Non Tesla EV charging at supercharger?

[Mod3forMe]

Not sure where to post this, but I had occasion to visit a supercharger at about 3am recently and plugged in was a VW eGolf.

The driver was there so I had to ask him what was going on? At first he was a bit skittish, but then opened up:

- He had the gear need mounted to removable aluminum plate in the hatch
-He built a converter "box" for the challenge ( not to steal electricity as there are plenty of free EV chargers in the area)
- The 'box' can be used for any EV not just his car
- It cost way more to make than he could ever save on charging
-The box slows down supercharging
-He has to visit chargers in the middle of the night as is non-telsa draws way too much attention. He also does not go back to the same charger often.

Anyhow thought it was very cool you could hack a supercharger.

 

[ngogas]

There is always one that breaks the mold. How does he pay for this charge, does he have a tesla account?

 

[Gavyne]

Report him to Tesla please. He’s likely getting free supercharging. It always starts with one then it multiplies into a bigger problem.

 

[Brian's ReX]

Report him to Tesla please. He’s likely getting free supercharging. It always starts with one then it multiplies into a bigger problem.

^ Ditto!!!!

 

[Zythryn]

It isn’t simply a hardware issue. The car communicates, with its VIN and once that is done, supercharging can start.
The guy was either giving you a tall tale, or is forging the communications as well and impersonating a valid VIN number.

I believe the former, but if the latter, you should definitely let Tesla know.

 

[Ludalicious]

Not sure where to post this, but I had occasion to visit a supercharger at about 3am recently and plugged in was a VW eGolf.

The driver was there so I had to ask him what was going on? At first he was a bit skittish, but then opened up:

- He had the gear need mounted to removable aluminum plate in the hatch
-He built a converter "box" for the challenge ( not to steal electricity as there are plenty of free EV chargers in the area)
- The 'box' can be used for any EV not just his car
- It cost way more to make than he could ever save on charging
-The box slows down supercharging
-He has to visit chargers in the middle of the night as is non-telsa draws way too much attention. He also does not go back to the same charger often.

Anyhow thought it was very cool you could hack a supercharger.

Stealing is Stealing. This crap costs all of us money. What if his car damaged the supercharger... could even potentially damage the next vehicle that hooks up.

 

[Mod3forMe]

There is always one that breaks the mold. How does he pay for this charge, does he have a tesla account?

No idea. I got the impression he was not paying at all. I just asked - how are you doing this?

He may or may not break the mold, who knows. He was was pretty insistent that it was 'very' expensive make the box and there was no financial reason to do it, that he dit it for the challenge and was still working out the kinks.

 

[Mod3forMe]

It isn’t simply a hardware issue. The car communicates, with its VIN and once that is done, supercharging can start.
The guy was either giving you a tall tale, or is forging the communications as well and impersonating a valid VIN number.

I believe the former, but if the latter, you should definitely let Tesla know.

Maybe he was 'scamming' me. I did not actually see that his car was getting charged, just the supercharger plugged into the a port in the hatch, a bunch of stuff hooked up to it and a cable running out of it into the charge port of his car.

Seems like allot of trouble to con a guy in the middle of the night, but hey you never know.

He took off when I showed up so I only talked to him for about 2 or 3 minutes

 

[Mod3forMe]

Report him to Tesla please. He’s likely getting free supercharging. It always starts with one then it multiplies into a bigger problem.

I did let a Tesla rep know when I was at the store. He laughed it off and said it can't be done.

 

[DBeckwith]

You should have gotten a picture. Did you have your dashcam on?

 

[Vines]

People that act sketchy, generally are doing something sketchy, hence the visit in the middle of the night.

There's nothing to gain for one car by building a very expensive defeat device, but every other EV would love to use tesla chargers, as they are fast and plentiful. Building the defeat device itself would be quite lucrative.

Please report him. Even if you only reported the exact time and location you supercharged along with the story you told, Tesla could figure out at least what the communication looked like between this fake Tesla and the supercharger.

 

[ewoodrick]

The best he cold do was to steal electricity, the worse, to damage the Supercharger so that no one else could use it.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

The best he cold do was to steal electricity, the worse, to damage the Supercharger so that no one else could use it.

He could do a lot worse. His car could catch fire and potentially destroy other cars charging nearby, perhaps killing any occupants inside.

 

[Kuhz]

I smell a rat....

 

[Barklikeadog]

I did let a Tesla rep know when I was at the store. He laughed it off and said it can't be done.

you just met the coolest guy ever and you snitched? cmon man

 

[BluestarE3]

Was this at a Supercharger or just a Destination charger?

 

[dhanson865]

It isn’t simply a hardware issue. The car communicates, with its VIN and once that is done, supercharging can start.
The guy was either giving you a tall tale, or is forging the communications as well and impersonating a valid VIN number.

I believe the former, but if the latter, you should definitely let Tesla know.

I'm assuming the "box" contains the charging port and such from a salvaged Tesla and it's reporting the VIN of the wrecked vehicle. So not forging a valid VIN that's in use elsewhere, just using an old one that Tesla hasn't black listed.

 

[RFernatt]

I've seen custom vehicles using parts from junked Teslas that would let them use a SC. As long as they keep enough valid Tesla hardware from a donor car I can see how it could work, but it wouldn't scale. If it's some kind of complete hack, that's another matter.

 

[Eclectic]

Maybe he was 'scamming' me. I did not actually see that his car was getting charged, just the supercharger plugged into the a port in the hatch, a bunch of stuff hooked up to it and a cable running out of it into the charge port of his car.
...

Did it look like this?

 

[Mod3forMe]

You should have gotten a picture. Did you have your dashcam on?

Yes, but I assume the file would be long gone by now, it was about 30 hrs of driving ago. I would assume they have camera set up at the superchargers though?

Was this at a Supercharger or just a Destination charger?

Supercharging station.