Overseas charging?

[Bonfig]

I have a 2014 S P85 that I got last year in great condition and love driving (with dealer extras and aftermarket tweaks, 2014 price was 160k). At my purchase, for 30k, it had 120k miles on it but was in excellent condition...full charge is at 240 miles. I added 20k in improvements (frt lip spoiler, windshield, tires, brakes, rotors, drive motor). So I'm 50k into the car, just so you can better tweak your advice on this.

In 2 years, it's very likely I'll be retiring to Sardinia, an Italian island that currently only maps 4 Tesla chargers in my area (3 at private hotels, 1 public). What do you think I would be looking at in terms of cost in getting my vehicle to this island, worth it? And, once there, what charging issue might I be expected to encounter?...I've heard of Teslas "dying" from using overseas chargers.

And, do I still get free charging at public chargers in Italy?

Thanks for anyone digging deep on this one.

 

[mspohr]

You should be able to charge with the mobile charger (with an appropriate plug adapter). The mobile charger accepts 120-240 V. With 220V, 20 amps you'll get about 5 kW power which is sufficient for overnight charging. The plugs on the public chargers will not work with your US Tesla.
Another thing to consider is that you may not be able to register the car without changing things like lights, etc. to meet Italian specs. Shipping will be expensive... probably $3000+
I considered shipping a US Audi to Switzerland a while ago but it just became too expensive and complicated.

 

[DerbyDave]

I don't think Italy cares about specific regulations. Us cars are accepted, I believe. I hear you just pay the registration and licensing, and if you can prove you have had the car for 12 months, no added VAT. About $1500 for shipping. Install a home charge or a Tesla charger. Small island, no problems.

 

[mspohr]

I don't think Italy cares about specific regulations. Us cars are accepted, I believe. I hear you just pay the registration and licensing, and if you can prove you have had the car for 12 months, no added VAT. About $1500 for shipping. Install a home charge or a Tesla charger. Small island, no problems.

Charging won't be a problem if you're just going to drive it around the island. Road trips to the mainland will be difficult.

 

[DerbyDave]

The mobile connector will likely be enough with adapters.

 

[Rocky_H]

.I've heard of Teslas "dying" from using overseas chargers.

I've never heard of such a thing.

currently only maps 4 Tesla chargers in my area (3 at private hotels, 1 public).

But you don't seem aware that the standards for the charging ports and plugs are completely different in Europe versus North America. They just won't fit, so you will not be able to use any of those.

But as others were mentioning, the mobile charging cord for the car can use either 120V or 220/240V kinds of electrical sources, so as long as you can get access to some kind of outlet at home where you will be living, there should be a way to get that to work, even if it takes some kind of short adapter pigtail of some kind.

 

[Tomilett]

might be worth considering getting a new chargeport - I'm not sure it's technically possible, but if it were, then you could do it and have a basically Euro spec model S so you could supercharge (in mainland Italy and the rest of Europe) and use public chargers. Everything in Europe is Type 2 (AC) or CCS2 (DC), including the charge port on the car. there's no such thing as the "Tesla" connector over here.

 

[Tomilett]

In all honesty I'd imagine selling your car and buying another one over there would work out better though.
Also, why have you had to pay for a drive unit if you're under 8 years? should be unlimited miles/8 years warranty (unless the car was first off the line in 2014 and only failed in the last 3 weeks?)

 

[DerbyDave]

From Tesla GB Page:
How do I know if my Model S or Model X has the technical capability to charge via a CCS Combo 2 adapter?
All Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles produced after May 1, 2019 have the technical capability to charge at CCS Combo 2 charging sites with the use of a CCS Combo 2 adapter.

I have a Model S or Model X produced before May 1, 2019. Can I take advantage of CCS Combo 2 charging?
Yes. Schedule a simple service retrofit in order to take advantage of CCS Combo 2 charging via the Tesla CCS Combo 2 adapter. You may schedule a service retrofit at your local Tesla service center via your Tesla mobile app.

How much does a CCS Combo 2 service retrofit cost?
CCS Combo 2 retrofit service costs £280, including the cost of a CCS Combo 2 adapter.

 

[Tomilett]

From Tesla GB Page:
How do I know if my Model S or Model X has the technical capability to charge via a CCS Combo 2 adapter?
All Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles produced after May 1, 2019 have the technical capability to charge at CCS Combo 2 charging sites with the use of a CCS Combo 2 adapter.

I have a Model S or Model X produced before May 1, 2019. Can I take advantage of CCS Combo 2 charging?
Yes. Schedule a simple service retrofit in order to take advantage of CCS Combo 2 charging via the Tesla CCS Combo 2 adapter. You may schedule a service retrofit at your local Tesla service center via your Tesla mobile app.

How much does a CCS Combo 2 service retrofit cost?
CCS Combo 2 retrofit service costs £280, including the cost of a CCS Combo 2 adapter.

yes, but the actual charge port is a Type 2 on all UK/EU Teslas, so the CCS2 adapter won't go into a US Tesla without a whole new chargeport.

