CCS Adapter for North America

[Genie]

Using DELIVERED Korea along with ordering with my Tesla account on the Tesla Korea shop worked for me. It did require some experimentation and creative use of Google Translate to get the right parts of the address in the right boxes. Note the caveat that it only works for 3 and Y - not for S and X.

Not exactly true- in the past 2 days darknavi’s Korean adapter has worked on both refresh and legacy Model X’s that are CCS enabled.

 

[gglockner]

Note the caveat that it only works for 3 and Y - not for S and X.

Not true on both counts:
1. @darknavi and I confirmed this week that it works on the 2021+ “Refresh” Model X
2. I ordered one this week, and I only own a Model X

A possible reason why it has not been released in North America (just thinking) is that maybe Tesla wants to try it in a limited market to make sure the greater weight of the CCS cable and plug do not damage the car's power socket.

Have you seen the CHAdeMO adapter? It’s huge and heavy compared to the CCS adapter. What you say would be worse for CHAdeMO than for CCS.

 

[marmaladedad]

Have you seen the CHAdeMO adapter? It’s huge and heavy compared to the CCS adapter. What you say would be worse for CHAdeMO than for CCS.

The only benefit so far, to me, of having that huge Chademo adapter is that the flexible nature of the neck makes it easier to angle the charge cable from the station. And the flexibility means it can be a little more compact when folded up. For the stations I plug into, the Chademo/CCS cables are extremely stiff. They look like they could bend the Setec adapter I had if I did not get the angle right. The solid Tesla CCS adapter would require more thoughtful cable placement/routing (on my part).

 

[darknavi]

Not true on both counts:
1. @darknavi and I confirmed this week that it works on the 2021+ “Refresh” Model X
2. I ordered one this week, and I only own a Model X


Have you seen the CHAdeMO adapter? It’s huge and heavy compared to the CCS adapter. What you say would be worse for CHAdeMO than for CCS.

Also confirmed it worked on pre-refresh Model X with "CCS Support" enabled. As far as I can tell, if your car says that, it will work for your car!

 

[Mockingbird]

I simply don't think this would be a significant issue. Quite the reverse, actually. Tesla superchargers are very, very good. Much better than the DC Fast stations. I had heard the stories from drivers of other cars about the constant issues at those stations. After I got my adapter I lived them. If anything, getting to see that made me less likely to switch to that system from Tesla, no more likely. What makes you think it would do the reverse?

...and Tesla's walled garden exacerbates those issues

By preventing Tesla drivers from charging at those charging stations, Tesla denies the owners of those charging stations revenue that could be used to maintain their equipment.

But even if this were a factor, it dwarfs the real value that Tesla has said. It wants their car to be clearly the best car to buy. Not a difficult motive to understand, nor one I would doubt is real. And Tesla is making adapters so they obviously don't want to confine us to their chargers. They are not making it as easy as they could, but they are hardly hiding it. Unless you think the delay in releasing the adapter is some sort of secret conspiracy to make us stick to superchargers while pretending we can go elsewhere? If so, why are they selling the adapters for $250 in ROK? Why did they drop the price of the CdM adapter to $400 before deciding to move to CCS?

In South Korea, public fast-charging stations far outnumber Tesla Supercharger.

As I said before:

There is your mistake.

What Tesla drivers want ≠ what Tesla wants

Tesla doesn't want Tesla drivers to fast charge anywhere else other than the Supercharger.

The walled garden is good for business. Tesla doesn't want Tesla drivers to leave the walled garden.

You may question why Tesla even bothers to release the CHAdeMO and CCS adapter.

There are inevitably going to be some people who are the exceptions: need to fast charge at places where there simply aren't Superchargers nearby.

If they can't, they simply wouldn't buy Tesla's vehicles.

For everyone else though, Tesla doesn't want him/her to fast charger anywhere other than the Supercharger.

 

[tps5352]

...Tesla superchargers are very, very good....

Agreed.

...Tesla has said. It wants their car to be clearly the best car to buy....

OK, I accept that premise. But then why does Tesla short-change itself and us, the customers, on a hugely important issue--i.e., quality-control and finish of its new cars? Panel alignment, paint quality, missing parts--all adding up to overall build quality--is, in my opinion, an area where Tesla could really stand to improve. What is that old adage--You only get one chance to make a (good) first impression? Tesla has been in the game, now, long enough to be able to deliver build quality. By not doing so they add fuel to the fire for all other criticisms (e.g., delayed software updates, FSD, missing charge adapters, service center and mobile tech repair systems, substandard cabin luxury/comfort versus high prices, etc.).

Sorry for high-jacking this conversation to bring up a different point. But your comment really hit home, for me.

