Do you own a CHAdeMO adapter?

[israndy]

Tesla has been sold out for weeks and there are Superchargers everywhere. The Model 3 only recently received support for it. It does seem like these are NOT very popular, but maybe they are so a poll is required.

Personally I gave up on waiting for CCS and on finding one cheap on eBay. My joke is that I am taking one for the team by spending the money because Murphy's Law dictates that now the CCS adapter will show up on Tesla's website and probably be delivered to others before I get my CHAdeMO.

 

[SageBrush]

I decided to rent one should I ever take my Tesla up to Canada to parks where the Supercharger network is lacking. That is my last use case, and it is disappearing fast.

 

[NickFie]

Got the adapter 2 years ago for our S. Used once with S, once with 3. Both tests.

More potential use cases two years ago. Still reassuring to have the option.

 

[webbbcam]

I’ve used my adapter 4 times since I got it. Twice it got me home from Seattle when I left puget sound with inadequate charge for the snow and wind conditions over snoqualmie. The north bend super charger can’t come soon enough.

I don’t regret buying it and would probably spring for a CCS once it becomes available.

 

[wws]

Appreciate you taking "a hit for the team".

Living in California, with as you say Superchargers Everywhere, I haven't needed a CHAdeMO adapter at all. But I recently did a 4500+ mile road trip with a group of other folks - including a Model S and a Model X. Both of them carried CHAdeMO adapters. There definitely were places when we were off the Supercharger Highway where their CHAdeMO adapters were useful to them. But since my TM3 LR had significantly more range, I didn't need the extra CHAdeMO boosts near as much as they did. I did try it twice - once in Tooele, Utah just to test it out, and once in Fallon, Nevada to get enough boost to make it to the South Lake Tahoe Supercharger. In the first case, the Tooele Supercharger wasn't very far away. And in the second case, I could easily have used L2 charging while doing some other sightseeing.

We drove across U.S. 50 between Ely and Fallon, Nevada where the State of Nevada is going to be installing some EV charging facilities over the next year or two. Of course they will be CCS/CHAdeMO sites. But since they weren't installed yet, we used 14-50s at RV parks. Nothing on Teslas "coming soon" map out there. So for cruising around rural Nevada on U.S. 50 or U.S. 93, a CHAdeMO adapter (or now that you've ordered your CHAdeMO adapter, the upcoming CCS adapter) will soon be handy to have.

 

[ai4px]

I took one for Murphy’s law team and it hasn’t worked... had the CCS adapter for months and not a hint of the CCS adapter in the US market. Here’s something that’s hilarious.... I bought a used one and the seller agreed to meet me at an EVGO location in Charlotte NC. The station kept rebooting... we tried 3-4 times. So we drove to another location about 6 miles away and it worked on the 2nd try. EVGO, Chargepoint and EA are giving the EV driving public a bad taste in their mouths. So dont lament the lack of a CCS adapter, it probably wouldn’t work anyway! Ha!

My joke is that I am taking one for the team by spending the money because Murphy's Law dictates that now the CCS adapter will show up on Tesla's website and probably be delivered to others before I get my CHAdeMO.

 

[David99]

I have one and have used it a lot. Not on a daily basis, but on road trips it was very helpful. There were situations where it was the only option.
Sometimes it's just convenient. Some places we visited had a CHADeMO station right where we parked, so it was just convenient to use it. Sure I could have stopped at a supercharger, but it would have taken more time and going out of my way. Using the CHADeMO station cost me zero time.

I really hope there will be a CCS adapter for the US soon. I would buy one right away. Again, it's not the lack of Superchargers, it's having access to more choices and options. There are many CCS stations by EA and EVgo and others and they are not used much as of now. Having access to them is clearly an advantage.

 

[Blup85]

Bought one, rented it out twice, never used it... not even once.. so I sold it

 

[ReddyLeaf]

I’ve never bought one, though I have borrowed one several times to test new CHAdeMO chargers and for trips, once where it was actually useful (Cranbrook BC).

 

[PARNY]

Bought one two years ago when I purchased a Model S. Used it only a few times. Found it works about half the time at EV GO locations. Some locations will not connect, others work fine. Seems to be related to software level that the charger is running on. I have not tried it on Electrify America locations.

 

[srs5694]

It does seem like these are NOT very popular, but maybe they are so a poll is required.

This poll will have some serious self-selection bias -- I'd expect people who own CHAdeMO adapters to be far more likely to click on the thread, and therefore to answer the poll, than people who don't own one.

