Should I get the Ford charger or Tesla Universal charger with my solar [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS]

[watchdoc]

I'm having a Tesla Powerwall 3 solar system installed at my home next week. I had planned to also install the Tesla Universal wall charger in hopes of buying a new Tesla Model Y.

Well, we test drove the new model Y and the narrow seats were a deal breaker plus I didn't feel that my wife would be safe for vandalizing idiots so we have settled on a 2025 Mach E Premium Extended range RWD. We drove several 24's and felt like the 25 upgrades would be worth waiting a few weeks.

So here's the question. Should I keep the planned Tesla Universal wall charger or should I get a Ford charger The Tesla charger integrates into Teslas app and solar. It costs more than the Ford charger too.

Does the Ford charger have any sort of app or software and special features that would make it a better choice?

EDIT/ I've learned this morning that Teslas "charge on solar" and Powershare features do not work with non Teslas which has utlimately swayed me away from the Tesla charger.

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[Maquis]

Get the Tesla charger and take the cash rebate in lieu of the charger as part of the Ford Power Promise.
The app for the Ford Charge Station is crap.

 

[markboris]

As Dave said above, get the Tesla charger. It will integrate with your solar, charging on excess production only where as the Ford charger will not do this. I have the Emporia charger which does the same thing and use this feature all the time.

 

[Charge_Rob]

Emporia and Wallbox also offer charge on solar functionality. The Ford charger does not, but I would check whether your rate plan with your utility benefits from it - it may not be advantageous to focus on charging on solar, vs. selling your solar during the day and charging from the grid later.

Ford's charger isn't just a complimentary charger - it's a complimentary charger and standard installation, or $500 off the vehicle. Very difficult to get a charger and have it installed for less than $500, which makes the complimentary charger and install so tempting IMO. If you can live without charge on solar it's likely a way better deal.

 

[markboris]

Emporia and Wallbox also offer charge on solar functionality. The Ford charger does not, but I would check whether your rate plan with your utility benefits from it - it may not be advantageous to focus on charging on solar, vs. selling your solar during the day and charging from the grid later.

Ford's charger isn't just a complimentary charger - it's a complimentary charger and standard installation, or $500 off the vehicle. Very difficult to get a charger and have it installed for less than $500, which makes the complimentary charger and install so tempting IMO. If you can live without charge on solar it's likely a way better deal.

I got $1000 off the purchase price for not taking the charger deal. Did they change it to $500?

 

[RickMachE]

I'm having a Tesla Powerwall 3 solar system installed at my home next week. I had planned to also install the Tesla Universal wall charger in hopes of buying a new Tesla Model Y.

Well, we test drove the new model Y and the narrow seats were a deal breaker plus I didn't feel that my wife would be safe for vandalizing idiots so we have settled on a 2025 Mach E Premium Extended range RWD. We drove several 24's and felt like the 25 upgrades would be worth waiting a few weeks.

So here's the question. Should I keep the planned Tesla Universal wall charger or should I get a Ford charger The Tesla charger integrates into Teslas app and solar. It costs more than the Ford charger too.

Does the Ford charger have any sort of app or software and special features that would make it a better choice?

I think you're confusing some things. The Ford Power Promise gives you a Ford Charge Station Pro, and installation, for free. Or, you can take cash. If you bought that charger, it costs $1,310.

You said "It costs more than the Ford charger too". I don't believe you're correct, by many hundreds of dollars.

I'd also point out that when you have an issue with the Ford Charge Station Pro, you likely will find support not on the same level as with most other brands. Lots of pointing fingers is the norm.

Get the Tesla charger and take the cash rebate in lieu of the charger as part of the Ford Power Promise.
The app for the Ford Charge Station is crap.

Yes.

 

[watchdoc]

Emporia and Wallbox also offer charge on solar functionality. The Ford charger does not, but I would check whether your rate plan with your utility benefits from it - it may not be advantageous to focus on charging on solar, vs. selling your solar during the day and charging from the grid later.

Ford's charger isn't just a complimentary charger - it's a complimentary charger and standard installation, or $500 off the vehicle. Very difficult to get a charger and have it installed for less than $500, which makes the complimentary charger and install so tempting IMO. If you can live without charge on solar it's likely a way better deal.

The Tesla Universal wall charger is gonna cost me almost $2k installed. I'm not sure if the "charge on solar" function works with the universal wall charger if you aren't charging a Tesla. Need to verify that somehow.

 

[markboris]

The Tesla Universal wall charger is gonna cost me almost $2k installed. I'm not sure if the "charge on solar" function works with the universal wall charger if you aren't charging a Tesla. Need to verify that somehow.

That's quite a bit for the charger and install. My Emporia's were $400 each and since the circuit breaker panel is in the garage, installation was less than $700.

 

[RickMachE]

The Tesla Universal wall charger is gonna cost me almost $2k installed. I'm not sure if the "charge on solar" function works with the universal wall charger if you aren't charging a Tesla. Need to verify that somehow.

You left out the word "installed" in your original post. The Tesla Universal Wall Connector sells for $550 plus tax, sometimes as low as $520. https://amzn.to/3RzvNrK

So you're paying $1,450 or so for installation.

Weigh that against the Ford Charge Station Pro for free, installed for free (assuming you meet all the requirements). Scroll down to "Do I Qualify" https://www.ford.com/powerpromise/

Then, you COULD buy the Tesla Universal Wall Connector, and simply swap them out (turn off breaker, undo screws, redo screws) and sell the Ford Charge Station Pro, easily for $400 or more.