And don't get me wrong. I love my car. But Tesla is shooting itself in the foot by not getting on top of build quality (at least at its Fremont, USA plant).

 

[OliverM3]

Agreed.



OK, I accept that premise. But then why does Tesla short-change itself and us, the customers, on a hugely important issue--i.e., quality-control and finish of its new cars? Panel alignment, paint quality, missing parts--all adding up to overall build quality--is, in my opinion, an area where Tesla could really stand to improve. What is that old adage--You only get one chance to make a (good) first impression? Tesla has been in the game, now, long enough to be able to deliver build quality. By not doing so they add fuel to the fire for all other criticisms (e.g., delayed software updates, FSD, missing charge adapters, service center and mobile tech repair systems, substandard cabin luxury/comfort versus high prices, etc.).

Sorry for high-jacking this conversation to bring up a different point. But your comment really hit home, for me.

And don't get me wrong. I love my car. But Tesla is shooting itself in the foot by not getting on top of build quality (at least at its Fremont, USA plant).

No fitment issues with my 2022 out of Fremont so maybe they're getting better? Can't wait to hear about the cars in Texas.

 

[bradtem]

Agreed.



OK, I accept that premise. But then why does Tesla short-change itself and us, the customers, on a hugely important issue--i.e., quality-control and finish of its new cars? Panel alignment, paint quality, missing parts--all adding up to overall build quality--is, in my opinion, an area where Tesla could really stand to improve. What is that old adage--You only get one chance to make a (good) first impression? Tesla has been in the game, now, long enough to be able to deliver build quality. By not doing so they add fuel to the fire for all other criticisms (e.g., delayed software updates, FSD, missing charge adapters, service center and mobile tech repair systems, substandard cabin luxury/comfort versus high prices, etc.).

Sorry for high-jacking this conversation to bring up a different point. But your comment really hit home, for me.

And don't get me wrong. I love my car. But Tesla is shooting itself in the foot by not getting on top of build quality (at least at its Fremont, USA plant).

No company does it perfectly. But it's more rare for a company to do things actively against their own interests. Sometimes their stated interests (sell cars, not electricity) can be a lie but there needs to be a reason for the hidden agenda.

Tesla seems to sell all the cars they can make even without being better at quality control. There are various reasons for this -- there are many thinks about the car that are better than the other cars. And, as noted, the charging network is a reason people pick Tesla. In fact, if you cared about road trips prior to 2020, no other car made sense at all. And most people care about road trips, which is why they never sold that may of those 30kwh cars which were only good for your city trips.

The old OEMs are now making lots of electric models. And they are better at many things about traditional carmaking than Tesla, like fit and finish. Tesla is better at other things so it will be real competition, which is good for all of us.

The car OEMs are slow to learn about how to think about the car as a computer. That has been an unexpected winfall for Tesla nobody expected. When the supply chain shortage came, Tesla's much more flexible approach let them switch out parts quickly, or even just drop the radar. Everybody else had to stop making cars.

 

[TravelFree]

Can we stay on topic? CCS adapter has nothing to do with fit and finish etc. Sorry for the blunt wakeup.

 

[OliverM3]

You would think that they're close to releasing in the US. 3 year old thread and 5 months since the release in Korea.
I'm actually surprised people haven't been importing them on scale and ebaying them. And $600 for the Lectron I'll pass.

 

[darknavi]

You would think that they're close to releasing in the US. 3 year old thread and 5 months since the release in Korea.
I'm actually surprised people haven't been importing them on scale and ebaying them. And $600 for the Lectron I'll pass.

It's hard to do when you need to use a Tesla account to purchase them, although it does not seem like they limit the amount a single account can purchase...

 

[Mockingbird]

You would think that they're close to releasing in the US. 3 year old thread and 5 months since the release in Korea.
I'm actually surprised people haven't been importing them on scale and ebaying them. And $600 for the Lectron I'll pass.

I am more surprised that nobody except for EVHub has made a pass-through third-party adapter.

 

[android04]

I am more surprised that nobody except for EVHub has made a pass-through third-party adapter.

I am a well, but it's probably because nobody that can knows about the adapter and that there's demand for it. I'm hoping Setec makes a pass-through adapter to go with their CHAdeMO-emulating adapter for Teslas with CCS support. They obviously have what they need to make it.

 

[bradtem]

I am a well, but it's probably because nobody that can knows about the adapter and that there's demand for it. I'm hoping Setec makes a pass-through adapter to go with their CHAdeMO-emulating adapter for Teslas with CCS support. They obviously have what they need to make it.

If I were SETEC, I would be shutting down production of these adapters to that I have sold them out by the time the Tesla OEM adapter gets to the market. I estimate that will cost $200, and be Tesla supported -- how can they compete against that. Now that the J1772 adapter from Tesla is $50 it is unclear why anybody is buying the more costly aftermarket units -- other than not bothering to check the Tesla site, as I almost did not do before ordering.

