Personally I always advise people get a permanently installed EVSE now. This is something they will use every day. Many new EV owners are always tempted to try to "cheap out" and use a portable EVSE for daily use. I've seen that the UMC portable EVSE that Tesla supplies is not nearly robust enough. Best to keep that for emergencies and get one installed. A new EV is a significant investment, so spending a couple thousand more for home refueling is justified.
I do not like recommending a 14-50 (or other outlet) connected unit, there have been too many melted outlets and fires, yes it CAN work, but it also adds another point of failure. In the rare event of an EVSE failure the extra burden of having to get a new one installed is not that bad, this is when you can either break out your "emergency" EVSE or just use DCFC for a few days. It's really rare. On Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 8:58 AM Lee Hart via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > Jay Summet wrote > > Assuming you don't plug/unplug the plug frequently, the connection on a > NEMA 14-50 should be just as good > > as hard wired (but if you exercise it frequently, it may eventually get > lose, leading to resistance and heat). > > I agree. I've used 14-50s for decades for my EV chargers (and welder and > heater). The chargers stayed plugged in 90% of the time. I only unplugged > it when I needed to use the welder or heater. In 40+ years I never had to > replace one because it wore out. > > Note: You can get receptacles that mount in a recess, so you can't get > your fingers on the pins when partially engaged. > -- > Excellence does not require perfection. -- Henry James > But it *does* require attention to detail! -- Lee Hart > -- > Lee A. Hart https://www.sunrise-ev.com > > _______________________________________________ > Address messages to [email protected] > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20260210/085fc2ab/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ Address messages to [email protected] No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/