Any charger you BUY (not the free one) has a 30% federal tax credit IF you're in a location that qualifies. And, that's on installation costs also, up to a max of $1,000.

 

[Charge_Rob]

I got $1000 off the purchase price for not taking the charger deal. Did they change it to $500?

Yes, April 3.

 

[watchdoc]

You left out the word "installed" in your original post. The Tesla Universal Wall Connector sells for $550 plus tax, sometimes as low as $520. https://amzn.to/3RzvNrK

So you're paying $1,450 or so for installation.

Weigh that against the Ford Charge Station Pro for free, installed for free (assuming you meet all the requirements). Scroll down to "Do I Qualify" https://www.ford.com/powerpromise/

Then, you COULD buy the Tesla Universal Wall Connector, and simply swap them out (turn off breaker, undo screws, redo screws) and sell the Ford Charge Station Pro, easily for $400 or more.

Any charger you BUY (not the free one) has a 30% federal tax credit IF you're in a location that qualifies. And, that's on installation costs also, up to a max of $1,000.

This is a permitted and insured installation with warranties so I wouldnt be swapping equipment around. I will probably end up with the Ford charger for the following reasons.

1. The Tesla "charge on solar" feature isn't available to non Teslas.
2. It's gonna cost me an extra 2 grand for the Tesla charger vs the free Ford charger
3. I could always install a Tesla charger later if they add the "charge on solar" or Powershare features for non Teslas

 

[RickMachE]

Makes sense, but #1 wasn't included in your original post either.

 

[watchdoc]

Makes sense, but #1 wasn't included in your original post either.

sorry about that. I didn't know until I did some research this morning. I'll update the original post.

 

[Tosh]

I have a pair of Powerwall 3's and a rooftop solar array that was installed last fall.

Last week I got my Mach E, with the Ford Pro charger + installation included.

Next week I get the Ford charger wired up.

I don't care that much about the extra features of the Tesla charger vs the Ford, and the whole deal has been very easy for me to navigate. I didn't have to do much of anything except clear out some space in my garage ;-}

 

[MonkeyNutz]

I have experience with both the Tesla charger and Ford charger. You should install the Tesla Universal Charger. First of all, the Ford Charger is kinda flakey and has a couple quirks. The other charger to consider is the Emporia. But, IMO, the Tesla charger is the one that fits in with the rest of the system and is probably what you should stick with. They seem to be slowly adding more support for non-Tesla vehicles. The Charge on Solar ability for finely controlling the charge rate, will require support from both Tesla and from Ford to add the functionality into the car as Tesla does it via the cars communicating with the rest of the system, not just the charger.

This is a permitted and insured installation with warranties so I wouldnt be swapping equipment around. I will probably end up with the Ford charger for the following reasons.

1. The Tesla "charge on solar" feature isn't available to non Teslas.

Not entirely true and "charge on solar" is an overrated feature anyway. With the Charge on Solar feature, the car is capable of communicating with your Tesla solar installation to effectively trickle-charge your car on any excess solar production during daylight hours. In theory if your system over-produces and you're home during sunlight hours, you can use the Charge on Solar feature to utilize solar energy that would otherwise go to waste. OK, but it works this way if you don't use the Charge on Solar feature, it will still pull power from the solar array. What Charge on Solar does differently, is it can be set to *only* charge from the excess solar production, so you won't be tapping grid or battery power -- effectively trickle-charging your car.

There are other systems that can do this with non-Tesla vehicles, but IMO none are worth the brain damage, or cost. You can accomplish the same thing using a Wallbox charger and the ChargeHQ management app, the will limit the Wallbox charger output to stay within the envelope of excess solar. But it can be finicky and the stupid app has a monthly subscription fee to run the scheduling and dynamic charging.

You can mimic some of this ability with a charger like the Emporia, which itself offers solar-aware charging and management, but you need to be using a system from Emporia to get all those features. By using the Emporia charger with a Tesla system, what you can do is schedule your daytime charging to operate at lower amperage/ kW output to stay within or close to your excess solar production.

You get none of these features with the Ford charger. Oh, and charging a Tesla or other vehicle that does not have a CCS connector will require you to physically modify a J1772 to Tesla adapter to fit the connector on the Ford charger.

The Ford charger installed with your Tesla system will just be a "dumb" charger, with a CCS connector that makes it odd to adapt to cars with a TESLA or J1772 charge port. Ford used the CCS connector on a level-2 AC charger so they could utilize the two DC power pins for the return power. A proprietary solution that only works with the F-150 Lightning.

2. It's gonna cost me an extra 2 grand for the Tesla charger vs the free Ford charger

The Tesla Universal Charger is $550. Anything you're paying above that is installation cost or other mark-up. So if you go with the Ford charger, I guess you "save" a bit by having it included with the Mach-E. Or you could take the $500 rebate. But what are you going to pay to have it installed? The Emporia charger was $399, but just went up to $416..

3. I could always install a Tesla charger later if they add the "charge on solar" or Powershare features for non Teslas

PowerShare may become a feature later, the Tesla NACS connector is now the SAE J4300 standard specification and supports vehicle return power, which should get standardized across the industry. Tesla is mostly adhering to the standard spec for their PowerShare feature, but not entirely, it will require software updates to the charger and vehicles if they move to follow the standard.

Most all of these issues we're discussing here are due to a lack of industry standards and manufactures locking consumers into their proprietary solutions.

EDIT> Hypotheticals like what Ford and Tesla would have to do to add Charge on Solar ability and PowerShare will almost certainly never happen with the current Mach-E. Perhaps on a future edition with NACS connector if Tesla adopts all SAE compliant protocols and then if Ford chooses to implement on their end.

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