J1772 Charging for the Tesla Roadster

[dwegmull]

I think the contacts are the same. In the MC120, there are some sleeves inside the wire side of the contact that make up the diameter difference between the relatively thin wires used to the inside of the contact. You can see the sleeve around the black wire in this (badly light) picture:

It would be nice to hear a confirmation from someone with first hand experience converting an MC120 plug into a higher current carrying one...

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

details of RADSOK (page 41): http://docs-europe.origin.electrocomponents.com/webdocs/06c0/0900766b806c03f4.pdf

 

[tomsax]

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to try out a new Level 2 J1772 station that's much closer to home than the first one I tried. This time I had my access card associated with my ChargePoint account and had the iPhone app installed and logged in so I could try out the full experience. It was really cool, much nicer than charging from a NEMA 14-50 at an RV park. If you're curious about the process for charging at a ChargePoint station, here's the full story:

An End to the Dark Ages of EV Charging

The best part is being able to configure my account so that if the charge is interrupted, I get a text message letting me know right away. You can also get a message when the charge completes normally, although I wasn't there long enough to test that.

 

[Current EV Tech]

We are now selling 2 different SAE J1772 to NEMA 1450 adapters
Here are the links to them on my website. http://currentevtech.com/Cables-and...-J1772-to-NEMA-1450-Adapter-Compact-p178.html and http://currentevtech.com/Cables-and...1772-to-NEMA-1450-Adapter-Top-Mount-p179.html

Dave Kois
Current EV Tech, LLC
http://www.currentevtech.com
253-988-5020
Skype dkoisii

 

[ChrisC]

On the "compact" product page you should include some pictures that show the connectors, just to be clear about the genders (and thus the function).

Also you should run spellcheck on those pages ...

 

[Current EV Tech]

On the "compact" product page you should include some pictures that show the connectors, just to be clear about the genders (and thus the function).

Also you should run spellcheck on those pages ...

There are several pics for each of the adapters, you have to use the arrows to scroll through them. Thanks for catching the typos.

Dave Kois
Current EV Tech, LLc
http://www.currentevtech.com
253-988-5020
Skype dkoisiii

 

[PopSmith]

Motor Trend posted an article on Thursday that mentioned Tesla is currently creating a J1772 adapter for the Roadster. It didn't give any further information other than to say that it is "in the works".

See the article here and a thread about the article here.

 

[dsm363]

Motor Trend posted an article on Thursday that mentioned Tesla is currently creating a J1772 adapter for the Roadster. It didn't give any further information other than to say that it is "in the works".

See the article here and a thread about the article here.

Sweet! I read that article but missed that line. That's good news.

 

[tomsax]

Of course it's not really news since I relayed the same news in the post that started this thread and then again later.

The news we're waiting for are the specifics of Tesla's solution. Will the adapter be a compact barrel adapter, or a UMC pig tail? (They have considered both, but not made a commitment to either.) Will they offer a full conversion option?

What will the solution(s) cost? When will it (they) be available?

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Does anyone know whether the J1772 chargers being deployed today are capable of delivering more than 30A? I've heard conflicting information on this and note that the original Yazaki plug was certified by UL at 30A.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Does anyone know whether the J1772 chargers being deployed today are capable of delivering more than 30A? I've heard conflicting information on this and note that the original Yazaki plug was certified by UL at 30A.

The standard specifies:
AC Level 1: 120 V, 1 phase, up to 16 A
AC Level 2: 240 V, 1 phase, up to 80 A
http://www.sae.org/mags/AEI/7479

However, I haven't seen a charger being deployed with more than 30A, likely because that is a more common limit existing appliances in garages.

Some of the chargers in this thread might be more than 30A (seems to cover lots of chargers):
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...tation-standards?p=50252&viewfull=1#post50252

 

[TEG]

A data point:
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/evdl-real-j1772-36773.html

...Eric of Couloumb Tech said that the plug was only being certified to 240v/30amps by UL even though it is rated at 50 amps...

Another:
http://teva2.com/J1772.html

...a little more about the plug. It is from Yazaki and rated for 240vac/30A. I also found the UL approval, which also says 30A, even though the SAE J1772 Spec says that it is rated for 80A...

And:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ev/message/38068?var=0

...Apparently the reason that the Yazaki J1772 connector cordset (that is presently shipping) is UL certified to only 30 Amps rather than the standard 32 Amps is that it passed the UL testing at 30 Amps but failed at 32 Amps [30 degree C permitted temp rise over 5 hours at 150% of the rated current (which we repeated here to verify -- it's within the 30C temp rise limit at 150% of 30A, actually pretty close to the limit, at 29C, but exceeds it at 150% of 32A)], so Yazaki had to derate their J1772 connector cordset to 30A. The EVSE it's connected to still gets installed on a 40A circuit, just as if it were a 32A-rated connector cordset (as the older UL-certified J1772:2001 sets are), but the EVSE's PWM pilot is supposed to be turned down to signal to the EV a maximum current delivery capability of 30A rather than 32A.

