MG ZS EV and the Tesla Gen 3 Wall connector

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › MG ZS EV and the Tesla Gen 3 Wall connector

gchiu

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#306114 29-Jun-2023 12:04

My electrician suggested that I get the Tesla gen 3 wall connector as a fast charger for my first gen MG ZS EV as it was one of the cheapest on the market at $800, and his install fee was $660.

I thought I had done the research but clearly not as the Tesla wall connector is a dumb charger with no app, and no timed charge facility. It relies on the connected car to start and stop charging. My old Nissan Leaf has that facility but the MG ZS EV 2020 doesn't :(

Any suggestions on how to setup a timer? I'm looking to charge only at off peak rates.

michaelmurfy

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#3096205 29-Jun-2023 13:29

Hey - not with the Tesla Gen 3 wall connector I'm afraid. This basically will start charging as soon as it is plugged up to a car and is reliant on the car controlling the charging.

A little more expensive but take a look at the evnex chargers as they have full scheduling and are also made in NZ: https://www.evnex.com/home-charging

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RunningMan

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#3096239 29-Jun-2023 15:05

Another +1 for Evnex. They're used at a lot of supermarkets and that sort of thing and build quality seems pretty good. The Tesla one is cheap for a reason - devoid of pretty much any extra features.

gchiu

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#3096244 29-Jun-2023 15:16

michaelmurfy:

Hey - not with the Tesla Gen 3 wall connector I'm afraid. This basically will start charging as soon as it is plugged up to a car

Not quite for my situation. For the MG, it won't start charging until the car is locked. So, if I plug it into an unlocked car, it won't charge - which is the same thing that happens with any of the DC chargers around town. If I lock the car after plugging it in, it still won't work. I have to lock the car, wait 10 seconds, and then plug in the charger cable when it then will charge.

But I have the Tesla wall connector now installed. I couldn't believe there wasn't an app as I had read about the Tesla app but that's for the car :(

Going to brainstorm a way out of this so I can get my free power from Contact.

michaelmurfy

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#3096249 29-Jun-2023 15:43

I find it strange you can't schedule a charge like you can with the Leaf or many other EV's from the car itself. But unfortunately even the API side of things with the wall connector doesn't allow for control so the only way is to control it from the car itself. I would not at all recommend cutting power to the EVSE as that can actually cause damage especially if it is under load.

gchiu

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#3096251 29-Jun-2023 15:54

It is what it is.

I never worried about the car lacking this feature before as I had used an EO charger where I lived before and that one does have scheduled charging.

gchiu

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#3099011 3-Jul-2023 12:51

So, if the issue is damaging the car if powering off the evse while it's charging, then all I need to do is only do this while it's not charging, right?

I can interrogate the Tesla wall connector to see what state it is. If it's on, but not charging, it should be safe to use a WiFi controlled relay to power it off.

I can switch the TWC into that state by unlocking the car remotely.

Dratsab

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#3099030 3-Jul-2023 13:16

Cannot you not schedule charging from within the iSmart app for the Gen 1 ZS EV?

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gchiu

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#3099144 3-Jul-2023 16:49

iSmart is only available for the MG ZS EV 2023 AFAIK