Stolen J1772 Adapter

[asmith305]

I had my J1772 charging adapter stolen from my M3 yesterday while charging at a public station at the Domain in Austin, TX. I'm pretty shocked by this because two security features failed during this incident in my opinion. I was under the impression that the adapter would always be locked in the charging port even if the plug to the charging station is pulled. I'm guessing that is not actually true since someone was clearly able to remove it? The car was locked and Sentry was on, which leads to the next failure: I have multiple clips of people walking around what was an active parking garage, but I have no footage of the plug and adapter being taken from my car. What happened there?

Has this happened to anyone else in the past? I'm very concerned about these security features not working, and I'm upset I have to buy another adapter from an online Tesla store that has a horrible record of getting anything out in a timely manor, if at all.

 

[Tam]

...Has this happened to anyone else in the past?...

I have tested multiple times that all my Tesla cars (2012 MS, 2017 MX, 2018 M3) lock the J1772 adapter once the car is locked. It can only be removed when the car is unlocked. Could it be that you thought it was locked but it was not?

 

[RayK]

Has not happened to me but the only times that I would use the J1772 adapter was at work (ChargePoint L2 stations). Haven't used one for the last 2.5 years. My impression is that the J1772 adapter should lock in the charge port as long as the car itself is locked but that may be wrong. The L2 charging handle can be disconnected from the J1772 adapter simply by pressing on the release button, while they are still plugged into the car and the charging still active.

If the Tesla store is out of stock of the adapter, they are readily available off of eBay for $50 or less, the same price as from the Tesla store (ignoring shipping and tax). eBay also has a bunch of J1772 locking rings. Those go over the adapter and the locking tab of the J1772 handle. This prevents (somewhat) the handle from being disconnected from the J1772 adapter. Be careful if you buy one of these locking rings; there are two different styles of J1772 adapter - one with a "flange" and one without. See here: Using Existing Nema 14-50 Power Outlet to charge Model 3 Performance

As far as your Sentry Mode not recording the theft, I have no answer.

 

[android04]

$50 and in stock SAE J1772 Charging Adapter

Not sure why Sentry Mode didn't catch anything, but if you were near the car when it happened it might have thought it was you and didn't record (and also unlocked the adapter).

 

[asmith305]

I have tested multiple times that all my Tesla cars (2012 MS, 2017 MX, 2018 M3) lock the J1772 adapter once the car is locked. It can only be removed when the car is unlocked. Could it be that you thought it was locked but it was not?

It showed as being locked on my app when I received the notification that charging was interrupted and when I got back to the car the mirrors were still folded in. If the car was unlocked, then that creates another even bigger issue with the Phone Key.

 

[OliverM3]

I wonder if yanking it hard enough will break the tab inside? It's probably nothing more than a little plastic tab so if you yank it with the big charging handle connected wonder if it would come out?

I know sometimes mine tells me it failed to lock because I didn't stick it all the way in fast enough.

 

[asmith305]

Has not happened to me but the only times that I would use the J1772 adapter was at work (ChargePoint L2 stations). Haven't used one for the last 2.5 years. My impression is that the J1772 adapter should lock in the charge port as long as the car itself is locked but that may be wrong. The L2 charging handle can be disconnected from the J1772 adapter simply by pressing on the release button, while they are still plugged into the car and the charging still active.

If the Tesla store is out of stock of the adapter, they are readily available off of eBay for $50 or less, the same price as from the Tesla store (ignoring shipping and tax). eBay also has a bunch of J1772 locking rings. Those go over the adapter and the locking tab of the J1772 handle. This prevents (somewhat) the handle from being disconnected from the J1772 adapter. Be careful if you buy one of these locking rings; there are two different styles of J1772 adapter - one with a "flange" and one without. See here: Using Existing Nema 14-50 Power Outlet to charge Model 3 Performance

As far as your Sentry Mode not recording the theft, I have no answer.

I've had the L2 charging handle unplugged plenty of times in the past, but the adapter was always still locked in place when I returned, but not this time.

 

[Tam]

It showed as being locked on my app when I received the notification that charging was interrupted and when I got back to the car the mirrors were still folded in. If the car was unlocked, then that creates another even bigger issue with the Phone Key.

