Recently learned about someone who rigged up an 85D charge port to a P85. Most of the SC's have said that the touchscreen would not recognize the new charge port and the door closing feature would not work. Wrong. Not only does a P85 see the new charge port but port door can be closed from the touch screen. Here's a shot of what shows up on the P85 screen with the D charge port connected. But this apparently is not as easy as it might first seem. There's still a question about whether the D charge port can be mounted on a pre-D car. When there's an answer it will be posted here. True confessions: I don't have the D charge port and I don't know who does. This info was shared with me anonymously.
A firmware/software upgrade is definitely not required. I asked the same question and was told it works connected to the same plug that connects P85's charge port.
most likely the charge port door communicates with the touch screen to say what hardware it is (via CAN) and then the software in the touchscreen enables the buttons for it. I'd love to get that door, and I'd REALLY like to get the cold weather windshield.
If you trust your anonymous screenshot, note that the car pictured is signature red. Therefore the question about whether the D charge port can be added to a pre-D car should be answered. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we've had any foreign launches (thus qualifying for Sig Red) since the D announcement.
I hope there is eventually a retrofit available then. I've driven away from a SuperCharger on more than one occasion with my charge port door open. :redface:
My next question would be: if you unplugged the 60kWh battery, then reconnected the 85kWh battery would it recognize it and work as an S85? Anyone have any extra batteries laying around to try it?
There's a specific option code programmed into the car for battery size. That isn't true for the charge port - at least I don't believe. - - - Updated - - - I got to thinking about this. A few weeks ago, I was required to change all four of my door handles because Tesla couldn't find any of the original ones anymore - and that required me to go to the new ones. The service center called around a bit before concluding no dice on finding an older part. (I really liked the older handles, because the LED's actually shine down as opposed to just lighting the handle, and I really don't like the 1/8" of "play" that I feel when I pull. I know others prefer the new behavior, but I rather like the old, thank-you-very-much.) It's likely the same situation here. Tesla will consume all the remaining stock of old charge ports for the cars that still have them; then they'll have to begin installing the newer ones, keeping parts maintenance simple. I was told that new firmware was required to be pushed for newer door handles, though, although they seemed to work while he was pushing firmware.
@FlasherZ - Indeed, every time my door handles have been replaced, the techs have flashed a new firmware or reflashed the existing firmware. It's to make sure that the embedded firmware on the handles is speaking the same language as the MCU. That's my take at least.
Thread from the dead... did anyone ever make a successful drop-in replacement of the old flap style for a motorized charge port door? Pre-facelift car. If my port goes, I just want to know if I can buy a used motorized unit on ebay... Right now I've got some LED glitches on the glow ring around the port... and if enough go out I'll want a "new" part in there. Willing to buy used of course. Thanks!
The motorized unit can’t be mounted on an pre-motorized unit car, at least with a lot of custom work, including some welding and changes to the body. And potentenial troubles are unknown, so it’s probably not worth considering.
This is really disappointing, because when I ordered the P85D just after it was unveiled, motorised charge port door was one of the advertised features, and in fact one of the reasons I upgraded my order from a non-D.
Me too, @cynix. Tesla justified their statement by removing "motorised charge port" from the non-US web page.
I have a P85D in Canada that was delivered in Jan 2015 and I have a motorized door - so it isn't just US models.
It was only motorised on North American and Japanese models initially because your charge port is smaller, until they redesigned the charge port area as part of the facelift.