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Tesla Wall Connector Vs J1772 Wall Connector | Tesla Gen 3 Wall Connector vs Universal Wall Connector

Steve

November 11, 2024

6 comments

Do you wonder what Tesla universal or J1772 wall connector and Tesla Gen 3 wall connector have similarities and what’s the difference between both?

Do you also wonder why this new charging station – the J1772 wall connector – if the Gen 3 was a perfect piece and can be used with the J1772 adapter?

Yes, so here I will show you the detailed comparison of Tesla Universal J1772 wall connector and Gen 3 wall connector.

(Note: Here when you read Tesla wall connector that means I am talking about Gen 3 wall connector and J1772 wall connector means Universal wall connector and vice-versa)

I always make Informed Choices… So I also insist you go through the article and once you come to a decision you can make a purchase from here:

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Deal

3 months ago

Tesla Universal Wall Connector

$580.00

Key Features:Universal Level 2 EVSE – Compatible with Tesla and non-Tesla EVs – 48 amp smart Home EV charging station – Magic Dock J1772 + NACS – 24-foot cable with integrated cable management

• Max charging power: 11.5kW @48A single-phase
• Charging speed: Up to 44 MPH
• Charging connector: J1772 + NACS
• LED status lights: Yes

*Note: Prices and warranty details may change over time and the same will be updated here at the earliest. Check More info and Latest price.

★★★★★

Check More Info to Buy

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Deal

3 months ago

Tesla Wall Connector Gen 3

$420.00

Key Features:Among Fastest Level 2 EVSE – 48 amp smart Home EV charging station – with 24-foot cable with integrated cable management

• Max charging power: 11.5kW @48A single-phase
• Charging speed: Up to 44 MPH
• Charging connector: NACS
• LED status lights: Yes

*Note: Prices and warranty details may change over time and the same will be updated here at the earliest. Check Best Deals Worldwide.

★★★★★

Tesla Wall Connector Vs J1772 Wall Connector – Main Difference

So Tesla universal wall connector has the same specs and is almost identical to Gen 3 wall connector.

But it has two major differences apart from the price.

First Major Difference

The first major difference is the universal wall connector charging cable comes with a J1772 charging plug tethered to the NACS (North American Charging Standard) plug.

NACS plug is a standard Tesla connector and the whole industry is now transitioning to adopt that standard.

While Tesla wall connector Gen 3 cable comes with only a NACS plug. But you can use NACS to J1772 adapter to charge non-Tesla cars.

So with both, you can charge just any electric vehicle sold in North America.

But with Gen 3 wall connector there will always remain a headache to handle the piece of J1772 adapter separately when not in use. It may fall from your hand or it may get broken due to mishandling or it can get stolen or lost.

That’s not the case with Universal wall connector. J1772 adapter is tethered over NACS plug. That’s a smart move by Tesla.

There lies a second big difference between the Tesla wall connector and the J1772 wall connector.

Let’s look at that.

Second Major Difference

The second major difference is in the charging unit. It is about docking the charging plug into the charger unit when not in use, with some additional smart tech in the universal wall connector.

Tesla universal wall connector has a magic dock (holster) while the Tesla wall connector gen 3 has a simple dock to put the plug into when not in use.

The Smart Tech in J1772 wall connector above Gen 3 wall connector

The smart thing about this is, that you don’t have to worry about handling the J1772 plug separately from the charging cable.

J1772 plug will either remain tethered above NACS plug. or remain locked in the magic dock.

Yes! Don’t be confused. Let me simplify.

Here, when you dock the cable to the charging unit when not in use, the J1772 + NACS both get locked in the dock.

Now, when you want to charge again, then either you can unlock both J1772 with NACS OR you can only remove NACS, letting the J1772 plug remain locked in the holster.

So to charge Tesla you just get the NACS plug with cable and let J1772 remain docked or to charge non-Tesla you undock both NACS with J1772 tethered on it.

I will explain in later section how this mechanism operates.

So it comes to two main differences, an extra J1772 plug tethered on an NACS plug and a magic dock.

Now let’s see how practically this extra mechanism in the Tesla universal wall connector makes some difference compared to Gen 3 Tesla wall connector.

Charging Non-Tesla with J1772 Universal Wall connector – Power of Magic Dock

Let’s say you want to charge a non-Tesla vehicle then have to pull the whole assembly of J1772 tethered upon NACS with the charging cable.

You can do that by pressing the button on J1772 plug to get the assembly out of the dock.

Now, once you have removed the cable with J1772 tethered on NACS, you can’t separate J1772 plug alone from NACS. (When the whole assembly is out of the dock or holster)

Not even if you press the button on J1772 then.

There is no way to separate J1772 plug from NACS when the cable is undocked and J1772 is tethered to the NACS connector.

J1772 plug will remain locked upon the NACS plug.

