Tesla Introduces $500 Portable, And Faster, Battery Charger

Tesla’s Supercharger network continues to grow, but most of the charging actually occurs at home.

While the company already offers an assortment of chargers, it has quietly launched a new one that doesn’t have to be hardwired into your house but plugs into an existing NEMA 14-50 outlet instead.

As a result, the charger is portable and can be throw in your trunk for charging away from home. Notably, this is Tesla’s first non-hardwired Wall Connector.

This makes the new charger ideal for people who don’t want a hardwired solution or perhaps own multiple homes with existing 14-50 outlets and can also be used to top off your vehicle when you are, for example, visiting friends, assuming of course they have a 14-50 outlet.

The charger costs $500 (£388 / €438), but it offers a 25 percent faster charging rate than the Gen 2 Mobile Connector that comes with each new Tesla. It has a 24 foot (7.3 meter) charging cable which provides 40 amps (9.6 kW) of power to Model S, Model X and Model 3 Long Range vehicles. Model 3 Mid- and Standard Range vehicles charge at a slightly lower 32 amps (7.6 kW).

While the automaker still recommends that owners get a hardwired charger, the new unit can prove to be very useful to those who don’t want the latter and/or would like to have something faster to charge their EVs with when they’re away from home.