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CHAdeMO Adapter Firmware Update Available

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Padelford

Member
Supporting Member
Jul 1, 2017
685
637
Seattle
I had my CHAdeMO adapter firmware updated today at the Seattle SC. I believe this enables M3 charging, as the “new” M3 adapter shown on the Tesla website looks and costs the same as mine. I’ll have to find a Model 3 owner to test.

This is the second firmware update I’ve done. There aren’t any notifications of availability. One has to ask at an SC. Unfortunately, there’s no way to tell the firmware level of the adapter AFAIK.
 
Last time I looked into this and asked the service center in SLC if they could update the firmware on my CHAdeMO adaptor they looked at me like I was nuts. Said they'd never heard about that being a thing before.

My adaptor works fine so I'm not exactly sure what a firmware update would get me anyway.
 
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Last time I looked into this and asked the service center in SLC if they could update the firmware on my CHAdeMO adaptor they looked at me like I was nuts. Said they'd never heard about that being a thing before.

My adaptor works fine so I'm not exactly sure what a firmware update would get me anyway.
Ouch that they don't know about that. The updates are generally to deal with some occasional weird incompatibilities they find with some brands of stations. When i had my four year service done, I asked the service ranger to check about updates for my CHAdeMO adapter. He looked up what I had and what was available and said there was only one newer version, and it was to fix something with some European CHAdeMO stations, so since I said I was sure I would never be encountering that, we didn't do it.
 
I had my CHAdeMO adapter firmware updated today at the Seattle SC. I believe this enables M3 charging, as the “new” M3 adapter shown on the Tesla website looks and costs the same as mine. I’ll have to find a Model 3 owner to test.

This is the second firmware update I’ve done. There aren’t any notifications of availability. One has to ask at an SC. Unfortunately, there’s no way to tell the firmware level of the adapter AFAIK.

Does this have any impact on Model X? This is the Model X charging forum.
 
I have no idea as to where you are with respect to a Service Center or even what part of Canada you are in but in Quebec east of Estrie and into the Maritimes it's pretty much CHAdeMO or nothing. If your car is under warranty I think you have every right to demand that they fix it to work with CHAdeMO adapters.
 
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That's not your problem - it's theirs. But I would imagine that they have a test box which is used to diagnose charger connection problems by simulating the bus communications of any first, second or third level charger which can be connected to the car. As you say, without such a tester how would they be able to diagnose charging problems?

Now that we've established that you are in Virginia, might I suggest trying Rockville if you aren't getting satisfaction from Tysons? Unless, of course, you are in Bristol or some place like that. How much effort you are willing to expend on this depends, I suppose, on how much you want it. In the States you can pretty much get by without it. There is one drive where I find it convenient to charge at a CHAdeMO station rather than an SC but the prices are atrocious not to mention that the adapter itself is $500.
 
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Has anyone had the firmware update fix their CHADEMO adapter?

We recently got a "Unable to DC Fast Charge / Supercharge" after multiple tries at 2 different chargers. One of the chargers worked for us in the past and the other was a random new charger. The SC updated the CHADEMO firmware and gave us a loaner adapter to test. Both my adapter and the loaner adapter worked but at a different location close to home.

Possibilities:
1. The firmware update resolved an issue.
2. The charges we tried were no working. (Neither had issues reported on Plugshare)
3. The car is having intermittent issues.
4. My adapter is having intermittent issues.

Unfortunately the SC has no way to test the functionality of the CHADEMO.
 
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Last time I looked into this and asked the service center in SLC if they could update the firmware on my CHAdeMO adaptor they looked at me like I was nuts. Said they'd never heard about that being a thing before.

My adaptor works fine so I'm not exactly sure what a firmware update would get me anyway.
Here in Oregon I have disappointing results with the Webesco/(formerly AV network) CHaDeMo stations. About 50-75% of the time these require reboots so ~15 minutes fussing with it then a 1-800 call to reboot. They are connected via cellphones at about 110baud so that takes time, then they boot Windows Bob or something slow before they come back online. Then still don’t work 30% of the time. Annoying when towing a trailer. I can’t believe Nissan Leaf owners have this problem with the same stations so I expect the adapter is to blame. Hoping firmware would help.
 
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[QUOTE="...p.are atrocious not to mention that the adapter itself is $500.[/QUOTE]

Usually but there are 2 that I know of that charge only $0.19/kw which is cheap in SoCal (and the secret one in the inland empire that's free). The one I'll never frequent is EA.
 
I can’t believe Nissan Leaf owners have this problem with the same stations so I expect the adapter is to blame. Hoping firmware would help.

Ha! I currently have both a Leaf and a Model Y, and I can assure you that the success rate for CHAdeMO charging a Leaf is about 50%. Maybe a bit better on the Chargepoint and EVgo networks, but most non-Tesla DCQC stations are so unreliable as to discourage any reasonable person from buying a non-Tesla EV.
 
Not to mention their prices
Yeah, CHAdeMO is the worst of all worlds, except when it's free. With my TM3 I am able to get from my house near SF to San Diego and back on free CHAdeMO charging. So much faster than trying to do it with free J1772 charging. I am retired, so I have more time than money, but road tripping on Level 2 chargers is still too slow.

All the free power company chargers around California means it only took me a bit over half a year to pay off the $450 cost of the adapter. Now all that free power is free. Just like the free solar power at home should be free by next spring when I pay off the system here.
 
Yeah, CHAdeMO is the worst of all worlds, except when it's free. With my TM3 I am able to get from my house near SF to San Diego and back on free CHAdeMO charging. So much faster than trying to do it with free J1772 charging. I am retired, so I have more time than money, but road tripping on Level 2 chargers is still too slow.

All the free power company chargers around California means it only took me a bit over half a year to pay off the $450 cost of the adapter. Now all that free power is free. Just like the free solar power at home should be free by next spring when I pay off the system here.

Time out... there's free chademo charging??? I'm in CA... where!?

I picked up a used Chademo adapter off of FB marketplace for $300 as a stop gap/emergency but have yet to use it. But since my new (to me) Model X doesn't have free lifetime supercharging, free Chademo charging sure would be nice!

EDIT: I'm guessing Nissan dealerships, and I forgot about using plugshare to filter via toggling "payment required" off. But any neat/reliable locations would be nice too!
 
Time out... there's free chademo charging??? I'm in CA... where!?
There's some free and discounted CHAdeMO (and now CCS) charging via Home Page - DRIVEtheARC. It's only in limited parts of Nor Cal. Randy Spencer has been taking advantage of the free (now free/discounted) CHAdeMO via that and I've been doing the same with CCS, which got quietly added to be free/discounted earlier this year.