CHAdeMO Adapter

[AndreSF]

but you'll never know when your best made plans go down the tubes. while it didn't affect me while I was out in CO there was a rock slide that closed I70 for days necessitating a 200+ mile detour. if you were stuck on the wrong side of the pass you'd be SOL without backup charging options.

L2 charging IS a backup option available without $450 adapter... Sure it will take considerably more time to get the juice you need, but it's a very valid option. In fact, I would take 110V overnight charge in such case and stay somewhere for the night (another option).

 

[Beryl]

L2 charging IS a backup option available without $450 adapter... Sure it will take considerably more time to get the juice you need, but it's a very valid option. In fact, I would take 110V overnight charge in such case and stay somewhere for the night (another option).

True slow charging is viable.

Time is critical when you need to get out of harm's way though. In Texas, we have floods and hurricanes and in Colorado we have snow. In my ICE-days, I've been caught a couple of times needing fuel quickly in Colorado. The map (a couple of posts up) convinced me to get the CHAdeMO adapter and the Evgo Flex plan -- a one time $4.95 insurance plan that I'll use a few times per year when I trek back to Colorado and up to Canada.

 

[Electric1]

I tend to push the margin as to where I travel, so lots of adapters end up in my frunk, but the only one I really ever use, and that is with decreasing frequency, is the Chademo.

That said, if you don't want to be sitting at a level two for a long time, the Chademo adapter is good insurance.

... Or to paraphrase Yogi, 'you only need it if you need it'

 

[Rocky_H]

Sure, but I already have 2 cards/memberships even for L2 charging, so getting more of them is just not a prospect I'm excited about. Pay with plugshare would be a good system I think, but could be I'm not looking in the right spot, but I can't find where to put my payment info in plugshare system yet, nor I see any means of obtaining a fob/card in their system.

There is no fob or card; that’s what makes it nice and convenient. Payment is done directly through the Plugshare app on your phone. You have to browse to a specific station on the map, and then for that station, if it is enabled for “Pay with Plugshare”, there will be a space to enter the station ID number and your credit card number.

There was a bug for a little while that if you had location services turned off, or it couldn’t detect that you were within some number of feet of that charger, it wouldn’t offer the payment option, but I think they fixed that now.

 

[AndreSF]

There is no fob or card; that’s what makes it nice and convenient. Payment is done directly through the Plugshare app on your phone. You have to browse to a specific station on the map, and then for that station, if it is enabled for “Pay with Plugshare”, there will be a space to enter the station ID number and your credit card number.

There was a bug for a little while that if you had location services turned off, or it couldn’t detect that you were within some number of feet of that charger, it wouldn’t offer the payment option, but I think they fixed that now.

I've checked out a few stations in my area, and even though there is pay with plugshare noted, the options is showing unavailable... Anyway, the point in moot for me, as I'm not going to fork out $450 for an adapter that might never use. At least not right now...
I like that there is a rental option in the community, but will have to see how that plays out too (closest one member willing to share an adapter for me is 40 miles away). It's nice to have all the possible options of course.

PS. To be fair, just found one CHadeMO EVgo station not too far from my work that does seem to be available with PayWithPlugshare. $9.95 flat fee for 30 min.

 

[AEdennis]

I've checked out a few stations in my area, and even though there is pay with plugshare noted, the options is showing unavailable... Anyway, the point in moot for me, as I'm not going to fork out $450 for an adapter that might never use. At least not right now...
I like that there is a rental option in the community, but will have to see how that plays out too (closest one member willing to share an adapter for me is 40 miles away). It's nice to have all the possible options of course.

You're the best judge of fit for yourself. I believe the OP wanted advice from folks on their experience with it.

I like having the insurance... Then again, I was originally expecting the adapter to be $1000, and then was pleasantly surprised at the price drop to $450.

Considering replacing or getting an additional J1772 to S (or X) adapter is $95 and every other L2 plug was $45, I figured CHAdeMO was inexpensive. Besides, you should check out the cost of Roadster adapters... Much more expensive for L2 than S (or X)

 

[Lloyd]

I have a chademo adapter for 3 years and 60 K miles. I carry it with me on road trips and have never used it.

 

[AndreSF]

You're the best judge of fit for yourself. I believe the OP wanted advice from folks on their experience with it.

I like having the insurance... Then again, I was originally expecting the adapter to be $1000, and then was pleasantly surprised at the price drop to $450.

Considering replacing or getting an additional J1772 to S (or X) adapter is $95 and every other L2 plug was $45, I figured CHAdeMO was inexpensive. Besides, you should check out the cost of Roadster adapters... Much more expensive for L2 than S (or X)

Look, I totally get it, and I don't think we have deviated off original topic. My point is, not only you pay for the adapter (IMO it should be around $250 - $300), but you have to figure out how to pay to multiple different providers of CHadeMO stations. So it is possible to find yourself near a station and with an adapter, but without appropriate fob/card.

 

[kort677]

Look, I totally get it, and I don't think we have deviated off original topic. My point is, not only you pay for the adapter (IMO it should be around $250 - $300), but you have to figure out how to pay to multiple different providers of CHadeMO stations. So it is possible to find yourself near a station and with an adapter, but without appropriate fob/card.

almost every charger will have a contact phone number on it where you can initiate a charging session without having the correct FOB.

