Moderator comment - Please consult a qualified electrician before attempting work such as this.
Hi Everyone,
I've long been slightly irked by having to pull my phone out to unlock the charging cable, wait while the car wakes up etc. It's a bit of a faff in the rain and I'm lazy!. I've been searching for a way to retrofit a 'Tesla button' to my existing charging cable, and found that 'EV Charge King' in the Netherlands do a DIY retrofit kit that can add this function to your existing type 2 cable. See Tesla retrofit button kit - evChargeking for details.
Better still, it supports charging cables that don't have 3v feed from the charger, or rather, cables that aren't wired for that by allowing use of a CR2032-type Lithium button cell. Stupidly, I forgot to order one with my retrofit kit, so I soldered some fly leads directly to a CR2032 cell and insulated it (a bit sketchy!).
Installation is a matter of finding a space to install the button in the connector shell, drilling a 16mm hole. Next step is to cut the PP/PE link, which has either a 220 Ohm (for 32A cable) or 680 Ohm (for 16A cable) in line. The circuit board provides the correct resistance, but you must order either the 16A or 32A version of the kit as needed.
Testing:
All in all, an easy enough job if you can solder and it gives a great improvement in usability.
Regards
Alex
Hi Everyone,
I've long been slightly irked by having to pull my phone out to unlock the charging cable, wait while the car wakes up etc. It's a bit of a faff in the rain and I'm lazy!. I've been searching for a way to retrofit a 'Tesla button' to my existing charging cable, and found that 'EV Charge King' in the Netherlands do a DIY retrofit kit that can add this function to your existing type 2 cable. See Tesla retrofit button kit - evChargeking for details.
Better still, it supports charging cables that don't have 3v feed from the charger, or rather, cables that aren't wired for that by allowing use of a CR2032-type Lithium button cell. Stupidly, I forgot to order one with my retrofit kit, so I soldered some fly leads directly to a CR2032 cell and insulated it (a bit sketchy!).
Installation is a matter of finding a space to install the button in the connector shell, drilling a 16mm hole. Next step is to cut the PP/PE link, which has either a 220 Ohm (for 32A cable) or 680 Ohm (for 16A cable) in line. The circuit board provides the correct resistance, but you must order either the 16A or 32A version of the kit as needed.
- red wire to +3.3V (or positive terminal of 3v coin cell, if fitted)
- green wire goes to PE terminal of connector and negative terminal of the coin cell, if fitted
- purple wire goes to the PP terminal of the connector
- grey wires go to the pushbutton switch
Testing:
- Pressing the button causes the flap to open
- Inserting the charging cable locks the cable in place, as normal
- Pressing the button while locked will release it
- If the car is charging, pressing the button will stop the charge, and unlock the cable.
All in all, an easy enough job if you can solder and it gives a great improvement in usability.
Regards
Alex
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