Charging Tesla with J1772 Universal Wall connector – Power of Magic Dock

Now, let’s say you want to charge Tesla vehicle.

Then the charging plug has to be docked in the charging unit initially, and then you only pull NACS plug.

There is no need to press any button on NACS plug. Just pull the NACS plug and it will be undocked letting J1772 remain locked in the holster.

Again, in this case, you can’t remove J1772 plug separately from the charging unit either.

You can watch this video officially released by Tesla to understand it visually.

Advantage of Magic Dock in Universal Wall Connector

So here, you can either have J1772 locked when docked in the charging unit or locked when tethered to NACS connector.

There is no way to get J1772 plug separate in your hand by any chance.

Only two places it can be there, either in the dock or tethered upon NACS.

Here are the benefits of this mechanism.

ONE is, you don’t have to worry about breaking J1772 plug, as no need to handle the plug alone and separately, so eliminating this risk.

SECOND is, there is no fear of getting the J1772 plug stolen or lost by any chance. As J1772 plug can’t be separated alone from anywhere. So also eliminating this risk.

So Tesla has just smashed the market by introducing the Universal Wall Connector, which is a perfect fit for any EVs in North America.

Price

The price you have to pay is higher for the Universal wall connector i.e. $580*

While you can get Gen 3 wall connector at a lesser price of $450*

Tesla Gen 3 Wall Connector & Universal Wall Connector – Specifications

Now you know the difference Tesla Gen 3 wall connector has a simple dock and only a NACS connector in the charging cable while the Universal wall connector has a magic dock and J1772 tethered on NACS in charging cable.

Apart from this, both chargers offered by Tesla provide the same features.

Here is the Tesla Wall Connector Gen 3 and J1772 Universal Wall Connector Specification Table:

Should you buy Tesla Wall Connector Gen 3 or J1772 Universal Wall Connector?

So, again the only way you can land upon one option is by looking at your real-world requirements.

As a home charging solution Gen 3 and Universal wall connector, both are equally powerful.

With both, you can charge Tesla and non-Tesla vehicles.

But, there is a small factor that can make you decide to buy one. So let’s discuss that.

Buy Tesla Wall Connector Gen 3 if,

If you are sure that you will only need to charge Tesla then surely Tesla Gen 3 wall connector will be the best option for you as a home charging solution.

Because, if you are sure enough then there is no point in spending $120 more for Universal Wall Connector.

But if you have or plan to have multiple EVs apart from Tesla then you can think of buying Universal Wall Connector.

Buy Tesla Universal Wall Connector if,

If you see that you already have other non-Tesla EVs or plan to have then Tesla universal wall connector will be the best choice for you as Home charging station.

Otherwise, you have to purchase an EV charger with J1772 connector or you have to buy NACS to J17772 adapter to charge non-Tesla EVs. The later option seems best if you have decided to go for a Tesla-branded charger.

But still, you may need to repeatedly buy NACS to J1772 adapter if gets broken or lost. That adds up to the cost, of course!

So having a Universal Wall Connector will cover just almost all the current and future scenarios for you. In that sense, it is worth to spend extra for this.

Buy Both or Multiple Tesla Gen 3 Wall Connector and/or Tesla Universal Wall Connector J1772 if,

So you have a BIG garage and you have multiple EVs in combination with Teslas and non-Teslas then you will probably need to charge more than one EV or many EVs at the same time depending on your requirement.

In this case, you can buy multiple Universal Wall Connectors in combination with or without Gen 3 wall connectors.

The pretty thing is, if you have both Universal wall connector and Gen 3 wall connector, you can charge multiple EVs at the same time, without blowing out the circuit.

Yes, you can connect multiple wall connectors either multiple alone or any combination of Universal and Gen 3 wall connectors in a single circuit.

Because these wall connectors have the feature of ‘Power Sharing’. They can smartly share power with each other meeting all the requirements of charging many EVs at the same time. And guess what, without any danger of overloading or blowing the circuit.

You can have up to 6 wall connectors (Universal and/or Gen 3) connected in the same circuit. So within a single circuit, you can charge up to 6 EVs at the same time.

Conclusion

So now you should have got the idea about both Tesla gen 3 wall connector and J1772 wall connector.

You should now also be clear about which option best suits you if you are going to buy one.

I hope this guide has been helpful to you.

Let me and other fellow readers in the community know which option best suits you in the comment.

See you in the next article.

Extra Tip: If you frequently drive to remote places

Whether you buy Tesla Gen 3 Wall connector or Tesla Universal connector, there are still chances that you can’t find any public or destination chargers if you travel to isolated or remote places.

That’s where Tesla mobile connector comes in. It is a portable charging solution you can take in with your car and charge anywhere with just a wall outlet.

Refer to this Full guide to see whether you should also have a Tesla mobile connector as a portable charging solution in addition to Tesla wall connector.