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Are you sure the Model 3 hasn't always been electrically compatible with both standards?
The CHAdeMO adapter is an active device that has a computer inside to communicate with the charger on one side and the vehicle on the other. The European CCS adapter is a purely passive electro-mechanical device and the new CCS adapter for Korea appears to be the same. That means that the CCS powerline digital communication IC has to be in the car. We know the 2018 & 2019 Model 3 cars certainly don't have it. However, Tesla could have changed it at any point from 2020 onward. I presume that all the cars exported to Korea by Tesla already have the required hardware to support this adapter. That was the rationale for my comment asking about hardware upgrade for older North American Model 3 cars.
I'm just wondering how we know this? It seems possible that they designed the original electronics so that it would also work in Europe with just a change to the physical port. I'm just wondering how we know that's not the case?
Because they had completely different charge port controller boards for NA and Europe back then. And it has been reported that you can swap the board to give older Model 3s CCS capability.
Ah, didn't realize that. I was under the impression that Model 3 in Europe were always shipped with CCS ports.
They were. But if you put an EU board in an old NA Model 3 then you can use a passive CCS adapter. (At least that has been reported.)
You misunderstood the post. Model 3 cars shipped to Europe always had CCS ports and always had a different charge port controller board than cars shipped to North America during the same production period.
I suppose if we figured out when the first Model 3 was delivered to South Korea that might be a good clue that all Model 3 (and model Y) cars being built from that point on may have the correct circuitry for supporting CCS. Of course, some cars built before that might also have it.
Now it all makes sense. There are multiple revisions of the "CP ECU" (looks like they're on 4th gen in North America) and there is evidence that the old one does not support CCS. That's unfortunate for me as I have an August 2018 build.
They are supposedly easy to swap out. Just wait until you have a software update pending, swap the module, and start the upgrade. (And I would imagine they are fairly inexpensive on eBay, at least until people buy them all up to enable CCS.)
Yeah, only about $100 for a gen 3 board on eBay.
They did offer the CCS adapter in Europe even when the older vehicles required a hardware retrofit.
True, but the V3 superchargers there are CCS only so if they didn't then all the older vehicles wouldn't be able to use them.
Someone on the forum has reported that he asked a friend of his in Korea to buy one and FedEx it to him. So I am sure we will find out, probably by the end of the month.
