Tesla Mobile Connector

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Cowardly disclaimer: Tesla says the UMC should not be used with vehicles from other manufacturers. Do this at your own risk; Tesla presumably won’t honour a warranty or guarantee if you do. Ask your electrician whether and how the device can be used and protected on your particular power connection.

Tesla includes a small portable charger—the “mobile connector”—with every car. Unlike most other manufacturers, however, its Universal Mobile Connector (UMC) can also be used with three-phase power, and there are many useful adapters for European power outlets.

The UMC isn’t sold publicly. Even the Dutch Tesla website, which sells various accessories such as stationary wall chargers to Dutch addresses, doesn’t list it. The price should be around €500–600; I’ll update this post. If you want to use a UMC, you’ll need help from a friend who owns a Tesla. They’re probably happy to help, since they’re at the service centre all the time anyway. There doesn’t seem to be much choice on eBay.

According to its manual and label, the UMC shouldn’t be used with other manufacturers’ cars. And it really doesn’t work with every vehicle; forums often single out the Renault Zoe as being particularly picky. That may also apply to its close relative, the Smart ED.

However, the UMC does work with a number of cars. I successfully tested a second-generation 2018 UMC with the second-generation e-Golf and the Hyundai Ioniq. Forum posts also report success with the i3.

In Germany, the practical compact carrying bag includes a three-phase 16 A red CEE adapter and a single-phase 13 A Schuko adapter. Tesla’s accessory shop also sells adapters for €90 each for Schuko equivalents in Italy, France, and elsewhere. A continuous 13 A load on Schuko is quite demanding. During my test, the socket got well beyond lukewarm. The UK adapter is apparently coded for 10 A, although it ought to be able to handle more.

According to the label, the UMC can supply either three-phase 16 A (11 kW) or single-phase 32 A (7 kW).

For Ioniq drivers in particular, a Norwegian adapter might be interesting: they sell a larger version of the camping plug, a blue 32 A CEE connector rarely seen here. The Ioniq’s single-phase charger can charge twice as fast with it. As always, ask an electrician about the details.

If third-party use were officially approved and the UMC were sold openly, it would be a very attractive alternative to a basic portable charger. The unit VW includes with the e-Golf, by contrast, looks like it came from a state-owned electric-vehicle factory.