Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

CHAdeMO Initial Impressions...

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
CHAdeMO is great for destination charging where there are usually no superchargers.

Why would you say that? CHAdeMO is the worst for destination charging. $25-75k for the EVSE. If you stay overnight, you need a full charge in 6-8 hours which you can do at 208v/40a with a HPWC or J1772 at an EVSE cost of $700-2,500. How would charging in 1.5 or 2 hours help? Do you want to get up at 2am to let someone else charge?

Um... Destination charging doesn't mean only charging at a hotel. What are you talking about?

Destination charging means when I drive from Arizona to my aunt's house in California, where am I going to charge because the closest SC is 25 miles away and she only has a 110v outlet. Most CHAdeMO locations are in-city locations, so it is an excellent option for destination charging. With a lot of in-city CHAdeMO stations, such as here in Phoenix and many other locations, you can stay anywhere and still have a place to charge that is much faster than a Level 2.

- - - Updated - - -

Stopping for lunch or dinner isn't destination charging.

It absolutely is if I'm charging while eating dinner in a town that I'm visiting where there is no charging facility where I am staying (relative or friend's house, hotel without charging facility, etc.). How do you keep your car fueled in such a situation? I'm at a destination where I need to find a charge. Without CHAdeMO, I'd have to wait hours at an L2 charger or I could pick up my charge a lot faster using CHAdeMO while grabbing some food. You don't get to define what "destination charging" means for everyone because it is a term that covers a wide range of needs and circumstances.
 
There is also no estimated time to complete on the mobile app.

This confuses me a bit with the superchargers (and now CHAdeMO). The charging curve is pretty well known... I don't see why Tesla wouldn't be able to extrapolate a time based on what power is available.

If I can do it using the API (or could before they changed it) Tesla can definitely do it themselves.
 
How does one pronounce "CHAdeMO"? cha DEE mo? CHAD eh mo? cha DEM oh? ???

From Wiki:

CHAdeMO is the trade name of a quick charging method for battery electric vehicles delivering up to 62.5 kW of high-voltage direct current via a special electrical connector. It is proposed as a global industry standard by an association of the same name.[1]

CHAdeMO is an abbreviation of "CHArge de MOve", equivalent to "move using charge" or "move by charge". The name is a grammatically awkward pun for O cha demo ikaga desuka in Japanese,[1] translating to English as "How about some tea?", referring to the time it would take to charge a car.[2] CHAdeMO can charge low-range electric cars in less than half an hour.
 
From Wiki:

CHAdeMO is the trade name of a quick charging method for battery electric vehicles delivering up to 62.5 kW of high-voltage direct current via a special electrical connector. It is proposed as a global industry standard by an association of the same name.[1]

CHAdeMO is an abbreviation of "CHArge de MOve", equivalent to "move using charge" or "move by charge". The name is a grammatically awkward pun for O cha demo ikaga desuka in Japanese,[1] translating to English as "How about some tea?", referring to the time it would take to charge a car.[2] CHAdeMO can charge low-range electric cars in less than half an hour.

I.e. - It's a horrible name for a many people/languages.
 
This confuses me a bit with the superchargers (and now CHAdeMO). The charging curve is pretty well known... I don't see why Tesla wouldn't be able to extrapolate a time based on what power is available.

If I can do it using the API (or could before they changed it) Tesla can definitely do it themselves.

The problem is Superchargers share one charger. If you start alone, all is good. If a second car plugs in, they get some of the power and yours will drop down. There goes your prediction. The opposite is even more dramatic. You plug in as the second car, you only get 20 or 30 kW. The app would tell you you need 2.5 hours. Then the other car leaves and you get full power. Now the charge time goes down to 30 min. I assume Tesla rather doesn't give a prediction than one that changes drastically for reasons that most user would not have a clue and find confusing. I don't know. Just guessing on my end.
 
The problem is Superchargers share one charger. If you start alone, all is good. If a second car plugs in, they get some of the power and yours will drop down. There goes your prediction. The opposite is even more dramatic. You plug in as the second car, you only get 20 or 30 kW. The app would tell you you need 2.5 hours. Then the other car leaves and you get full power. Now the charge time goes down to 30 min. I assume Tesla rather doesn't give a prediction than one that changes drastically for reasons that most user would not have a clue and find confusing. I don't know. Just guessing on my end.

