Model X

Model X Design Studio Has a Hidden 72A Charger Easter Egg

By Steve Hanley

Posted on November 27, 2015

One Tesla Model X buyer uncovers a hidden 72 Amp charger upgrade in the Design Studio configurator

Navigating through the Tesla Design Studio can be fun, mysterious, and depending on what page you are on, what links you click, and what you search for, the results may vary from time to time as the company often introduces new and unexpected items on a whim.

Earlier this month, TMC regular FlasherZ reported that the Model X was only available with a 48 amp single phase charger. He wrote, “I received word today (from what I consider a very reliable source) that the 72A charging capability we’ve heard of earlier in the process is not the case, and that Model X will ship with a single charger capable of charging only at 12 kW, or 48A single phase.”

Tesla is known to respond to user requests from its owners and would-be buyers. That seems to be the case in a recent discovery made by a Model X buyer looking to wire his home for a second Tesla. Representatives from the company tipped off the buyer that there was a secret easter egg in the Model X Design Studio that would unveil a higher amperage charger.

engle from the TMC forum unveils the following:

I just called the production configuration hotline. There is an Easter Egg hidden in the production configurator!! ‘We are still recommending the 48 amps a/c charger so we hid the High Amperage Charger Upgrade option’. Just type ‘charger’ (no quotes) and it automagically appears:”

“We are still recommending the 48-amp AC charger, so we hid the High Amperage Charger Upgrade option,” a Tesla representative tells the Model X buyer. It appears the high amperage charger must be selected when the car is first ordered. Apparently, it cannot be retrofitted the way a dual charger can be on a Model S.

The Tesla Model S optional 80A on-board dual charger is capable of replenishing the car with 59 miles per one hour of charge providing reference to what the 72A Model X charger will be capable of. At the moment, Tesla has not explained why the 72A high amperage charger for the Model X is hidden.