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should I not get the South Korean CCS1 combo adapter?

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Hi folks,

I'm eager to get CCS adapter for my 2021 Model Y. Very few Tesla chargers in my region, better availability of ElectrifyAmerica CCS charging. I have read that one can order the South Korean CCS1 and it will work here in the USA.

However, I'm wondering whether I should wait for Tesla's North American CCS combo charger whenever it comes out. First, it is supposed to be CCS2, and perhaps that differs from CCS1 in some way. Second, once Tesla does release their own North American CCS2 adapter, perhaps a software update will interfere with using the North Korean CCS1 adapter.

What do folks think about my concerns?

Best,
-- josh
 
Hi folks,

I'm eager to get CCS adapter for my 2021 Model Y. Very few Tesla chargers in my region, better availability of ElectrifyAmerica CCS charging. I have read that one can order the South Korean CCS1 and it will work here in the USA.

However, I'm wondering whether I should wait for Tesla's North American CCS combo charger whenever it comes out. First, it is supposed to be CCS2, and perhaps that differs from CCS1 in some way. Second, once Tesla does release their own North American CCS2 adapter, perhaps a software update will interfere with using the North Korean CCS1 adapter.

What do folks think about my concerns?

Best,
-- josh
The US version of CCS is CCS1, not CCS2. CCS2 is the European standard, and has different geometry but (as I understand it) the same signaling. Both South Korea and the US use CCS1. Thus, the South Korean Tesla CCS1 adapter is identical to what a US CCS1 adapter for Tesla will be functionally.
 
Let me ask about your charging situation. You mention that there are few Tesla Superchargers in your area, but better availability of ElectrifyAmerica. Do you not have home charging? Are you going to be relying on public fast charging as your primary charging solution? If so, then yes, I would do what you need to do to give yourself a convenient charging solution and the CCS adapter might be well worth your investment.

If you do have home charging though, I have to ask why the availability (or lack thereof) of Superchargers in your area is a concern? I never use the Superchargers near me (well, I have plugged in to one or two to show someone how it worked). What's more important is the availability of Superchargers along the long distance routes I travel, and for me at least, the Supercharger network is slightly superior. But that's just me...how about your situation?

And of course it is hard to predict your future travel needs, destinations, and how that will all change over time, so it may not be a bad investment at the right price. But before you jump in, you might want to see if there a clubs in your area that may have a loaner program where you can borrow an adapter for a trip. Also, once the adapter becomes available here in NA, we might see charging networks like EVgo do what they did in some of their units and build in an adapter into their charging stations in order to provide Tesla connectivity.
 
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Let me ask about your charging situation. You mention that there are few Tesla Superchargers in your area, but better availability of ElectrifyAmerica. Do you not have home charging?
I charge at home. Home charging takes care of my needs most of the time. But at least once a week I drive the interstate from Binghamton, NY, to Syracuse, NY, and back. Round trip of 160-180 miles. In the warmer weather, I have no problem with range. But in the winter (and we have quite a winter), I nearly run out of charge every time. No Tesla chargers meet my needs. There's one in Binghamton, but if I've made it back to Binghamton, I'm home and I don't need the Tesla supercharger. Is there one in Syracuse? Not really. It's 15-20 minutes north of Syracuse, convenient for highway travelers east-west on I-90 and to lesser degree convenient for highway travelers north-south on I-81. But for anyone in Syracuse itself, it's far out of the way, far past Syracuse. ElectrifyAmerica now has two fast chargers in the Syracuse area, one exactly where I am every week, and another on the southern edge of town off I-81. Ability to use CCS charging would be very helpful. As it is, I spent $900+ on eBay to get a Chademo adapter cuz ElectrifyAmerica offers 1 slow Chademo at each location.
And of course it is hard to predict your future travel needs, destinations, and how that will all change over time, so it may not be a bad investment at the right price. But before you jump in, you might want to see if there a clubs in your area that may have a loaner program where you can borrow an adapter for a trip.
Hadn't thought of that. Good idea to find a loaner.
Also, once the adapter becomes available here in NA, we might see charging networks like EVgo do what they did in some of their units and build in an adapter into their charging stations in order to provide Tesla connectivity.
But once Tesla adopts a CCS adapter making charging at EVgo and ElectrifyAmerica possible, why would those companies go to the expense of then adding native Tesla outlets. If there was a business opportunity to make money on Tesla connectivity, I'd imagine it would be now, when most EV's on the road are Tesla, not in the future when Tesla will no longer dominate the charging market.
-- Josh
 
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As it is, I spent $900+ on eBay to get a Chademo adapter cuz ElectrifyAmerica offers 1 slow Chademo at each location.
Put that Chademo back on eBay and you will easily pay for the new CCS Korean unit. Charges up to 4 times faster than the Chademo and is the new standard. ;) Do not wait for them to release the unit in America as you may wait for years, no one really knows when it will be released.
 
