New Tesla Home Charger Works With Non-Tesla Electric Cars
Tesla's newest home charger works with non-Tesla EVs, an indicator of CEO Elon Musk's interest in capturing a piece of the expanding EV market outside of Tesla's own vehicles.
The charger, called a Wall Connector, is available now on Tesla's website(Opens in a new window). It's a typical level two home charger, built in the industry standard J1772 plug type. It costs $550 whereas competitors from Wallbox(Opens in a new window) and Chargepoint(Opens in a new window) sit in the $700 range.
"The J1772 Wall Connector is compatible with most North American electric vehicles," says the description on the Tesla website. Most North American vehicles besides Teslas, that is, which have a proprietary charging port. To use the J1772 charger, "Tesla vehicles will require an additional SAE J1772 Charging Adapter(Opens in a new window) to charge, which is included with all Tesla vehicles upon delivery," the description adds. The company also sells a Tesla-specific Wall Connector(Opens in a new window) for $400.
A similar charger was on the market briefly last year, but was quietly removed from the Tesla website(Opens in a new window) several weeks after launch.
The new J1772 Wall Connector description highlights the same features as the original Tesla Wall Connector. It gives 44 miles of range per hour, which is on-par with other brands or even slightly above (the Chargepoint home charger(Opens in a new window) claims 37 miles per hour charged). The actual rate depends on the vehicle itself, the weather, and your home's circuit breaker/electrical system.
If you have multiple Teslas (because why not?), both Wall Connectors can "power-share" to distribute the available electrical capacity across several vehicles simultaneously.
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