The superchargers don't work quite this way. This is well covered on here. When I get home I'll post a reference (currently on my phone) if someone else hasn't filled in the info.

SC cabinets have 12 chargers. 1st car will not see a reduction.
 
SC cabinets have 12 chargers. 1st car will not see a reduction.

Two stalls share one cabinet. If you plug in as the first car and you're empty you will get 120 kW. If a second car comes, it will get some of the power. If it weren't the case the second car would get nothing for up to 15 min before the taper kicks on for the first car. I'm not sure what the exact numbers are. But that's beside the point. My response was to a question why the charge time isn't predicted at a Supercharger. My point was to explain that there are unforeseeable changes to the power you get at a Supercharger, thus it is impossible to predict the charge duration should any of these events happen. I've been at Superchargers a lot and seen it happen many times.
 
Two stalls share one cabinet. If you plug in as the first car and you're empty you will get 120 kW. If a second car comes, it will get some of the power. If it weren't the case the second car would get nothing for up to 15 min before the taper kicks on for the first car. I'm not sure what the exact numbers are. But that's beside the point. My response was to a question why the charge time isn't predicted at a Supercharger. My point was to explain that there are unforeseeable changes to the power you get at a Supercharger, thus it is impossible to predict the charge duration should any of these events happen. I've been at Superchargers a lot and seen it happen many times.

I've actually consistently got 105KW as the maximum from a supercharger on my P85D, even with remaining distance levels as low as 15 miles. This is at brand new supercharger stations in Florida.

Perhaps the second car would get the remaining 15KW and the first car charge rate would not drop at all?
 
Our First Use

We used our new CHAdeMO connector for the first time on a 400 mile trip last weekend. First charge was at an Aerovironment L3 unit in Sultan Washington. The connector and CHAdeMO plug are rather large and present a real challenge when trying to lock them together. After several failures finally got it locked up and ready to charge. After nearly two years of owning our Model S, I filed to recognize that I had not fully engaged the Tesla end of the connector in the charge port. Well, that lead to the second round of anguish. In 32 degree early morning weather with a memorial service to attend I was nearly ready to plug into the L2 option and call a cab. Fortunately we decided to simply try again; this resulted in success. Very cool. We were getting 393 VDC at 114 Amps. Car registered 153 miles/hour.

Second charge was at an Aervironment L3 located in Skykomish, WA. The connector locked on to the plug without any hesitation. This makes me think the issue with the Sultan L3 was more that unit's fault than the Tesla connector. Charge started and we drew 357 VDC at 115 Amps. Car registered 136 miles/hour. We have a good number of L3 charging opportunities in Washington so are happy with the connector. I have worked out how to hold the connector while pressing the plug into it so even that awkwardness is much resolved.
 
Last edited:
Tried it out today. Max I saw was 42kW.

2015-02-23 16.30.35-1920.jpg

2015-02-23 16.30.50-1920.jpg


2015-02-23 16.32.30-1920.jpg

2015-02-23 16.45.22-1920.jpg


Nissan charger was free and open for all EVs, according to the rep at the dealership. Pretty cool. :)
 
You *could* wrap some 1/8in polyester rope around the plug just outside the push button and then thru the handle hold. Tie tight enough to force a 90* or greater bend into the cable. Then most of the weight would hang on the rope; the torque moment would mostly be removed from the plug. You could glue the rope in place and glue or melt the knots closed. Polyester is sun proof.
--
 
You *could* wrap some 1/8in polyester rope around the plug just outside the push button and then thru the handle hold. Tie tight enough to force a 90* or greater bend into the cable. Then most of the weight would hang on the rope; the torque moment would mostly be removed from the plug. You could glue the rope in place and glue or melt the knots closed. Polyester is sun proof.
--
I was thinking of some sort of strap that could hook on the handle, then inside the trunk. It should be pretty easy to rig something up.

- - - Updated - - -

The whole contraption isn't really all that heavy. I'm not affraid of issues with the charge port.
The adapter itself is heavy enough for me to worry a bit.

Then add weight of the charger's handle and cable, there's probably a good 8-10 lbs of weight hanging off the charge port. I'm more than a little concerned about it.