Will you be installing a Level 2 charger?

[E90400K]

Yesterday, I sent a question to Slate via Chat:

Are you including a Level 2 charger / 240V / NEMA 14-50 connector with the Slate truck?

• Yes - all Slates will come with an include charger that will allow for both.
  Jimmy R • 11:20 AM
• I apologize, I re-read your message. The charging cable will only charge via 120V
• JR
  If you have any additional questions, feel free to reply here or call us at 833.HI.SLATE
  Jimmy R • 11:29 AM

I think Slate needs to train their customer service agents. I hope this is not an overall reflection of their sales and support team.

Because NEMA 14-50 is so unclear...

 

[E90400K]

I have used a NEMA 6-15 adaptor for my Tesla 3 for the past 7 years. Charge rate is 11 miles per hour. Usually enough to top off after a day of driving (60 to 110 miles/day). I plan to use it with the Slate. My point? It's barely level 2, but cheap to install since it does not require heavy duty lines to meet code. Something to consider if you have a long run from your breaker box to your parking spot. Most EV newbies and wanna bees keep thinking about charging as 0 to max and the time it takes. The reality is you are usually charging from 120 to 180 or whatever for the next day.
If you read this far --- You waste so much time with an ICE needing to fill it sometimes twice a week having to look for a gas station, check the price, and waste time pumping the stuff. With an EV you just unplug in the morning and go...more time to waste at Starbucks.

For 15 years I had a 165 mile daily commute and filled up every other day. I used the same gas station and usually the same gas pump at the station. Never found it to be problem. 5 minutes or less either on the way to my office or on the way home. Where I will charge my Slate is a 4-minute walk from the house. LOL.

Good exercise though...

 

[E90400K]

One consideration on using a "dryer outlet" or similar is that they are not made or rated for continuous use. At the very least it will need to be replaced with a commercial grade or RV type outlet. There are plenty of pictures of melted outlets since people started plugging EVs into them.

If possible I'll get the dryer outlet extended to near where the truck would park, and use a hardwired charger.
Often a dryer outlet will only be 30 amps, and you may need a hardwired charger to be able to set it to limit to 24 amps (giving the 20% cushion needed for continuous)

I have a 50-amp 240V circuit I use for my welder at the ready if I need L2.

 

[cadblu]

Yesterday, I sent a question to Slate via Chat:

Are you including a Level 2 charger / 240V / NEMA 14-50 connector with the Slate truck?

• Yes - all Slates will come with an include charger that will allow for both.
  Jimmy R • 11:20 AM
• I apologize, I re-read your message. The charging cable will only charge via 120V
• JR
  If you have any additional questions, feel free to reply here or call us at 833.HI.SLATE
  Jimmy R • 11:29 AM

I think Slate needs to train their customer service agents. I hope this is not an overall reflection of their sales and support team.

Update: this just in from Slate:

Yes, the portable charger will be compatible with a 120V outlet and an outlet that you may use at home for an Electric Dryer(Level 2 charge).

 

[zipn]

In general, the cost/inclusion of the charge cable is minimal compared to the cost of installing a dedicated 40 or 50 amp 220 circuit if you don't have one near where you're planning to park. If you have a dryer outlet, there are boxes that will auto switch between a dryer and an EV when the EV is charging, so that may help some.

When we purchased our BOLT EUV GM included the level-1 / level-2 charge cable AND the choice of GM paying for a level-2 220v outlet installed in our house (~$1300) or a $500 EV-GO credit. We went with the 220v outlet in the garage that GM paid for. This year we sold the BOLT EUV (wife no longer driving so it was just collecting dust PLUS I got almost what i paid for it from CarMax). but still have daughters' BOLT EV that she drives every day.

We're early reservation holders on the list for the SLATE... however we'll decide if we actually want it once it finally hits the market. We'll compare with all of our EV options. We don't need another pickup.. just 2 seats as an around-town 150 mile+range EV vehicle, but at $20K the Slate was attractive.. and $25-$30k we'll keep our options open.

