CCS retrofit for 2013 Model S P85

[aaronw]

I contacted Tesla about having CCS support installed in my 2013 P85 and was told that only 2014 and newer cars are supported. I went into the service mode, however, and the software implied it is supported and offered to reset the PLC gateway for it. Note that I have upgraded my center screen and replaced my battery and also replaced my primary charger when the fuse on my old one died. I did this replacement myself since I was told that it was a communications failure in the charger and ordered a used one on Ebay. The charger might be a 2014 or newer, I'm not sure.
Any chance Tesla is wrong on this? I currently have a SETEC CCS adapter, though due to an arc flash hazard, the charge rate is rather limited and it has always been problematic to use. I plan to keep my car for quite a while and don't have any plans to replace it. I'm going on vacation next month and am planning a number of day trips, but the closest Tesla charger is an hour away (and not near where I'll be going) but there's a CCS station nearby.

 

[DerbyDave]

As I understand it, an additional electronic box is also needed for CCS compatibility on older Tesla's.

 

[aaronw]

Yep. Tesla said it's available for 2014 and newer vehicles, but as far as I can tell there is little if any change between 2012-2014.

 

[GHammer]

My mobile tech told me during my installation that prior to 2014 the cars had a different version of onboard chargers that were not compatible with the current upgrade kit.

 

[aaronw]

It's possible my car is compatible since I replaced the primary charger in my car with an eBay unit. After all that it turned out only a 50A fuse in the charger blew from old age (constant charging at 40A). I'm not sure what year the replacement charger is.

 

[gaswalla]

Since CCS is DC charging and bypasses the onboard charger, I don't understand why the onboard charger would matter.

 

[GHammer]

Since CCS is DC charging and bypasses the onboard charger, I don't understand why the onboard charger would matter.

The mechanism that bypasses the onboard charger (the high voltage junction box) during DC charging is inside the onboard charger in early S's. The tech mentioned to me the incompatibility was in the breakout harness from the new CCS controller to the HVJB.

 

[aaronw]

Doing some research it looks like there are some significant differences in communications between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 chargers. For example, it looks like the Gen 1 chargers drive the contactors directly and handle some of the communications. This is different than Gen 2. Sadly it looks like unless Tesla develops another retrofit for Gen 1 I'm stuck with my Setac CCS adapter.

 

[iller]

Any new ideas about CCS charge 2013 tesla ?

 

[dekuramen]

I'm interested in this as well. My Chademo adapter died I think. I still get green LED on the adapter during pre charge tests, then it fails and gives a CHG_U007 error

 

[Usher]

Any new ideas about CCS charge 2013 tesla ?

I upgraded my 2013 P85 last spring. If I remember right, you can go into the Service section of the app and it was listed in the Upgrades and Accessories section as "CCS Retrofit". I think the cost was around $350 but I don't remember for sure (I also had them do the Continental TPMS upgrade and MCU2 at the same time so I can't check my credit card statement to confirm). They sent out a mobile tech to do the upgrade, it took less than an hour to do.