FWIW, I bought a CHAdeMO adapter mainly as "insurance." Although Tesla's Supercharger network is superior to the ad-hoc network of CCS and CHAdeMO stations, the fact that it's run by a single company is its Achilles heel. Somebody could break into Tesla's servers and bring the whole network down, and with no other options for DC fast charging, that could leave Tesla owners stranded -- unless they happen to have CHAdeMO adapters. (Of course, somebody could break into EA's servers, thus impacting owners of Bolts and Leafs, but then there'd be options for charging on EVgo, ChargePoint, dealers' DC fast chargers, etc. That's one big advantage of having multiple providers.) Likewise, if Tesla experiences a billing glitch, if Tesla files for bankruptcy, etc., having the CHAdeMO adapter in my trunk while on a road trip will enable me to get home. Even aside from these disaster scenarios, there are a few areas in the continental US where Superchargers aren't common but there are at least a few CHAdeMO stations. Monetarily, it's probably not worth the $450 cost for this "insurance" -- but that's the way of all insurance. You pay more than is statistically reasonable for something because the cost of not having it if something really bad happens is so high.

A secondary benefit of having a CHAdeMO adapter is that it opens up more options for where to stop on road trips. If there's a CHAdeMO station at a restaurant I like, and a Supercharger ten miles down the road is located near a less appealing restaurant, I can stop at the CHAdeMO station, provided the 50 kW maximum charge rate is acceptable.

FWIW, shortly after I received my CHAdeMO adapter I took a road trip from Rhode Island to Niagara Falls. I initially tried to do the outbound trip on CHAdeMO. I could have done so, but my next-to-last "safety" charge was at an EA station that was recalcitrant, so I ended up moving on to a Supercharger a little further on. I could have made it to my destination even without that charge, but my SoC on arrival would have been quite low, and the L2 charging options there were a bit limited. I had no problems at three other CHAdeMO stations (one EVgo and two operated by the State of New York). Overall, my impression is that relying exclusively on CHAdeMO for this road trip would have been possible, and would have imposed little additional travel-time costs had I been able to L2 charge at my destination, but Superchargers are definitely more convenient.

 

[israndy]

This poll will have some serious self-selection bias

Cannot get around it, unless you have a suggestion

 

[brianman]

Another CHAdeMO adapter owner here. Used less than 5 times.

Something to keep in mind if you take multi-Tesla trips (caravans or larger family): at charging locations where there's a mixture of J1772 and CHAdeMO, the adapter allows for two cars to be charging at once. We used this technique at Centralia when the superchargers were down (being upgraded) while traveling in our S P85D paired with a friend's S 60; his 60 really needed juice so he got the CHAdeMO while we used the Roadster adapter across the street at Burgermaster.

Roadster and CHAdeMO adapters are about having options that make trips simpler, shorter, faster, or just less stressful.

 

[marksvend]

I’ve used mine twice. Once was when heading north in Madras, OR to avoid having to detour 20min to The Dalles Supercharger on the way to Yakima.

Another time was when heading east on I-90 in Ritzville when 2 of 4 supercharger stalls were broken with the other two in use. I chose to use the nearby CHAdeMO rather than waiting.

I almost used it another time when heading to Whistler and the Squamish Supercharger had no power. Instead I decided to risk it and arrive with under 10%.

 

[Rocky_H]

It's kind of funny that I haven't used mine in a couple of years, but I did just lend it out to another Tesla owner here in Boise a few weeks ago for a trip up to northern Idaho.

 

[israndy]

I have JOINED your ranks! Mine arrived this morning and I was able to charge the car from 15 miles of range with the frost icon up, to 90% in an hour and 24 min. Nice to have YouTube and Netflix and Hulu to keep me entertained while I wait.

That seems like it's pretty fast, not sure if it can go faster than 50kW, but I have spent 45 minutes doing the same charge at a Supercharger. I am much happier than when I plug into a J1772 and am told it can be 9-24+ hours to finish that big a charge...

I am off to DriveTheArc.com

 

[miimura]

I am off to DriveTheArc.com

Just remember that those can be noticeably slower because they're all capped at 100A DC. So, more like 36kW than 43kW. If you want the free charging, make sure to set your profile vehicle to one that has CHAdeMO from the factory.

 

[jackgopack4]

Planning to make use of my adapter on a trip to Northwest Arkansas soon, where there are no Superchargers of which to speak.

 

[Ryefry]

With 110 Francis Solar charger locations getting installed in state, Oklahoma is probably the best location in the country to buy a CHAdeMO adapter.

 

[Vinc]

I’ve used mine twice. Once was when heading north in Madras, OR to avoid having to detour 20min to The Dalles Supercharger on the way to Yakima.

Another time was when heading east on I-90 in Ritzville when 2 of 4 supercharger stalls were broken with the other two in use. I chose to use the nearby CHAdeMO rather than waiting.

I almost used it another time when heading to Whistler and the Squamish Supercharger had no power. Instead I decided to risk it and arrive with under 10%.

Exact same here. I have used mine a couple of times not because there were not superchargers nearby, but because they were all full and I could not wait. And a couple of times more because it allowed leaving the car at the EV charger (charging) when a parking lot was full.