they're standard at RV parks and for your stove, and you can pull up to 40amps if your EV supports that much. The 6-20 is far more rare. Needless to say, there are no other outlet options for the Turbocord.
- Con: all units subject to recall (PDF). It wasn't made to spec and can catch fire.
- Con: comes in a cardboard box.
Audi (A):
Quote
Shown here with the wall mounting kit (extra), we like it a lot. It's the most handsome.
- Pro: interchangeable plugs, like Tesla, see video here.
- Pro: the control unit automatically recognizes voltage, amperage.
- Pro: it beats out the Tesla UMC and can handle up to 240V at 40A, greater than the UMC's 32A - nice! 240V at 40A = 9.6kW, hoowee!
- Con: currently only 5-15 and 14-50 plugs are offered; only thing keeping us from giving it an A+. But Audi should be able to add more easily. Audi, send all your e-Tron customers a 5-20 plug for Christmas!
- Pro: the 5-15 plug is slim, you shouldn't have any issues with outdoor outlet enclosures.
- Pro: Audi gave competent consideration to their portable charger, wanted to make it nice, and that should give you confidence about the entire vehicle.
Another big point is that the brick portion (control unit) of the cord gives you a lot more information than the Tesla UMC. It'll actually spell out "50%" charge, and then "100%" charge when those numbers are hit. I can't list this as a pro or con, because I think it's subjective to your lifestyle. If this is going to be used at home and taken to the lake house, then sure, that's a nice feature, especially for an older set who may not be big fans of phone apps. For myself, I use my portable charger daily in urban streets, I'd prefer not to have any buttons or information readouts on my charging cord. In any event, I strongly support what Audi did here. It's so important that people understand they don't need a separate hard-wired wall-mounted unit from a company they never heard of. So Bravo Audi! I can't imagine why any Audi customer would buy a third party wall mounted charger when the included Audi charger looks so nice, offers 9.6kW, and has a nice wall mount.
Jaguar (F-):
Quote
Completely unacceptable for a BEV starting at $70k. This might be the worst:
Con: only 120V, 5-15 plugs, and astoundingly, caps out at 10amps, instead of the 12 it should be getting. This is horrible. I can't believe Jaguar Landrover put their names to this garbage, even if it is just on a sticker.
According to posts on the I-Pace forum, the following message was sent to Jaguar dealers on July 13, 2018:
CHARGING CABLE - The previously communicated standard Multi-Function Charging Cable has been removed from the program and will be replaced with a standard Home Charging Cable, capable of charging via domestic sockets. This Home Charging Cable is not capable of Level 2 AC charging. As previously communicated, the preferred home charging solution for the customer is the Jaguar approved wall box which itself comes with a tethered charging cable.
What else in the I-Pace received zero thought or consideration?
Hyundai (D):
Quote
The charging cord only does 120V, 5-15 outlets, at 12 amps. As Seth notes, given the high efficiency of the Ioniq, those 12 amps at 120V get you 5 miles per hour of range when charging, same as Model 3. But that won't translate to the less efficient Kona EV, where we'd expect 3-4 miles per hour of charge. And it's frustrating that you'd likely have a 5-20 outlet sitting in your driveway, and you can't take advantage of that extra 40% charging for lack of a simple 5-20 adapter? You'll want to buy a third party adapter.
- Con: can only do 120V, 12 amps.
- Pro: nice case.
I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed, Hyundai.
They touch on the Porsche cord at the end of the article, which is somewhat similar in function (no surprise there) to the Audi one.