Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Type 2 to UK 3 Pin?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Where can I purchase a converter to convert a Type 2 (Tesla) lead to fit a standard 3 pin plug?

My car will be sat at work for 10 to 12 hours most workdays, with only 25 miles or so to top up. There are 3 pin plug sockets dotted around in indoor car park.

Tesla can sell me on, but it's over £300(!)
 
Where can I purchase a converter to convert a Type 2 (Tesla) lead to fit a standard 3 pin plug?

My car will be sat at work for 10 to 12 hours most workdays, with only 25 miles or so to top up. There are 3 pin plug sockets dotted around in indoor car park.

Tesla can sell me on, but it's over £300(!)
It's not a simple converter/plug since Type 2 has a communication protocol in it.

£300 is a normal price for a mobile EVSE/Type 2 adapter. At Tesla it's called the UMC (Universal Mobile Connector).
 
UMC is not available in the UK with a 3 pin plug (and the EU version is more expensive).

You can use an i3 Type 2-3 pin adapter which is slightly cheaper than the Tesla cable. I have the Tesla cable.

I tried it at work recently and managed to get 6 miles per hour - not enough for my 80 mile round trip. I also got into trouble with the site management, who put an immediate ban on EV charging onsite, because they are responsible for all the sockets (even one in a parking area dedicated to my company). Go figure... :-\
 
I bought one of these:

Portable Mode 2 EVSE Charger | NuWorld Energy

I've had problems with it, as the units ampage selection gets the car confused with the latest software. I'm in touch with them to get a revised unit.

If I were to do it again I'd go this route:

Portable Mode 2 CEE Commando EVSE Charger | NuWorld Energy

As a commando socket gives the option of going for 16A. To be more universal, you can buy a simple 13A 3 Pin plug to commando socket cheaply, and as long as you set the charger to 10A it would be fine.
 
I bought one of these:

Portable Mode 2 EVSE Charger | NuWorld Energy

I've had problems with it, as the units ampage selection gets the car confused with the latest software. I'm in touch with them to get a revised unit.

Can you share any more about what goes wrong? There's lots of applications where externally-controlled charge current would be useful, so it would be good to know what limitations the car imposes.
 
Can you share any more about what goes wrong? There's lots of applications where externally-controlled charge current would be useful, so it would be good to know what limitations the car imposes.

I think it's in the handshake between the car and the charger.

From memory:

The charger needs to be plugged in to both the car and the mains before it enters an "initialisation phase", whilst in this mode the LEDs flash allowing you to cycle with a single button to select current. This delay happens every time it's powered on and confuses the Tesla, so it says "start charging", then falls back to "charging failed".
 
From memory:

The charger needs to be plugged in to both the car and the mains before it enters an "initialisation phase", whilst in this mode the LEDs flash allowing you to cycle with a single button to select current. This delay happens every time it's powered on and confuses the Tesla, so it says "start charging", then falls back to "charging failed".

Thanks. That does sound like the EVSE's problem rather than the car's, as the EVSE can't detect the presence of a car without offering to charge, and if it then goes into an initialisation state when the car requests the charge, the car is likely to stop waiting.
 
Thanks. That does sound like the EVSE's problem rather than the car's, as the EVSE can't detect the presence of a car without offering to charge, and if it then goes into an initialisation state when the car requests the charge, the car is likely to stop waiting.

Yep that was my hunch... The unit is manufactured by a Dutch firm (Ratio) and I suspect uses something like a PIC internally.

According to the UK supplier the manufacturer tested it with a model S in Holland when the first Model S's arrived there, however following my problems they have retested and confirmed it no longer works. So they need to flash the box to fix it for the latest Tesla cars, which are obviously more picky about the delays introduced during amperage selection on this unit.

As mine has never worked I'm working with the supplier to get a new unit, and will let you know how it works when this arrives.
 
Just to update this thread. I got the one from Tesla and it looks very good. I can set it to 10 Amps. It charges at a measly 4mph - which is fine for topping up my daily commute trips. There is a public charger within 200 yards which charges at 20mph and I can use that if I need a faster charge.