 

[dgpcolorado]

but you'll never know when your best made plans go down the tubes. while it didn't affect me while I was out in CO there was a rock slide that closed I70 for days necessitating a 200+ mile detour. if you were stuck on the wrong side of the pass you'd be SOL without backup charging options.

While it is true that the rock slide required a detour, a Chademo adapter would have been of no use since there are no such stations in the mountains. There are J1772 L2 charging options on both detour routes: south via Salida, Monarch Pass, and Montrose (279 miles from Silverthorne to Grand Junction) and north via Kremmling, Steamboat Springs and Craig (288 miles from Silverthorne to GJ). Takes longer but it is doable. It's the Rockies, rock slides happen. Anyone traveling between Denver and Grand Junction would be well-advised to check road conditions at cotrip.org first. I do.

 

[kort677]

while having my chademo adapter may not have been of use in this instance it is possible my other adapters and cords may have been needed and put to use.
the point wasn't about the chademo availability or lack of, my point was when on long distance trips in the "wild" it would be wise to be prepared for any unforeseen events by having multiple abilities and options available to be utilized in the event of an unexpected detour like that rock slide on I70.
Driving an EV today is like driving a gasser a hundred years ago, there were limited options for roads, fuels and maintenance once you got away from the population centers.

 

[bart513]

On a rare occasion I have to drive 280 miles round trip on the same day. The Tesla store no longer allows Tesla owners to charge as they say it takes away from being able to charge their own fleet. I recently found a Chadmeo/ccs charger close by that I can leave my car at (and hopefully not be stolen). Does the CCS work with only a J1772 or do you need another adapter ? Otherwise I may need to splurge for the Chadmeo or stop by a SC that is a little bit out of the way on my drive home versus having it charge closer by the time I'm done working. Any thoughts ?

 

[kort677]

On a rare occasion I have to drive 280 miles round trip on the same day. The Tesla store no longer allows Tesla owners to charge as they say it takes away from being able to charge their own fleet.

that must be unique to your store, I have been able to charge at tesla shops, I wonder if corporate knows that your local tesla shop is limiting the access to their chargers.

 

[TexasEV]

On a rare occasion I have to drive 280 miles round trip on the same day. The Tesla store no longer allows Tesla owners to charge as they say it takes away from being able to charge their own fleet. I recently found a Chadmeo/ccs charger close by that I can leave my car at (and hopefully not be stolen). Does the CCS work with only a J1772 or do you need another adapter ? Otherwise I may need to splurge for the Chadmeo or stop by a SC that is a little bit out of the way on my drive home versus having it charge closer by the time I'm done working. Any thoughts ?

No you can't use CCS. Get the CHAdeMO adapter.

 

[AEdennis]

On a rare occasion I have to drive 280 miles round trip on the same day. The Tesla store no longer allows Tesla owners to charge as they say it takes away from being able to charge their own fleet. I recently found a Chadmeo/ccs charger close by that I can leave my car at (and hopefully not be stolen). Does the CCS work with only a J1772 or do you need another adapter ? Otherwise I may need to splurge for the Chadmeo or stop by a SC that is a little bit out of the way on my drive home versus having it charge closer by the time I'm done working. Any thoughts ?

No you can't use CCS. Get the CHAdeMO adapter.

Clarifying @TexasEV point... So far, Tesla has NOT made an adapter for CCS to Model S/X connector. As such, the CHAdeMO is your only other DC Fast Charge option... (to that end, I know of no other manufacturer that is supporting 2 DCFC options, it's usually either CHAdeMO or CCS or none with other EVs.)

 

[TexasEV]

that must be unique to your store, I have been able to charge at tesla shops, I wonder if corporate knows that your local tesla shop is limiting the access to their chargers.

Many Tesla stores don't have the capacity for an owner to charge there. Sure they will help out in an emergency, but you shouldn't plan to make regular use of it.

 

[Boatguy]

I'm just finishing a trip to the Pacific Northwest that I could not have done without CHAdeMo. No Superchargers in Victoria, or even Vancouver. And also not much in the Seattle area.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I used my CHAdeMO adapter a few days ago and received a "Charge adapter very hot, charge current reduced" alert on my display. It was over 110º outside. I don't remember receiving the same message when I previously used the same charger a couple of weeks ago. Is it normal to receive such an error during an extended CHAdeMO session?

 

[TexasEV]

I used my CHAdeMO adapter a few days ago and received a "Charge adapter very hot, charge current reduced" alert on my display. It was over 110º outside. I don't remember receiving the same message when I previously used the same charger a couple of weeks ago. Is it normal to receive such an error during an extended CHAdeMO session?

I remember someone reported that in a previous summer.

 

[swegman]

I used my CHAdeMO adapter a few days ago and received a "Charge adapter very hot, charge current reduced" alert on my display. It was over 110º outside. I don't remember receiving the same message when I previously used the same charger a couple of weeks ago. Is it normal to receive such an error during an extended CHAdeMO session?

Have you gotten the firmware in the adapter updated? I got that error once, reported it to Tesla and was told the adapter needed the software to be updated. After that, the message did not reappear. I have Tesla check the adapter and update the firmware every time I take the car in to the service center or plan on taking a trip where I may need to use it. Its been firmware updated about 5 times over the years.