I charge at home. Home charging takes care of my needs most of the time. But at least once a week I drive the interstate from Binghamton, NY, to Syracuse, NY, and back. Round trip of 160-180 miles. In the warmer weather, I have no problem with range. But in the winter (and we have quite a winter), I nearly run out of charge every time. No Tesla chargers meet my needs. There's one in Binghamton, but if I've made it back to Binghamton, I'm home and I don't need the Tesla supercharger. Is there one in Syracuse? Not really. It's 15-20 minutes north of Syracuse, convenient for highway travelers east-west on I-90 and to lesser degree convenient for highway travelers north-south on I-81. But for anyone in Syracuse itself, it's far out of the way, far past Syracuse. ElectrifyAmerica now has two fast chargers in the Syracuse area, one exactly where I am every week, and another on the southern edge of town off I-81. Ability to use CCS charging would be very helpful. As it is, I spent $900+ on eBay to get a Chademo adapter cuz ElectrifyAmerica offers 1 slow Chademo at each location.

Hadn't thought of that. Good idea to find a loaner.

But once Tesla adopts a CCS adapter making charging at EVgo and ElectrifyAmerica possible, why would those companies go to the expense of then adding native Tesla outlets. If there was a business opportunity to make money on Tesla connectivity, I'd imagine it would be now, when most EV's on the road are Tesla, not in the future when Tesla will no longer dominate the charging market.
-- Josh
I also am where there are only Tesla chargers along the one main 6 lane east/west interstate in the state and 90% of travel is on 65 mph two lane state roads for both local travel and long distance (diagonal across state=shorter and often only way). ABRP yesterday said I can't drive from home to a popular although remote state park/tourist attraction. Leaving home at 100% charge, arrive with 4% and stranded. I just ordered a CCS from Korea, which will arrive well before my Tesla arrives, because it is the only option on several state highways (and two interstates that are not 4 lanes). I also got a 15-40 charger for campgrounds. I hear you. Apparently the Build Back Better $ is going to be controlled by the state legislatures so I don't have much hope, although a little bit, that there will be any superchargers in rural areas for a long, long, long time. I'm writing letters to Economic Development/Tourism, Transportation, Nebraska Power, etc.
 
I get legitimately a little angry hearing nonsense like this:
I charge at home. Home charging takes care of my needs most of the time. But at least once a week I drive the interstate from Binghamton, NY, to Syracuse, NY, and back.
I got to exactly right here and immediately switched away to another browser window to see what that's like because I'm not familiar with this area. Are they really far apart? Is there really no Supercharger in Syracuse? That seemed odd to me, so I looked in www.supercharge.info. The two cities are 70 miles apart with a Supercharger in BOTH of them. WTF is the issue?

Round trip of 160-180 miles. In the warmer weather, I have no problem with range. But in the winter (and we have quite a winter), I nearly run out of charge every time.
Then why are you CHOOSING not to charge and intentionally creating this problem for yourself?

No Tesla chargers meet my needs.
...except for that Supercharger that's there.

There's one in Binghamton, but if I've made it back to Binghamton, I'm home and I don't need the Tesla supercharger.
Yes, of course.

Is there one in Syracuse? Not really.
Yes there is.

It's 15-20 minutes north of Syracuse, convenient for highway travelers east-west on I-90 and to lesser degree convenient for highway travelers north-south on I-81. But for anyone in Syracuse itself, it's far out of the way, far past Syracuse.
That is ridiculous. I drive more than that to go to my daughter and son-in-law's house here in town. Costco here in town is about that far from me. 15-20 minutes is NOTHING!

This kind of whining and refusal to use the infrastructure that is already there is really not helpful.
 
I got to exactly right here and immediately switched away to another browser window to see what that's like because I'm not familiar with this area. Are they really far apart? Is there really no Supercharger in Syracuse? That seemed odd to me, so I looked in www.supercharge.info. The two cities are 70 miles apart with a Supercharger in BOTH of them. WTF is the issue?
Like I said, the issue is that the Tesla supercharger "in Syracuse" is not in Syracuse. It is 15-20 minutes north of Syracuse in Liverpool, NY. As I said, it is located for travelers going east-west on I-90 and north-south on I-81, but not helpful for me. I have used it when desperate. So here's what that looks like, since you're having a hard time understanding it. I drive 80 miles north from Vestal, NY (town next to Binghamton), spend a few hours with family in Dewitt, NY (east of Syracuse), and then if I'm really worried about SoC for my 1 hr 15 min drive back south, I drive 20 minutes north, charge for 10 minutes, then drive 20 minutes south just to get back to where I was, then drive the 1 hr 15 minutes home. Adding 40 minutes to my trip home at the end of a long day, after a night being on call as a physician, by the way, is the last thing I want to do. It's not just the car that is perilously low on energy as I make it home late every Tuesday night.

