Tesla Model 3 SR Gets Range Boost, + Tesla Offers Wall Charger With J1772 Connector

Republished By Plato

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Tesla has a way of making big, splashy announcements that knock the socks off the competition: 4680 battery cells that look like old-fashioned D cells and store more energy but have a lower cost than the 2170 format battery cells it uses currently, for instance. Or opening its Supercharger network to non-Tesla drivers, as happened just the other day in the Netherlands. Then there is the blockbuster deal to sell 100,000 Teslas to Hertz for rental car duty. But not everything Tesla does is dramatic.

Tesla Wall Charger For The Rest Of Us

Credit: Tesla

A sharp-eyed Reddit user spotted something new in the Tesla Store recently — a Tesla Wall Charger that comes equipped with a J1772 connector for charging non-Tesla electric vehicles. On its website, Tesla says, “Charge your electric vehicle at home with the J1772 Gen 2 Wall Connector, a convenient home charging solution for electric vehicle owners. Simply plug in overnight and charge while you sleep. Providing up to 9.6 kW (40 amp) power output for a single vehicle, the J1772 Gen 2 Wall Connector includes a 24-foot (7.3 meter) cable length, multiple power settings and a versatile indoor/outdoor design.” The price is $415 — a relative bargain compared to other wall chargers out there.

The Verge notes the new charger is not internet connected — although, several Reddit uses say it is Bluetooth compatible, so if you have two of them they can talk to each other. It adds, “While many legacy automakers sell their own branded home chargers, the third party market for home chargers is full of mostly unrecognizable brands.” Not any more. Now everyone can have a Tesla product in their garage even if they don’t own a Tesla. (Note: also see our brand new — and free — EV charger guide.)

The company does point out that professional installation may be required and that a 30% federal tax credit may apply.

Model 3 SR Range Increase

You can learn a lot about the world of electric cars if you ~~troll~~ browse the Reddit EV forum regularly. For instance, another alert Reddit user posted recently that the range for the base Model 3 sold in the US was now listed as 272 miles — up 10 miles from what it had been previously.

The internet giveth and the internet taketh away. You can see that 272 mile figure at the link above, so it was out there for a brief amount of time. Today (November 2), the Model 3 page lists the range at 267 miles, which is still 5 miles more than before. The Reddit user took a screenshot showing delivery in September. This morning, the expected delivery is listed as June. Things change quickly and often on the Tesla website.

As usual, Tesla has nothing to say about the change in the range estimate (all EV range numbers are estimates that are greatly affected by temperature, terrain, vehicle speed, and a number of other factors). We can speculate all we want, but the company refuses to talk to the press unless Elon Musk sees something and responds with a tweet or two. One guess is the new number results from the new LFP battery pack Tesla says all its standard range Model 3 and Model Y cars will have soon, but that is a just a guess. Don’t quote us. We don’t know any more than you do and possibly less.

One Last Thing — Hertz & Tesla Confusion

CNBC is highlighting a portion of a recent Elon Musk tweet regarding that blockbuster deal with Hertz. It seemed the rental car company may be patting itself on the back a little too quickly for Musk’s taste. No contracts have been signed yet, Musk points out in the tweet.

You’re welcome!

If any of this is based on Hertz, I’d like to emphasize that no contract has been signed yet.

Tesla has far more demand than production, therefore we will only sell cars to Hertz for the same margin as to consumers.

Hertz deal has zero effect on our economics.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2021

For all you people out there who are giddy with joy about the proposed Hertz deal, you might want to keep in mind the wise words of my old Irish grandmother. “There’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip,” she would say.

Oh, but wait. Hertz says that deliveries have already begun.

The Takeaway

We tend to focus on the big news about Tesla — new factories, new production techniques, and so forth. They are stunning, to be sure, but the company is also constantly improving its products in small ways that benefit the EV revolution.

Elon may have dismantled Tesla’s PR department, but his company is doing an admirable job of pursuing his master plan with a single-minded diligence that few others are capable of implementing. Personally, I wouldn’t want to work for the man, but I am happy to recognize his accomplishments and applaud them from afar.

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