CCS Adapter for North America

[Buckminster]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1617389327214051329

 

[brainhouston]

So, its still an adapter, just stays locked either to cable or station depending on the car?

 

[tivoboy]

I think the CSS adaptor will lock INTO the SC, and be unlocked via app for a non tesla user.. I don’t think the Tesla connector will be LOCKED into the CCS adaptor, unless possibly when the CCS adaptor is unlocked in app. I think that would be more just a convenience and minor safety benefit rather than anything else.

I would expect the traditional Tesla male connector to pop In and out of the CSS adaptor more similar to todays Tesla adaptors to their semi-magnetic holster.

Of course, IF the adaptor is not ’checked in‘ back into the SC by a CSS app user, then they probably get charged for it via a payment method in app.

 

[srs5694]

I think the CSS adaptor will lock INTO the SC, and be unlocked via app for a non tesla user.. I don’t think the Tesla connector will be LOCKED into the CCS adaptor, unless possibly when the CCS adaptor is unlocked in app. I think that would be more just a convenience and minor safety benefit rather than anything else.
...
Of course, IF the adaptor is not ’checked in‘ back into the SC by a CSS app user, then they probably get charged for it via a payment method in app.

I expect that the risk of theft would be too great if the adapter did not lock onto the NACS plug when the CCS1 part was in use, but I admit I know little enough about when CCS1 vehicles lock the CCS1 cable to the car to be 100% certain of that. If the car hangs onto the cable under most circumstances, then charging the driver if the adapter goes missing might be adequate to deter theft. OTOH, if the car releases the cable (or Magic Dock adapter, in this case) when charging stops, then a vandal could press the button to stop charging, remove the NACS plug, and walk off with the adapter. (I say "vandal" rather than "thief" because I expect the adapter to be useless except at its assigned station, unless Tesla starts selling something very similar to CCS1 vehicle owners for use at other Superchargers. Thus, I expect that this scenario would be, essentially, vandalism.) This hypothetical scenario would be prevented by having the adapter lock itself to the NACS plug when it's removed from the pedestal.

 

[Dirtman16]

I think the CSS adaptor will lock INTO the SC, and be unlocked via app for a non tesla user.. I don’t think the Tesla connector will be LOCKED into the CCS adaptor, unless possibly when the CCS adaptor is unlocked in app. I think that would be more just a convenience and minor safety benefit rather than anything else.

I would expect the traditional Tesla male connector to pop In and out of the CSS adaptor more similar to todays Tesla adaptors to their semi-magnetic holster.

Of course, IF the adaptor is not ’checked in‘ back into the SC by a CSS app user, then they probably get charged for it via a payment method in app.

This has got to be the right answer. Quite elegant actually.

 

[israndy]

I don’t think the Tesla connector will be LOCKED into the CCS adaptor

Nope. Since Tesla's have the locking mechanism in the car and CCS has the locking mechanism in the plug it would be difficult to have an adapter that goes from a Supercharger into a CCS car UNLESS there was a way to lock it to the Supercharger plug powered by the adapter. This makes sense then that the only adapter one could have would be a Magic Dock like solution, powered by the Supercharger to control the latching. If you just purchased one and kept it in your car there's a chance the battery in the adapter that controls latching could die and you would be unable to release it from the Supercharger.

So the Magic Dock has to latch to the Supercharger or the Supercharger cable or someone could walk with it or unplug the cable while charging. It's the only way it could work

 

[Jeff N]

Nope. Since Tesla's have the locking mechanism in the car and CCS has the locking mechanism in the plug….

At least for CCS Type 1 (North America etc.), the locking mechanism is in the car somewhat equivalent to the native Tesla solution but less elegant (as usual).

 

[MarcG]

Finally got to use my CCS1 adapter for the first time at an Electrify America station. I plugged into a 350kW with 5% SoC and initially thought the barging station was limiting me to 150kW, but it was just very.. slowly.. ramping to a peak of 222kW, which happened over 10 minutes into the charging session at 37% SoC.

Not sure if that’s unique to this specific EA station in Auburn, CA but if that’s the case more broadly, I feel like an advantage of Tesla Superchargers is how quickly they can ramp to max kW rates of 250kW.

And no, my battery wasn’t cold even though I was just driving back from skiing in Tahoe. I was navigating to the SC nextdoor and the battery was being pre-conditioned. I was even tracking the temps through Tes-LAX and hit over 40°C before starting the charge session.

Some pics for your viewing pleasure:

 

[GtiMart]

I believe amps are limited to 500A on those chargers. Since the new model S is 450V max, you have a theoretical max of about 225kW. Since your battery was at 5% the requested voltage was much lower than 450V so you got less kW. As your battery charged up, voltage went higher and thus kW went higher.

 

[MP3Mike]

And no, my battery wasn’t cold even though I was just driving back from skiing in Tahoe. I was navigating to the SC nextdoor and the battery was being pre-conditioned.

Why did you decide to use the EA station? Just wanted to test and see if it worked? Was the Supercharger next door full? Was it because EA is cheaper?

