CHAdeMO Make/Model Review — Using with a Tesla

This is a great idea. I received notice that our adapter has shipped so expect it within a few days. What information from the CHAdeMO unit do we need to record for reporting?

Great idea -- Thanks! So do we know yet if all of a particular make/model are consistently bad or good -- i.e., does a single report of a problem blacklist that make/model of charger? Maybe end up rating them Good, Bad or Intermittent?

Also, as this info is solidified, maybe adding the info to individual chargers in Plugshare would be a good policy. I'm sure most of those listings don't include make/model of charger, and it could be critical to know that before relying on charging there. Maybe a listing of providers (Chargepoint, Blink, etc) and the types of chargers they typically use would be of general value?

I charged so far at about 8 different models (Nissan, EATON, ABB, Evgo, Blink and some more I did not note the model). The ONLY one which has issues are the Nissan chargers. However it is not a "real" problem as the overheating is only due to clogged air inlet. I figured that out after having two many overheating messages on different charges. So when you use a Nissan charger, the first thing to do is to going behind the charger and clean the bottom air inlet. If this is full of dirt, the charger will overheat in about 10-15 minutes. Once I cleaned the filters I was always able to charger until battery was full.

So far only good experience with Nissan dealers. ALL where super Tesla friendly. I just hope they would place those chargers in good city locations instead of the dealer. Nobody wants to charger at a dealer !

Hope to see some good data come back here. I've toyed around with the $$$ for the adapter but don't feel I'd get a full benefit. However, there are some CHAdeMO units in central PA that would allow my future trips from Ohio to New Jersey to be lower distance (avoid I-76/DC). Those are Eaton units, I think.... hmmm....

> clean the bottom air inlet [on Nissans] - [joer00]

So just surface cleaning, no disassembly?

Should we start new threads here by state or area to compile results? Doing so HERE would separate it from all the SpC threads.

I can see now how I will be sucked into this whole new charging paradigm, kicking & screaming (when they muck up!).
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joer00 said:

I charged so far at about 8 different models (Nissan, EATON, ABB, Evgo, Blink and some more I did not note the model). The ONLY one which has issues are the Nissan chargers. However it is not a "real" problem as the overheating is only due to clogged air inlet. I figured that out after having two many overheating messages on different charges. So when you use a Nissan charger, the first thing to do is to going behind the charger and clean the bottom air inlet. If this is full of dirt, the charger will overheat in about 10-15 minutes. Once I cleaned the filters I was always able to charger until battery was full.

So far only good experience with Nissan dealers. ALL where super Tesla friendly. I just hope they would place those chargers in good city locations instead of the dealer. Nobody wants to charger at a dealer !

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Can you tell us what Rated Miles/Hour you attained at these CHAdeMO sites?

JackA said:

Can you tell us what Rated Miles/Hour you attained at these CHAdeMO sites?

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I would assume the miles/hr displayed when charging with Chademo would be the average of the session just as it is with a supercharger, so that metric really isn't useful. It's better to report the kW at a given state of charge.

Would a can of compressed air help? In my experience I've found that most electronics on the fritz react positively to a good ole burst of compressed air. That, or some lovingly applied "percussive maintenance".

joer00 said:

I charged so far at about 8 different models (Nissan, EATON, ABB, Evgo, Blink and some more I did not note the model). The ONLY one which has issues are the Nissan chargers. However it is not a "real" problem as the overheating is only due to clogged air inlet. I figured that out after having two many overheating messages on different charges. So when you use a Nissan charger, the first thing to do is to going behind the charger and clean the bottom air inlet. If this is full of dirt, the charger will overheat in about 10-15 minutes. Once I cleaned the filters I was always able to charger until battery was full.
Are the chargers outside, or in their service bays.
So far only good experience with Nissan dealers. ALL where super Tesla friendly. I just hope they would place those chargers in good city locations instead of the dealer. Nobody wants to charger at a dealer !

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You're charging at Nissan dealer's? Do they charge you, or freely let you do it?

I'm in Tampa also (St. Pete side of the bay), and am surprised they would be Tesla friendly.

zzzzdoc said:

You're charging at Nissan dealer's? Do they charge you, or freely let you do it?

I'm in Tampa also (St. Pete side of the bay), and am surprised they would be Tesla friendly.