It sounds like a bug and you should report your evidence (time, date, screen capture) to Service Center so they can look at your car's log and resolve it.

 

[asmith305]

I wonder if yanking it hard enough will break the tab inside? It's probably nothing more than a little plastic tab so if you yank it with the big charging handle connected wonder if it would come out?

I know sometimes mine tells me it failed to lock because I didn't stick it all the way in fast enough.

You're absolutely right, it's just a small piece of plastic "locking" it in place (just went to look and it's still there at least!). I was very anxious about the entire charging port having been damaged but it did charge when plugged into a supercharger on the way home fortunately.

 

[Big Earl]

I wonder if yanking it hard enough will break the tab inside? It's probably nothing more than a little plastic tab so if you yank it with the big charging handle connected wonder if it would come out?

I know sometimes mine tells me it failed to lock because I didn't stick it all the way in fast enough.

This. Check to make sure the charge port lock wasn't damaged by someone forcibly removing the adapter.

 

[asmith305]

It sounds like a bug and you should report your evidence (time, date, screen capture) to Service Center so they can look at your car's log and resolve it.

Agreed, I already have an appointment scheduled for Friday.

 

[RayK]

It showed as being locked on my app when I received the notification that charging was interrupted and when I got back to the car the mirrors were still folded in. If the car was unlocked, then that creates another even bigger issue with the Phone Key.

Was it obvious where the charging handle was moved to? By that I mean was the J1772 handle inserted into the car next to you when you returned?

 

[OliverM3]

Was it obvious where the charging handle was moved to? By that I mean was the J1772 handle inserted into the car next to you when you returned?

That would be shitty if a fellow EV owner yanked it out and discarded the adapter.

 

[asmith305]

Was it obvious where the charging handle was moved to? By that I mean was the J1772 handle inserted into the car next to you when you returned?

The charging handle had been plugged back into the station and the other EV charging spot was empty. My Sentry did record another M3 in the spot next to me, they were there for less than 10 min from the footage I've pieced together. I'm assuming that driver that took my adapter, but I don't have footage of it actually taking place and I can't see the license plate at anytime.

 

[RayK]

The charging handle had been plugged back into the station and the other EV charging spot was empty. My Sentry did record another M3 in the spot next to me, they were there for less than 10 min from the footage I've pieced together. I'm assuming that driver that took my adapter, but I don't have footage of it actually taking place and I can't see the license plate at anytime.

<10 minutes of charge at a L2 rate is only about 4 miles of range. Hardly worth the effort to charge at all. If it was the M3 next to you that did that, I hope karma catches up to them.

 

[Randy-12]

Is the lock grove on the J1772 adapter enlarged or broken or excess wear?

 

[OliverM3]

Is the lock grove on the J1772 adapter enlarged or broken or excess wear?

You'd probably have to ask the new owner of that adapter

 

[Rocky_H]

Huh. This is an interesting one, and I think there's a known loophole with this.

I have tested multiple times that all my Tesla cars (2012 MS, 2017 MX, 2018 M3) lock the J1772 adapter once the car is locked. It can only be removed when the car is unlocked. Could it be that you thought it was locked but it was not?

Yes, that has always been true on the S and X. But something happened when the 3 came out and went through its first Winter and some odd owner complaints started coming in.

Something with how the charging port was designed and arranged, like with a bit of a downward tilt into the car was causing this issue: snow and ice that would be on the charging handle would melt and kind of pour/drip into the port, and then when charging was over, and it cooled down would re-freeze, sticking the release latching pin in place, locking the plug (or adapter) in permanently, or until you could get a hair dryer to thaw it to release the locking pin.

So, Tesla rolled out a software update to change the behavior. If the outside temperature was below freezing, it would release and unlock the port when charging finished and stay unlocked, so people could pull the plugs out later. So yes, that does introduce this security risk of people being able to pull your adapter out if it's cold.

 

[Tam]

...that does introduce this security risk of people being able to pull your adapter out if it's cold...

My testing has been in good weather not rain or snow or ice... so I easily missed this scenario.

Thanks for sharing about the exception in freezing weather.

 

[M109Rider]

You'd probably have to ask the new owner of that adapter

What temperature was it when you lost the adapter ?