 

[Letas]

Update: this just in from Slate:

Yes, the portable charger will be compatible with a 120V outlet and an outlet that you may use at home for an Electric Dryer(Level 2 charge).

Is the strategy with Slate customer service to just keep re-asking a question until a rep gives you the answer you want, and then stop asking?

 

[KevinRS]

Looking closely, this does not say a 240 volt plug is included. 240 volt is mentioned after the included regular household outlet cable, so that may have introduced some confusion.

One issue if they included a plug to plug into a "dryer outlet" is that that dryer outlet is probably rated for intermittent use, and meant to be plugged/unplugged a handful of times over decades. Plug in an EV charger and they end up melting.

 

[WT_Door]

Looking closely, this does not say a 240 volt plug is included. 240 volt is mentioned after the included regular household outlet cable, so that may have introduced some confusion.

One issue if they included a plug to plug into a "dryer outlet" is that that dryer outlet is probably rated for intermittent use, and meant to be plugged/unplugged a handful of times over decades. Plug in an EV charger and they end up melting.

The Slate website originally implied that both Level 1and Level 2 chargers were included ( actually, I think I was stated, but the site has changed). I had looked specifically for this, and at the time was surprised that Slate was going to give owners a Level 2 charger that their competitors usually sell for $400+.

Now it seems clear the Level 2 is an option that will be sold (see FAQs - Can I Finanace EV Charger or Accessories?). Plus the implication in the text of the clip included by KevinRS. I do believe this is a change in the past couple of months, but it doesn't surprise me.

 

[KevinRS]

The Slate website originally implied that both Level 1and Level 2 chargers were included ( actually, I think I was stated, but the site has changed). I had looked specifically for this, and at the time was surprised that Slate was going to give owners a Level 2 charger that their competitors usually sell for $400+.

Now it seems clear the Level 2 is an option that will be sold (see FAQs - Can I Finanace EV Charger or Accessories?). Plus the implication in the text of the clip included by KevinRS. I do believe this is a change in the past couple of months, but it doesn't surprise me.

That current text is easy to misread as including the level 2. I think I had real early on read it or something else as they were including level 1 only, then later others were saying both were included and I just assumed it had changed. Probably some searching here could find more detail

 

[GaRailroader]

One plug(pardon the pun) for Level 2, even if you only need Level 1. My Tesla Mobile Charging cable has an adapter so you can do level 1 or level 2. In level 2, about 92% of the electricity dispensed from the outlet results in electricity added to the battery. So if you dispense 10 kWh of electricity the battery will increase by 9.2 kWh. The same experiment for Level 1 and you will only see about 8.2 kWh added to the battery. So the Level 1 is 10% less efficient than Level 2.

On my Leaf I have dispensed 8415 kWh in 32k miles. If I had used Level 1 instead of Level 2, I would have needed 841.5 more kWh to travel that same distance. If we just keep the math simple and say electricity cost 10¢ per kWh then that is about $84 per 32k or about $250 per 100k miles travelled.

 

[Lanthian]

One plug(pardon the pun) for Level 2, even if you only need Level 1. My Tesla Mobile Charging cable has an adapter so you can do level 1 or level 2. In level 2, about 92% of the electricity dispensed from the outlet results in electricity added to the battery. So if you dispense 10 kWh of electricity the battery will increase by 9.2 kWh. The same experiment for Level 1 and you will only see about 8.2 kWh added to the battery. So the Level 1 is 10% less efficient than Level 2.

On my Leaf I have dispensed 8415 kWh in 32k miles. If I had used Level 1 instead of Level 2, I would have needed 841.5 more kWh to travel that same distance. If we just keep the math simple and say electricity cost 10¢ per kWh then that is about $84 per 32k or about $250 per 100k miles travelled.

Always love when someone posts the math on these. $250 for 100k miles is absolutely insane! Thats awesome.