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Charging the Tesla Model S with the HPWC

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Tesla HPWCWhen I was buying my Model S I decided that I didn’t need the High Power Wall Charger (HPWC), but I did go with the dual chargers. At home I regularly charge on a NEMA 14-50 which gives me about 28 miles per 1 hour of charge, but with the onboard dual chargers it’s possible to double that rate provided you’re using the proper charger.

My office is across the street from the Tesla store in Natick, MA and they have free charging available in 6 parking spots with a couple of HPWCs a short walk away. The other day I skipped my nightly charge and parked in one of the HPWC spots at the mall for a charge the next morning.

Tesla HPWC

The HPWC does not require any special adapters or additional cables and simply plugs into the Model S. It charges at up to 80A when equipped with the Model S dual chargers, but even without it things still work – just at half the charge rate. That’s what I love about the Tesla. Even if you know nothing about voltages, amperages and watts, things just work. Just plug, play and Tesla manages the rest.

Charging

Tesla HPWC ChargingUnlike the Tesla Supercharger which uses a direct current (DC) that bypasses the onboard chargers, the HPWC uses a more traditional alternating current (AC) approach, but with a very high amp draw.

There are very few public chargers out there that can charge at over 40A, and the ones that do probably don’t have a Tesla Model S adapter such as the CHAdeMO.

Editor’s note: Tesla Motors loaned PlugShare a custom CHAdeMO to Model S adapter for their epic 12,000+ mile journey.

The Model S has the ability to charge at different amperages depending on your setting. The rate is limited by both your car’s ability (40A or 80A for single or dual chargers respectively) and the maximum draw allowed by your power source. Make sure your charge rate is set to the highest limit before plugging into a HPWC in order to maximize your rate of charge. The charge rate settings should be auto-memorized by the vehicle based on your GPS location.

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Charge Rate

Tesla HPWC Charge RateAfter I confirmed that the car was charging, I walked to my office while monitoring my state of charge through the iOS app. It reported the charge rate to be about 50 miles/hour (208v at 81A) which confirmed that my dual chargers were working since I was charging twice as fast as my home NEMA 14-50.

To validate the rate of charge I timed the charge and recorded the reported rated range. I started charging at 8:30am and stopped at 11:07 AM (a 90% charge limit was set). I went from 106 miles of rated range to 240 miles of rated range. So I added 134 miles in 2.6 hours for an actual charge rate of 51.2 miles/hour.

I’ve heard about charge rates tapering off as your near the upper limits of your charge, but in my case it charged at the same rate all the way to a 90% limit. I’m assuming that the charge rate begins to slow down after the 90% mark, but unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to confirm that this time around.

Summary

My main goal was to be able to test my onboard dual chargers – something I debated long and hard on when ordering my Model S. I wanted to see them in action and gain peace of mind that they’re there and ready for fast charging if I should one day need it while on the road without access to a Tesla Supercharger.

The HPWC worked great and provided a high rate of charge that was twice the speed of my home NEMA 14-50. But even with that I still don’t think a HPWC at home is really needed.

Also see: Every New Tesla Owner’s Dilemma: Dual Chargers vs High Power Wall Connector (HPWC)

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"Rob's passion is technology and gadgets. An engineer by profession and an executive and founder at several high tech startups Rob has a unique view on technology and some strong opinions. When he's not writing about Tesla

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Tesla pushes crazy ‘Luxe’ incentive package on flagship Model S and X

Tesla is pushing more customers to the Model S and Model X with a new incentive package.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has pushed a crazy new incentive package, known as the “Luxe Package,” on the flagship Model S and Model X, along with a $10,000 price increase on each trim level.

The move aims to likely bolster margins for the company on the two cars while also giving those who choose to buy the Tesla lineup mainstays a variety of awesome advantages, including Free Supercharging, Full Self-Driving, and other add-ons.

Tesla is offering a crazy Supercharging incentive on its two ‘sentimental’ vehicles

Last night, Tesla launched the “Luxe Package” for the Model S and Model X, which includes the following four add-ons:

  • Full Self-Driving (Supervised) – Your car will be able to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal driver intervention
  • Four-Year Premium Service – Wheel and Tire Protection, Windshield Protection, and Recommended Maintenance
  • Supercharging – Charge for free at 70,000+ Superchargers worldwide
  • Premium Connectivity – Listen to music, stream movies, monitor live traffic, and more – no Wi-Fi needed

Full Self-Driving is priced at $8,000. Free Supercharging for the life of the car is between $10,000 and $15,000 over the life of the vehicle, although Tesla has valued it at $5,000 in recent promotions.