 

[DerbyDave]

yes, but the actual charge port is a Type 2 on all UK/EU Teslas, so the CCS2 adapter won't go into a US Tesla without a whole new chargeport.

This was in answer to the original poster in EU. That is correct, Tesla will make a similar adapter for CCS1 - the US CCS adapter. No problems. Don't need to change the Tesla port yet. Once the US standardizes on ports, then a change might be made. Here is the CCS1 port to retrofit CCS compatible Teslas to use the US CCS port, and there is an option to upgrade non-CCS compatible Teslas (pre-2019?) to use the adapter including the adapter itself. You can tell if you current US Tesla is CCS compatible by looking at the other information in the Software upgrade area of the control panel. If it is compatible, it has the added wiring and control for the adapter. All this may change if Tesla moves its standard in US to CCS.

Tesla announces new CCS charging adapter but North America launch still unclear

Tesla has announced a new CCS charging adapter that this time can work with its proprietary connector. However, the availability...

electrek.co

 

[Tomilett]

but CCS1 and CCS2 are completely different and not compatible, and Tesla don't make a CCS2 to "Tesla" adapter, only CCS2 to Type 2

Image from "thedriven.io"

 

[DerbyDave]

Of course. Like the CHAdeMO adapter, Tesla can develop an adapter to attach to CCS1 from the current Tesla port.

 

[Rocky_H]

Of course. Like the CHAdeMO adapter, Tesla can develop an adapter to attach to CCS1 from the current Tesla port.

But Italy doesn't have CCS1. You seem to have lost sight of the paradigm of what this thread is. You are talking about using CCS1, which is in North America, to the Tesla proprietary port on the cars, which is what they have in North America. Sure, that is a thing that Tesla will be enabling at some point in the future with the board retrofit and the adapter.

But this thread is about taking a North America car with the Tesla port over to Europe, where they have CCS2, not CCS1. Tesla isn't going to make an adapter for CCS2 to the Tesla charge port. That is not going to happen because they are meant for separate markets. So there are fewer options of what to do with this mismatch and none of them are very good. Yes, I have heard of people getting the charge port replaced on some cars, but that is very rare and may be hard to get Tesla to do it. Outside of that, there would be other options of chaining together a bulky expensive kludge of multiple adapters to go from CCS2 to CCS1 to Tesla.

 

[DerbyDave]

So this won't work? Tesla US CCS1/CCS2 (400A)

 

[Rocky_H]

So this won't work? Tesla US CCS1/CCS2 (400A)

No, it won't. Because this person has a 2014 car, and Tesla is not offering the charging board retrofits in the U.S. right now that can enable using the CCS communication standard. It is only some of the very new cars that already have that newer board with the CCS communication ability. So no matter what kind of adapter this person uses, they won't be able to do that.

But anyway, about that site. Sure, I had forgotten that some independent companies are building things like that, but I don't know of much about their testing or reliability. If someone had a very new Model 3 from America, that did already have the CCS internal charging board, then they could probably take the car to Europe and get one of those CCS2 to Tesla port adapters from the site you mentioned, and it might work.

 

[DerbyDave]

Thanks, Rocky_H!

 

[Bonfig]

Thx everyone...tons of useful advice...still following up on some of it. Great help!

 

[Anth89]

Importing a car from outside the EU, you will have to pay VAT (20%) + import duties (10%).

Legal requirements are different between the EU and the US so you will also have to make some adaptations. For example xenon headlights above 25W have to be equipped with headlight washers, which do not exist for the Model S so you'll have to change your light bulbs (and ballast maybe?). Blinkers are also different. And the Italian administration is not known to be flexible.

Tesla does not support such operations, there has been many reports of Model S at the beginning of production coming from parallel imports from the US and losing all support: no manufacturer guarantee, no supercharging, etc. This coming of course on top of the different plugs needed for charging. Some of these former US imports can now be found on the used car market with huge discounts... It means your own car will also lose a lot of value in the operation, despite the import costs.

In a nutshell this is not worth it. Although not as common as in the US, it is still easy to find a Model S in Europe. You can probably find one in Italy or import one from Germany, Netherlands or France. As long as you stay inside the EU there are no taxes on import of used cars and the process is much easier (although always different from one country to another).

Importing a car from the US to Europe is common for old muscle cars, but in your case I think it does not really make sense.
That being said I went with the whole family twice to Sardaigna and I really love this place. This is one of the places on Earth where people still take their time to enjoy the simple things of life.

 

[Anth89]

Another comment which just came to my mind...

The Model S, by its size and especially its width, may not be the best car to live with in a place like Sardaigna.
All locals there have small cars, and when driving (or parking) in their mountain villages you'll quickly understand why. A Model 3 would be a better choice.

To its extreme extend, the Sardinian way of life seems to be to buy a 40 years old Fiat Panda, which you always let parked with its windows open in summer and keys on the dashboard (in case someone needs to move it). Not a joke, we saw it several times.