I'd appreciate a kinder more respectful tone here (and everywhere). My charger situation looks like dots on a map to readers 3,000 miles away, but I know exactly what the problem is and how tough it is for me. I'm grateful for the helpful responses that appreciated my tone and responded in kind.

-- JS
 
Agreed, adding 40 minutes of drive just to charge to a 1:15 minute route is really not a great option unless desperate like you mentioned. I was in the same boat as you last year in my area however the addition of CCS chargers and the Korean availability of the CCS adapter has changed all that. No more range anxiety! I cannot believe how many here think the SC network is available everywhere and think it is the best thing since sliced bread. All depends on where you go, in my case it has gotten better but far from great. The one I really needed on my route has been promised now for no less than 8 years however still no sign of any progress which I no longer need by the way thanks to the CCS network. The capability to charge via CCS has changed all this and now I can charge no matter where I go without being dependant on a SC. You definitely need to acquire a CCS adapter which will increase your charging possibilities substantially.
 
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It looks like yes, the CCS adapter would take care of this situation for you - assuming your car is CCS Enabled, of course.
A couple other options:
- I see a couple Level 2 charging places in Dewitt, such as the town offices (Town of DeWitt Offices | PlugShare). If these are convenient enough, you could park your car there and let it charge while visiting family.
- You could bring your mobile connector with you and plug it in at your family's place. Even at Level 1 charging it might be enough to get you home
 
Put that Chademo back on eBay and you will easily pay for the new CCS Korean unit. Charges up to 4 times faster than the Chademo and is the new standard. ;) Do not wait for them to release the unit in America as you may wait for years, no one really knows when it will be released.
I wanted to +1 this suggestion. $900 for the CHAdeMO adapter is overpriced, although I realize it goes for $600 to $1200 on eBay. It's still available new in Korea and can be imported grey-market for $458 from harum.io, the same company that imports Tesla's CCS adapter. Assuming your car is compatible with the CCS adapter, which I believe the vast majority of Model Ys are, then the CCS adapter is the much better option, in many ways. Assuming you can get more than the $309 that the CCS adapter currently costs from harum.io, you'll come out ahead financially and be able to charge faster at CCS stations and be less likely to be stuck with an EA station where the one CHAdeMO stall is down or in use.

Although it's conceivable that Tesla will redesign the current CCS1 adapter for the North American market, that seems unlikely. The current product does work in North America, and AFAIK Tesla's market-specific product changes exist only when required (e.g., using CCS2 rather than Tesla's proprietary connector in Europe). Thus, I don't see any reason to wait if you have a use for the current CCS1 adapter today.

FWIW, I don't own Tesla's CCS1 adapter. I'd buy one immediately, but my Model 3 was built before Tesla added CCS protocol support to the car, so it's useless to me unless I were to retrofit the charging hardware. That retrofit is more risky than I'm willing to do myself, so I'm waiting until Tesla offers that as an option -- assuming they ever do. Before buying the CCS1 adapter, it's worth checking your car to be 100% certain it's compatible. Compatibility is shown in one of Tesla's in-dash screens, but I don't recall the exact location offhand.
 
I'd appreciate a kinder more respectful tone here (and everywhere).
People get good responses when they tell the truth instead of exaggerating. I am very kind and respectful most of the time. This is not engendering that normal good humor.

Like I said, the issue is that the Tesla supercharger "in Syracuse" is not in Syracuse. It is 15-20 minutes north of Syracuse in Liverpool, NY.
OK. I put that address of 439 Electronics Way in Liverpool into Google Maps, and it's 6.1 miles from the center of Syracuse. For you to claim that it's not there because it's 6 miles away is frustrating to us. I know that's just "dots on a map", but a single digit number of miles away doesn't seem like it doesn't exist--it just seems like it's a little inconvenient for you, and you don't want to use it.

If you had described this more accurately to begin with, I never would have had that kind of response. Something like:
The place I go near Syracuse is pretty far East of it, and the Supercharger there is on the other side of town, so it's not on my route and is out of the way.

I do want to be helpful when there are these kinds of places where it's hundreds of miles to the Supercharger, but describing it like that when it wasn't pushed my buttons a bit. Thank you for elaborating to explain what was going on.
 