An aftermarket seller needs to either be a fair bit cheaper than the OEM part, or make something the OEM refuses to make. I don't see them competing with OEM adapters as long as Tesla is pricing them reasonably fairly. (Parts that handle many kilowatts will always cost a bit more than you might think for what's in them.) This is doubly true when Tesla decides to actively block out the aftermarket products, not so much to stop competition but as to avoid safety risk. (Though some OEMs do it to block competition.)

Even now people are managing to get them from Korea. The main unsettled question will be those of us with older charge controllers who can't use it. How long will we have to wait? But if you are making a smart adapter it's not a great bet to make that this won't happen soon enough, and undercut you -- the price in Europe did.

The main annoyance is for those of us who are waiting, since they discontinued the CHAdeMO. But the crazy price of those discontinued adapters should have the bottom fall out when the adapter starts shipping. I am surprised the supply on ebay is still small, because those who have them (and know about this) should be thinking about selling for the very high price today until the price drops. Once the CCS and controller card are available for something like $400, just what would you pay for a huge bulky, 50kw limited CdM adapter that only works on one stall in EA stations?

 

[OliverM3]

If I were SETEC, I would be shutting down production of these adapters to that I have sold them out by the time the Tesla OEM adapter gets to the market. I estimate that will cost $200, and be Tesla supported -- how can they compete against that. Now that the J1772 adapter from Tesla is $50 it is unclear why anybody is buying the more costly aftermarket units -- other than not bothering to check the Tesla site, as I almost did not do before ordering.

An aftermarket seller needs to either be a fair bit cheaper than the OEM part, or make something the OEM refuses to make. I don't see them competing with OEM adapters as long as Tesla is pricing them reasonably fairly. (Parts that handle many kilowatts will always cost a bit more than you might think for what's in them.) This is doubly true when Tesla decides to actively block out the aftermarket products, not so much to stop competition but as to avoid safety risk. (Though some OEMs do it to block competition.)

Even now people are managing to get them from Korea. The main unsettled question will be those of us with older charge controllers who can't use it. How long will we have to wait? But if you are making a smart adapter it's not a great bet to make that this won't happen soon enough, and undercut you -- the price in Europe did.

The main annoyance is for those of us who are waiting, since they discontinued the CHAdeMO. But the crazy price of those discontinued adapters should have the bottom fall out when the adapter starts shipping. I am surprised the supply on ebay is still small, because those who have them (and know about this) should be thinking about selling for the very high price today until the price drops. Once the CCS and controller card are available for something like $400, just what would you pay for a huge bulky, 50kw limited CdM adapter that only works on one stall in EA stations?

Actually now would be the perfect time for SETEC to slash the price before the Tesla one comes out. I bet a bunch of people would buy it at $300 now because they're tired of waiting for Tesla.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Actually now would be the perfect time for SETEC to slash the price before the Tesla one comes out. I bet a bunch of people would buy it at $300 now because they're tired of waiting for Tesla.

That presumes they have a lot of stock that they worry about having trouble selling out. If inventory costs are low or non-existent and they don't have much stock, they can wait it out. Right now it is still unclear how the retrofits and costs may go, and Setec may still get a jump in demand if retrofits are backed up or cost more than expected.

 

[Y_4_speed]

I tried my CCS1 adapter on a few different charging stations on a road trip this weekend and there are still some kinks that need to be worked out.

I reported a few posts back that I couldn’t get a 200 kW charger to activate and I got recommended to try another one by a friendly TMC member. So today I tried a different 200 kW charging station and after a failure message the first try it worked on the second. Was so excited to see 114 kW charge rate but that joy only lasted for a minute. 2 minutes in to the charge it dropped to 30 kW and the next to 17 kW and stayed there for several minutes. I finally gave up and moved to another 60 kW station next to it and pulled 40 kW consistently. Just 2 day before the exact same station delivered 51 kW while I was on a higher battery charge. Strange. There are clearly some issues between Tesla and these CCS charging stations that still needs to be worked out

 

[cwerdna]

The above screen immediately made me think it was BTC Power.

Sure enough, the unit looks like High Power Charger Dispenser.

 

[Mockingbird]

The above screen immediately made me think it was BTC Power.

Sure enough, the unit looks like High Power Charger Dispenser.

That is indeed a BTC Power unit.

 

[MP3Mike]

I finally gave up and moved to another 60 kW station next to it and pulled 40 kW consistently. Just 2 day before the exact same station delivered 51 kW while I was on a higher battery charge. Strange.

That is to be expected. The low kW charges are current limited so you don't get higher rates until the SOC, I.e voltage, is higher.