So you own a Tesla or maybe more than one electric car, and you’re wondering which high speed home charger you should purchase – the ChargePoint Home Flex or the Tesla Wall Connector generation 3. Let’s compare the options, and then I’ll show you why I ended up buying the ChargePoint Home Flex.
Here’s the quick summary, if you don’t want to read all the details.
Both chargers are Level 2 240 volt high speed charging stations that can charge your Tesla at the fastest rate it can currently accept from a home charger, assuming you have it wired at maximum capacity (which is based on installation and your breaker box).
The ChargePoint good things. The ChargePoint has a longer charging cable. It works on all electric cars and not just the Tesla. It has a higher maximum charging speed capacity overall, for the future. (However, it does not currently charge Teslas any faster than the Tesla only charger.) The ChargePoint can be set up to only charge during periods when electricity is cheaper, like at night. You can plug it into a standard NEMA plug (like for a dryer) if you have one already installed or you can hardwire it. ChargePoint bad things. It costs $200 more. It doesn’t look quite as sleek and cool as the Tesla charger. You have to use your adapter when you charge your Tesla with it.
Tesla Wall Connector good things. It has the option of a 8 1/2 foot charging cable or an 18 foot charging cable. Looks cooler. Tesla Wall Connector bad things. You really want the longest possible charging cable, and even the 18 foot version wasn’t long enough for how I wanted to be able to charge in my driveway and garage on both sides. Needs to be hardwired and will require an electrician, which can be as expensive as the charger itself or even more. Only charges Teslas and not other EVs like the BMW i3 or the Chevy Bolt, etc.
Cost of ChargePoint Home Flex vs Tesla Wall Connector
The Tesla Wall Connector is actually cheaper than the ChargePoint Home Flex, and runs $500 plus shipping. You have the choice of an 8 1/2 foot cable or an 18 foot cable. I recommend the longer cable, because it really sucks when you park your car a little differently and the cable doesn’t reach!
The ChargePoint Home Flex costs $699 on the ChargePoint manufacturer’s web site. What do you get for the extra money?
1. You get a longer cable that is 23 feet long instead of just 18 feet. This gives you a lot more options as far as where you can park the car in your garage or driveway and still reach the port, in my opinion.
2. The ChargePoint Home Flex can charge any kind of electric vehicle, including Chevrolet Volt and Bolt EV, Hyundai Kona and Ioniq, Kia NIRO, Nissan LEAF, Tesla, Toyota Prius Prime, BMW i3, Honda Clarity, Chrysler Pacifica, Jaguar I-PACE, and many more.
3. The ChargePoint Home Flex can be hard wired, or it can plug into a NEMA 6-50 or NEMA 14-15 plug (like the kind that runs an electric dryer). In my garage, I used a NEMA 14-15 plug, which ran to my breaker box and an 80 amp breaker.
How Fast Can You Charge with the Tesla Wall Connector vs. the ChargePoint Home Flex?
Here’s how fast you can charge with a third generation Tesla Wall Connector charger. It depends on both your model of vehicle, and on how big the circuit it is connected to, so lots of different possibilities depending on how it is installed, and what your car is. Here’s a chart!
| Circuit breaker (amps) | Maximum output (amps) | Power at 240 volts (kilowatt) | Model S (mph) | Model 3* (mph) | Model X (mph) | Model Y (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 48 | 11.5 kW | 34 | 44 | 30 | 42 |
| 50 | 40 | 9.6 kW | 29 | 37 | 25 | 36 |
| 40 | 32 | 7.7 kW | 23 | 30 | 20 | 29 |
| 30 | 24 | 5.7 kW | 17 | 22 | 14 | 21 |
| 20 | 16 | 3.8 kW | 11 | 15 | 8 | 14 |
| 15 | 12 | 2.8 kW | 7 | 11 | 5 | 10 |
For the ChargePoint Home Flex, you’ll be able to charge your Tesla at the same fastest rates as on the Tesla Wall Connector chart above, assuming you hook it up to a big enough breaker and have it wired for high speed charging.
If you end up going with the ChargePoint Home Flex, you’ll be able to charge all electric vehicles and not just Tesla cars. This was important to me, because although I love my Tesla, who knows what car I might buy in the future? What if my spouse wants to buy a different brand of electric car?
I have been very happy with the very fast charging time of the ChargePoint Home Flex, which you can see here with this screen shot of my Tesla app.