...As for high current, from what I've heard, ITT's 75-Amp J1772 connector cordset is supposedly on track for UL certification by the end of the year. That is what should finally make it possible for Tesla to transition from their current proprietary 70-Amp connector (that no one else uses) to the J1772 industry standard.

So it sounds like the standard is good to 80A, but the connectors themselves are limiting what you can send through.
Yazaki apparently makes the "entry level" plug, but ITT will come later with a "premium" higher current version.

 

[stopcrazypp]

So it seems the situation is UL only has certified up to 30A, while the spec allows up to 80A.

Is there are possibility of re-certification? I wonder why not up to 50A.

 

[tomsax]

None of the chargers being installed under the various DOE grants will deliver more than 30A. (Maybe 32A if the above plug issue gets resolved?)

The ITT Canon J1772 plugs and receptacles are (will be?) certified to 75A. I have ordered a pair, but I don't know of anyone who has received one yet.

The only EVSE I know of that supports the full 80A is Clipper Creek's CS-100. Also, the TS-90 could be converted to a 70A Level 2 charger by changing the plug.

Coulomb has no plans to create a charger that's good for more than the 30A (or 32A); they say the market (that's us) is too small. I got this directly from Tom Tormey, vice president of product managment, Coulomb Technologies. The ChargePoint America folks are planning to allow other EVSE suppliers to support the ChargePoint network, but I haven't heard of anyone working on that.

I don't know what Ecotality is planning, but I have some pretty good hints that they are thinking along the same lines.

Every chance I get, I encourage anyone that's thinking about installing chargers to wire for a 100-amp circuit, even if they are only putting in a 30A EVSE on a 40A breaker. I really hate to see people running wires or conduit and creating an expensive barrier to upgrading to something that charges faster than 25 miles of range per hour of charging when they figure out that 30A is too slow for road trip charging.

Many people think small (100-mile) batteries means a slow charger is OK. That's totally wrong when you're charging to extend your one-day range rather than charging overnight. Level 3 is awesome, but it's so expensive. Top end Level 2 could add some real value when building charging out beyond high-traffic freeways.

 

[TEG]

Many people think small (100-mile) batteries means a slow charger is OK. That's totally wrong when you're charging to extend your one-day range rather than charging overnight. Level 3 is awesome, but it's so expensive. Top end Level 2 could add some real value when building charging out beyond high-traffic freeways.

That may be a bit academic at this point. With the Nissan Leaf (at least at first) you have either slow(ish) 3.3kW or fast ~50kW.
So 3.3kW slow overnight at home, and (hopefully) 50kW for most road trip hopping.
(If you got stuck waiting for 3.3kW somewhere on your long Road trip you will have a lot of hours to wait.)
I haven't heard any plans from Nissan to offer any Leaf upgrade capable of Roadster style HPC 19.2kW charging.
Even with "top end" Level 2, you would still be spending well over an hour every 100 miles to get more charge. I don't think people would generally want to add 4+ hours of wait time driving between SF and LA for instance. So, it seems the effort is on cost reducing and rolling out more Level 3 chargers instead of trying to get new vehicles in line with the Roadster style high end Level 2.

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Many thanks for all of the information... we will ensure that OpenChargeMap records the current available at the J1772 sites.

 

[ChargeIt!]

Many thanks for all of the information... we will ensure that OpenChargeMap records the current available at the J1772 sites.

Might as well record the voltage too. Many existing California sites are providing 208 (nominal) rather than 240, due to the way it is supplied. That extra 32V makes a significant 15% difference.

 

[vfx]

Many thanks for all of the information... we will ensure that OpenChargeMap records the current available at the J1772 sites.

Thanks for this! Now if we can mandate the AMPs/Volts to be posted big and clear on the units themselves. (so you can see them while still in your car.)

 

[ChargeIt!]

Thanks for this! Now if we can mandate the AMPs/Volts to be posted big and clear on the units themselves. (so you can see them while still in your car.)

That's what the add-on apps are for ... so you can check from your smartphone.

 

[TEG]

Might as well record the voltage too. Many existing California sites are providing 208 (nominal) rather than 240, due to the way it is supplied. That extra 32V makes a significant 15% difference.

I put a volt meter inline with the charger in my RangerEV so when I plug in at a public charge spot I can see if it is 208V or 240V.