This is a recall alert on the Power12 CapturePro - Please read and understand this alert.
The Power12 CapturePro device you purchased has a flaw which could, in very limited circumstances, strand you at a charging station.
Power12 recommends ending its use and destroying it.
Summary
As of June 25 the only way to unlock a Tesla J1772 converter when connected to a charging station (Blink, ChargePoint) is to press the connector release button on the J1772 charging cord. Because the internal disconnect signal is generated by an electrical contact actuated by the same release push button that raises the locking hook, if a user selects a slot on the CapturePro that is too tight a fit, then once the converter is engaged and locked it might not allow the J1772 handle button to be pressed. This situation would mean that the car is locked physically to the charger (because the incorrectly-applied CapturePro device blocks release button motion), and the lock would have to be cut off mechanically to remove the lock+converter arrangement. This operational limitation was not intended, and is thought to be the result of a Tesla software/firmware change.
Customers who experience this situation can pry or cut off the CapturePro device with no damage to car or converter module.
Background
We believe there was a change to Tesla software controlling the locking pin inside the charge port - it previously had allowed charge port unlocking when one of these three things happened: pressing the J1772 connector release button, ending charging session at the charging station (Blink, Chargepoint, etc), or disabling charging at the dashboard control. We don't know when the unlock process changed, or why, but it is now no longer capable of providing the multiple unlock methods a user might need with the CapturePro - to be specific, if the user uses too tight a slot on the CapturePro, and blocks operation of the release push button, there is no other charge port unlocking alternative, and a locked converter+CapturePro might in some limited cases be unable to be unlocked.
Action
This problem was not intended, and the effect is not a liability that Power12 can endure - no matter how unlikely, the effect might strand customers at docking stations with little recourse. Unfortunately, since this problem can happen with uninformed customers, or simply by mistake, we have no other choice but to recall and cancel the product, and request that all sold product be destroyed.
Note that there is no critical issue if you don't use the CapturePro.
I am saddened to deliver this news. We had planned to release a number of other products, and attend TESLIVE -- we may still do so, but this latest misstep has left us deflated, and slowed our pace dramatically. Finally, if there are developments in either Tesla locking procedure or our design, I will alert you to that.
Big Huge thank you to all the early adopters - I will start the process to refund everyone's money over the next week.
David
