Anything keeping j1772 adapters from being stolen frequently?

[Sophias_dad]

IIRC, one of the changes made in the early days of winter last year was to have the charge port never lock below 40F, so it wouldn't freeze in the locked position.

Does this not mean that anyone wanting a free J1772 adapter just has to find a 3 charging on a j1772 charger in the winter?

If it doesn't lock to the car and doesn't lock to the handle, its just $95 dangling in the breeze, $65 used....

I understand that they have redesigned the charge port and now they can lock below 40F, but that still leaves ten-thousands of 3's exposed.

 

[alsetym]

Living in a society where everyone isn't constantly out to get your stuff because there is rule of law, social programs, progressive taxation etc.

Or in the US, the gun in your purse.

 

[Rocky_H]

So get a $1 small padlock. J1772 handles are made with holes for those so you can lock them so that they can't be unlatched.

 

[stephentobrien]

A Youtuber named Mark Dickinson invented a small slide on the device that locks the J1772 adaptor onto your car but slides off when you remove the charger from your car. Ingenious. http://bit.ly/TeslaChargerLock

 

[srs5694]

So get a $1 small padlock. J1772 handles are made with holes for those so you can lock them so that they can't be unlatched.

On mine (a Clipper Creek HCS-40), a padlock doesn't quite lock the two pieces together. Pushing the J1772 handle's button until light resistance is felt, the two pieces won't come apart; but pushing a little bit more produces enough flex that the J1772 handle can be removed from the adapter. It may work better with other J1772 handles, though.

A Youtuber named Mark Dickinson invented a small slide on the device that locks the J1772 adaptor onto your car but slides off when you remove the charger from your car. Ingenious. http://bit.ly/TeslaChargerLock

The concern is about theft of the J1772 adapters in cold weather, when the Tesla may not be locking the car's charge port. In such conditions, the device you reference will be useless, since the J1772 handle plus the Tesla J1772 adapter will be easily removed from the car. It will then be possible to separate the three parts (J1772 handle, Tesla J1772 adapter, and locking ring) and steal the Tesla J1772 adapter (and the locking ring, if the thief wants it).

If the Tesla locks the charge port, as it does in warmer weather, and may in colder weather for at least some cars, then theft is not likely, since the Tesla J1772 adapter will be locked to the car even if the J1772 handle is unplugged. Note: I can neither confirm nor deny that Model 3 charge ports are left unlocked in cold weather; I've had my Model 3 only since late March of last year, so it's not yet been in sub-freezing weather for more than a few hours, if that.

The locking ring you're referencing is useful mainly in preventing people from unplugging your car while it's charging; it does little or nothing to prevent theft of the Tesla J1772 adapter.

 

[Rocky_H]

A Youtuber named Mark Dickinson invented a small slide on the device that locks the J1772 adaptor onto your car but slides off when you remove the charger from your car. Ingenious. http://bit.ly/TeslaChargerLock

The concern is about theft of the J1772 adapters in cold weather, when the Tesla may not be locking the car's charge port. In such conditions, the device you reference will be useless, since the J1772 handle plus the Tesla J1772 adapter will be easily removed from the car. It will then be possible to separate the three parts (J1772 handle, Tesla J1772 adapter, and locking ring) and steal the Tesla J1772 adapter (and the locking ring, if the thief wants it).

Yeah, I was going to link to the Capture Pro from EVANNEX:
CapturePro Charging Lock for Tesla Model S
...but it has this problem. On the S and X, the adapter will always stay locked in the port, and that kind of device would keep it firmly locked together, but because the Model 3 releases when it's below freezing, that renders the locking ring kind of device not effective.

On mine (a Clipper Creek HCS-40), a padlock doesn't quite lock the two pieces together. Pushing the J1772 handle's button until light resistance is felt, the two pieces won't come apart; but pushing a little bit more produces enough flex that the J1772 handle can be removed from the adapter. It may work better with other J1772 handles, though.

I've heard that about a lot of other J1772 handles too. The hole and padlock mechanism is supposed to be there, but on a lot of the handles there is enough "play" and flex to them that it is frequently possible to get it to let go of a Tesla adapter while the padlock is still on. I don't know of another good solution, although a thicker loop of the padlock would give it less wiggle room.

 

[srs5694]

I've heard that about a lot of other J1772 handles too. The hole and padlock mechanism is supposed to be there, but on a lot of the handles there is enough "play" and flex to them that it is frequently possible to get it to let go of a Tesla adapter while the padlock is still on. I don't know of another good solution, although a thicker loop of the padlock would give it less wiggle room.

Just thinking aloud, maybe wrapping some tape around the padlock shank would help. To be sure, an attacker could remove the tape, but it'd take a bit of time and effort, which would increase the risk of getting caught, so that could be effective. Maybe I'll try that on mine. (I park outside, with a Tesla J1772 adapter "permanently" attached to my Clipper Creek's J1772 handle. I figured the padlock might be a useful visual deterrent to theft, even if it's not really effective.)

 

[eprosenx]

IIRC, one of the changes made in the early days of winter last year was to have the charge port never lock below 40F, so it wouldn't freeze in the locked position.

Does this not mean that anyone wanting a free J1772 adapter just has to find a 3 charging on a j1772 charger in the winter?

If it doesn't lock to the car and doesn't lock to the handle, its just $95 dangling in the breeze, $65 used....

I understand that they have redesigned the charge port and now they can lock below 40F, but that still leaves ten-thousands of 3's exposed.

I can confirm that last year when it was cold, the car did unlock my Wall Connector. Not an issue with the wall connector, but a major issue with the UMC or J1772 adapter.

I told Tesla this was unacceptable and very politely but sternly requested they replace my charge port with the new one. They did it! But then the new one was defective and so two more trips to the service center later I am now on my third charge port and it is working flawlessly. Will have to see if it unlocks in the cold weather still with the new hardware.

I believe this is a product defect and Tesla should replace anyone’s charge port who asks. Fixing a hardware defect in software by degrading functionality is not acceptable in my book.

 

[Rocky_H]

I told Tesla this was unacceptable and very politely but sternly requested they replace my charge port with the new one. They did it! But then the new one was defective and so two more trips to the service center later I am now on my third charge port and it is working flawlessly. Will have to see if it unlocks in the cold weather still with the new hardware.

I had to think about this to figure out what you were talking about regarding "the new one", because you didn't describe it.

There was the issue about the downward slant of the handle into the port leading to water collecting in the charge port and then freezing in there, and it being unable to unlatch. I thought the software charge to make it unlock when charging completes was THE only fix for that. I never knew they came out with any different hardware part that addressed this.

 

[Sophias_dad]

I was already intending to ask for the new charging port assembly when I go for my appt to get the HW3 update....aka never.

I understand they re-changed the SW after the initial change, so the port remains locked, at least during charging. I'll experiment with it once it gets cold enough to be an issue.