 

[threeputts]

Finally got to use my CCS1 adapter for the first time at an Electrify America station. I plugged into a 350kW with 5% SoC and initially thought the barging station was limiting me to 150kW, but it was just very.. slowly.. ramping to a peak of 222kW, which happened over 10 minutes into the charging session at 37% SoC.

Great result IMO. I've seen up to 187kW on a Model 3 LR, not surprised a current gen S can do better.

 

[MarcG]

Why did you decide to use the EA station? Just wanted to test and see if it worked? Was the Supercharger next door full? Was it because EA is cheaper?

Great questions. The SC was full with one other person waiting, which was the main driver to try EA. I bought the CCS1 adapter a while ago and never used it until now, because Tesla SC is just more convenient (plug & charge within seconds). With EA you need to open the app, tap your phone near the charger, confirm on the screen.. takes a bit more time/effort. This on top of the initial app setup, load up a credit card, authorize pre-payments/reloads if balance goes under a certain balance, etc.

As for the price to charge, rates were identical ($0.43/kWh) between that Tesla SC and the EA charge station for non-EA members. I ended up joining EA at $4/month because the membership rate for that station was 12c/kWh lower($0.31/kWh), and I knew I was going to charge more than 33kWh (4/0.12), so even with this one session the $4 membership was more than made by the lower charge rates.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

Back to the CCS1/Tesla plug setup. My understanding is:

• If you press on the little "dot" on the Tesla plug only the Tesla plug will come free of the station
• If you pull the entire setup out, the CCS1 plug, with Tesla plug attached, will pull out (for CCS1 cars natch!)

The CCS1 plug will either be locked in the Tesla SC post or locked onto the Tesla plug.

Of course you won't get any juice unless you have authorization from Tesla.

Rich

 

[Jeff N]

I believe amps are limited to 500A on those chargers. Since the new model S is 450V max, you have a theoretical max of about 225kW. Since your battery was at 5% the requested voltage was much lower than 450V so you got less kW. As your battery charged up, voltage went higher and thus kW went higher.

Back in late November, I charged my 2022 Model Y LR on similar-looking charger hardware installed at Electrify America at the Pacific View Mall in Ventura, California.

I got charged at a peak of 243 kW, according to my EA receipt email, and I captured a photo inside the car showing 237 kW at 17% state of charge. Based upon that model’s battery pack nominal voltage, this tends to imply a peak of around 600A.

It turns out that the Out of Spec YouTube channel had a similar experience around the same time at another EA location.

 

[Dirtman16]

Back in late November, I charged my 2022 Model Y LR on similar-looking charger hardware installed at Electrify America at the Pacific View Mall in Ventura, California.

I got charged at a peak of 243 kW, according to my EA receipt email, and I captured a photo inside the car showing 237 kW at 17% state of charge. Based upon that model’s battery pack nominal voltage, this tends to imply a peak of around 600A.

This appears to be dependent on the specific hardware used. So, some EA stations will support more than 500 amps, while some derate all the way down to 350 amps. It's one of the annoying parts about using EA, an inconsistent experience.

 

[avs007]

This appears to be dependent on the specific hardware used. So, some EA stations will support more than 500 amps, while some derate all the way down to 350 amps. It's one of the annoying parts about using EA, an inconsistent experience.

I've been to a few 150kw EA chargers (for example, BofA in Davis, CA) that are rated for 375A, instead of the usual 350A or whatever, so I was able to pull the full 150 kW with my Y, instead of the normal 137 kW I normally pull at a 150kw EA charger.

 

[israndy]

If you look carefully each EA charger is made by a different manufacturer that is listed on the unit. So just like you can tell the difference between a V2 and a V3 Supercharger you can tell the difference between the various manufacturers and know what to expect. EA is trying to gussy them all out as the same by painting and lighting them similarly (and running the same software). They even label the 175kW chargers as 150kW just so they will all seem more uniform even though you will get a different charge experience on different manufacturer units.

 

[srs5694]

If you look carefully each EA charger is made by a different manufacturer that is listed on the unit. So just like you can tell the difference between a V2 and a V3 Supercharger you can tell the difference between the various manufacturers and know what to expect. EA is trying to gussy them all out as the same by painting and lighting them similarly (and running the same software). They even label the 175kW chargers as 150kW just so they will all seem more uniform even though you will get a different charge experience on different manufacturer units.

Sometimes people post photos of the data plaques at EV charging sites to PlugShare, so if you have the time, you can scroll through the photos to try to ascertain what each stall's true capabilities are. Unfortunately, this information tends to get buried. It'd be more helpful if it were an official part of the PlugShare listing.

 

[miimura]

If you're looking for high power CCS for your Tesla to chow down some electrons, this style Delta "350kW" charger can deliver 540 amps DC.

This picture, stolen from Plugshare, shows a location in Fremont, CA that has this one 350kW unit plus two of the short 100kW Delta CCS + CHAdeMO units. Plugshare indicates that the 350kW unit is "Out of Order" and the EVgo app says "last used 1 month ago". So, I guess this is not a good example of where you should go to charge....

 

[israndy]

I saw Kyle from OutASpecStudios found a 590 amp CCS charger, getting 250kW on a 400v car

What?! Tesla Charging At 257kW With CCS Adapter! Over 500A At Public DC Fast Charging Station