Free Premium Connectivity is roughly $1,000, and the four-year tire, wheel, windshield, and maintenance plan is about $3,200.

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In all, the value is over $25,000, but this is loosely based on usage.

The Model S and Model X are low contributors to Tesla’s overall sales figures, as they make up less than five percent of sales from a quarterly perspective and have for some time.

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As they are certainly the luxury choices in Tesla’s lineup, the Model 3 and Model Y are the bigger focus for the company, as a significantly larger portion of the company’s sales is made up of those vehicles.

The Luxe Package is an especially good idea for those who drive high-mileage and plan to use the Model S or Model X for commuting or long drives. The free Supercharging makes the deal worth it on its own.

As for the price bumps, each of the vehicles are now priced as follows:

  • Model S All-Wheel-Drive: $94,990
  • Model S Plaid: $109,990
  • Model X All-Wheel-Drive: $99,990
  • Model X Plaid: $114,990
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Tesla takes first step in sunsetting Model S and X with drastic move

Tesla won’t be taking custom orders of the Model S or Model X in Europe any longer.

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Credit: @supergeek18 | X

Tesla has seemingly taken the first step in sunsetting two of its older vehicles, the Model S and Model X, by ending international orders.

The flagship sedan and SUV from Tesla are the two oldest cars in the company’s lineup. They account for a very small portion of overall sales, and several years ago, CEO Elon Musk admitted that Tesla only continues to build and sell them due to “sentimental reasons.”

Earlier this year, there were calls for Tesla to end the production of the two cars, but Lars Moravy said that the Model S and Model X were due to get some love later in 2025. That happened, but the changes were extremely minor.

Tesla launches new Model S and Model X, and the changes are slim

Some took this as an indication that Tesla has kind of moved on from the Model S and Model X. A handful of people seemed to think Tesla would overhaul the vehicles substantially, but the changes were extremely minor and included only a few real adjustments.

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In Europe, customers are unable to even put a new order in on a Model S or Model X.

We noticed earlier today that Tesla pressing the ‘Order’ button on either of the flagship vehicles takes you to local inventory, and not the Design Studio where you’d configure your custom build:

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Tesla simply does not make enough Model S or Model X units to justify the expensive logistics process of shipping custom orders overseas. It almost seems as if they’re that they will essentially build a bunch of random configurations, send them overseas every few months, and let them sell before replenishing inventory.

Inversely, it could also mean Tesla is truly gearing up to sunset the vehicle altogether. It seems unlikely that the company will fade them out altogether in the next couple of years, but it could absolutely think about ending international orders because volume is so low.

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Tesla confirms massive hardware change for autonomy improvement

Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.

Tesla first introduced a front-facing camera on the front bumper with the Cybertruck.

Then, the Model Y “Juniper” received the hardware update. The Model S and Model X both received the front-facing camera with its latest update, which was officially revealed last week.

Tesla used new language with the release of the front-facing cameras on the Model S and Model X, confirming they will assist with several things, including “using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities”:

“Enhanced visibility when parking or using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities.”

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This tiny feature on the new Tesla Model Y is perhaps its biggest addition

This is the first time Tesla has used this sort of language, as it was a completely different description with the launch of the new Model Y in January.

When Tesla launched this vehicle, it said the front bumper camera “provides a wider field of view for automatic assisted driving and advanced Smart Summon.”

Tesla switched from using cameras and sensors to only cameras with the launch of Tesla Vision several years ago. The company’s utilization of cameras comes from Tesla’s belief that Ultrasonic Sensors (USS) are not needed for self-driving efforts:

“Along with the removal of USS, we simultaneously launched our vision-based occupancy network – currently used in Full Self-Driving (FSD) (Supervised) – to replace the inputs generated by USS. With today’s software, this approach gives Autopilot high-definition spatial positioning, longer range visibility and the ability to identify and differentiate between objects. As with many Tesla features, our occupancy network will continue to improve rapidly over time.”

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CEO Elon Musk has said that sensors were only a crutch and that self-driving would be solved through the use of cameras:

“When your vision works, it works better than the best human because it’s like having eight cameras, it’s like having eyes in the back of your head, beside your head, and has three eyes of different focal distances looking forward. This is — and processing it at a speed that is superhuman. There’s no question in my mind that with a pure vision solution, we can make a car that is dramatically safer than the average person.”

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