I charge at home. Home charging takes care of my needs most of the time. But at least once a week I drive the interstate from Binghamton, NY, to Syracuse, NY, and back. Round trip of 160-180 miles. In the warmer weather, I have no problem with range. But in the winter (and we have quite a winter), I nearly run out of charge every time. No Tesla chargers meet my needs. There's one in Binghamton, but if I've made it back to Binghamton, I'm home and I don't need the Tesla supercharger. Is there one in Syracuse? Not really. It's 15-20 minutes north of Syracuse, convenient for highway travelers east-west on I-90 and to lesser degree convenient for highway travelers north-south on I-81. But for anyone in Syracuse itself, it's far out of the way, far past Syracuse. ElectrifyAmerica now has two fast chargers in the Syracuse area, one exactly where I am every week, and another on the southern edge of town off I-81. Ability to use CCS charging would be very helpful. As it is, I spent $900+ on eBay to get a Chademo adapter cuz ElectrifyAmerica offers 1 slow Chademo at each location.

Hadn't thought of that. Good idea to find a loaner.

But once Tesla adopts a CCS adapter making charging at EVgo and ElectrifyAmerica possible, why would those companies go to the expense of then adding native Tesla outlets. If there was a business opportunity to make money on Tesla connectivity, I'd imagine it would be now, when most EV's on the road are Tesla, not in the future when Tesla will no longer dominate the charging market.
-- Josh
So it does seem like you have a legitimate need for the adapter given your use case, although I'm not sure which Syracuse EA site you are at. Erie Canal Center, or the newer one up by the Thruway?

FYI, Syracuse is getting a new V3 Supercharger at the Destiny mall off 81 (Supercharger - Syracuse, NY), but based on your description of the existing Supercharger being out of the way (and the north Syracuse EA station being pretty much in the same area), I'm guessing that you are near the Erie Canal Center station (I was one of the first to use that station last summer -- it was so new even the EA folks had a hard time finding it their system to start a session for us!)
 
People get good responses when they tell the truth instead of exaggerating. I am very kind and respectful most of the time. This is not engendering that normal good humor.
Objectively speaking, I do agree that you can be a bit rough around the edges Rocky. Many of your posts do come across as condescending, as did your response to the OP. Maybe speaking face to face you come across differently, but when your post starts out with:

I get legitimately a little angry hearing nonsense like this:

that immediately sets a negative tone.

As you admitted, you aren't familiar with the area, and while you put Google Maps to work on calculating distances and driving times, that doesn't always tell the whole story.

The way you would normally get to the Syracuse Supercharger is to get on I-90, but that is a toll road, and while the toll is free for traveling that one exit, there can be a bottleneck going through the toll booths getting onto I-90 depending on the time of day. Plus, while the Supercharger might technically be 6 miles from the center of Syracuse, as the OP later pointed out, he's not in the center of Syracuse, but rather on the east to southeast side of the city and likely takes 481 to get back to I-81. As he later pointed out, the diversion to get to the Supercharger is significant, and I think he was being generous. You could make the argument that he didn't supply additional pertinent information, but before you made any assumptions about his situation (which wasn't really pertinent to his initial question anyway), you should have sought that information first before letting yourself get angry.

And while the Binghamton Supercharger is probably useless to him in his stated use case, even if it wasn't, some local knowledge of the area again goes a long way. That Supercharger is located right between two exits on a busy local road with many traffic lights, so it's not easy on/easy off, and while. Before getting angry based on what you assume the situation is, why not ask for missing details, or simply suggest alternatives that may be obvious to you but may have been missed by the OP.
 
But once Tesla adopts a CCS adapter making charging at EVgo and ElectrifyAmerica possible, why would those companies go to the expense of then adding native Tesla outlets.
I think a lot of people assume that every Tesla owners is going to rush out and buy the adapter when it comes out. Probably a good majority of the enthusiasts that take the time to participate in this forum will. But I'm not so sure the wider population, and owners of vehicles that are too old to have CCS support would.

My car is pre-CCS support, but even if it had it, and even if the price point of the adapter is $200, I'm still not sure I would buy it. For my purposes, the Supercharger network has been sufficient, and $200 would not represent a necessity, and possibly hardly ever be used. But yeah, if I'm on I-81 between Harrisburg and Scranton and need to make a restroom stop (definite real-world requirement--not only are there no Superchargers in that section, but very few rest stops and exits with easy on/off restrooms!), then I just may stop at the planned DCFC site in Dorrance/Hazelton and give them some of my money if they have a built-in Tesla adapter. (although I will say the Moosic Supercharger is one of my favorites, even though it is a bit off the highway, due to the compelling food choices there--I usually try to time my meal stops for that Supercharger).
 
That is ridiculous. I drive more than that to go to my daughter and son-in-law's house here in town. Costco here in town is about that far from me. 15-20 minutes is NOTHING!
Matter of perspective really... I used to live in Southern California, so everything was an hour away. I was used to it.... So when I moved to the PacNW, I didn't mind commuting... However, I've interviewed candidates that turned down job offers becuase they said the commute was too long. When I inquired about where they were commuting from, it was literally a 15 minute commute, but it was too long for them.
 
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