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Yeah, I wouldn't rely too much on the future good will of the Nissan dealers. I doubt that many of them sell enough Leafs (I guess that's the right plural?) to consider Tesla much of a competition, but with the ongoing battle between NADA and Tesla, this could become an issue. And Tesla outsells the Leaf now...

Probably if you just ask permission of the sales people, they will be delighted to give away the bosses kW, but if the manager gets asked, it probably will be frowned upon at some point. Tesla is still enough of a rarity that the sales people want to see and hear about the car.

wycolo said:

> clean the bottom air inlet [on Nissans] - [joer00]

So just surface cleaning, no disassembly?
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Correct , best is to use a brush but you can just use yout hand if you dont mind to get it dirty.

BerTX said:

Yeah, I wouldn't rely too much on the future good will of the Nissan dealers. I doubt that many of them sell enough Leafs (I guess that's the right plural?) to consider Tesla much of a competition, but with the ongoing battle between NADA and Tesla, this could become an issue. And Tesla outsells the Leaf now...

Probably if you just ask permission of the sales people, they will be delighted to give away the bosses kW, but if the manager gets asked, it probably will be frowned upon at some point. Tesla is still enough of a rarity that the sales people want to see and hear about the car.

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I have had mixed experiences at Nissan dealers, some in Virginia are very UN-enthusiastic about Teslas for sure. Since they are independent, they can do whatever they want (there is no Nissan corporate policy that says free charging for all etc). In fact, I find all the dealership chargers listed on plug share to be a nuisance since they are not universally open to all-comers and it makes it harder to search for chargers at a place like a restaurant/hotel that I would happily financially support while charging.

DFibRL8R said:

I have had mixed experiences at Nissan dealers, some in Virginia are very UN-enthusiastic about Teslas for sure. Since they are independent, they can do whatever they want (there is no Nissan corporate policy that says free charging for all etc). In fact, I find all the dealership chargers listed on plug share to be a nuisance since they are not universally open to all-comers and it makes it harder to search for chargers at a place like a restaurant/hotel that I would happily financially support while charging.

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I believe that some Nissan dealers will only allow cars that they have actually sold to use their chargers, not even all Leaves (nope, Leafs is better).

the Nissan dealer based Chademo units in my area are on the Chargepoint network and are not free, so are open to anyone.

[edited for location]

JackA said:

Can you tell us what Rated Miles/Hour you attained at these CHAdeMO sites?

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I just used a Nissan branded Chargepoint CHAdeMO station this morning for about 15 minutes. was getting around 37-38 kw or 120 rated miles/hr.

I charged from: SOC: 27%
Range: 69.3 mi
Estimated Range: 71.1 mi
Ideal Range: 80.1 mi

to:

SOC: 38%
Range: 97.8 mi
Estimated Range: 100.7 mi
Ideal Range: 113.2 mi

started off at 351 v 103 amps and stayed consistently in that range 351-357 to 102-106 throughout the charge period of 15 minutes - total energy was 8.7 kWh

The station I used is 7955 Irvine Center Dr Irvine, CA 92618 - Marriott Courtyard Irvine Spectrum
I posted a couple of pictures on Plugshare - Grey Tesla.

I briefly tested the adapter today at Silver Spring Networks in Redwood City. There is a large box with two Blink CHAdeMOs. A helpful Leaf owner was there who uses those to charge his, but not today. The right hand unit is broken, the touch screen doesn't work, and so one can't start the charge session. The left hand unit was nearly blocked by a Volt plugged into the neighboring L2 Blink charger, and the cable was barely long enough to reach around the trunk with the adapter.

The charging session started fine, although the Model S complains initially about no power from the charger because the CHAdeMO startup is so slow. The touch screen displays the current charge level, and one then has to select a higher target level (percentage) to start. The touch screens are poor contrast to begin with, and face south right into the sun, making them hard to read.

My Model S 60 started out with 98A 342V for 33.5 kW, so about 100 mi/hr charge rate, starting at 158 mi rated range, 78% according to the Blink display.

I didn't have much time so I unplugged after a few minutes and left.

I suppose this is a retarded, flamebait question... but all of you that are holding a CHAdeMO adapter I suppose were on the wait list since the beginning of time? The shop still shows it as "coming soon" for me...

They are placing them in accessible locations. I have one going in at the end of March. It will be just off a major freeway entrance/exit to one of Milwaukees' main East West corridors.