[Paul]

US road trip Tesla Model S shown in the following article suckin' juice via a CHAdeMO adapter.

Outrageous behaviour...

http://insideevs.com/tesla-model-s-chademo-adapter-real-world-beta-testing-phase/

 

[Eunicholas]

Lol cheeky

 

[Grant Thomas]

That's bottom of the class for design; you've just forked out £100,000 on your Tesla Model S and on connecting this adapter you've scratched the paint finish on first connection..... NEXT!

 

[Paul]

Does look a bit clunky and ill conceived from that angle, wonder if it's not as bad as it looks?!

 

[jontracey]

I think that's a problem with the CHAdeMO plug, yes the fly lead could be longer but you can see why Elon designed his own chargers

 

[Grant Thomas]

Is this allowed to be used in the UK?

 

[jontracey]

In theory if you have a us spec car, the adaptor is the US tesla connector not a type 2 as found on European cars

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

I've always thought these adaptors are likely to pull the socket out of the car... can you imagine the leverage as someone squeezes post your Model S in a UK car parking space

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Is this allowed to be used in the UK?

IEC 61851-1 is pretty clear and likely to be the foundation of the EU directive - "Adaptors shall not be used to connect a vehicle connector to a vehicle inlet".

 

[knoxie]

Crikey can you imagine your local Nissan dealer being happy to let an empty P85 model-s pull up and take a tenners worth of electricity, block the bay for nearly 2 hours and then drive off when you cant take your nissan Leaf to a super charger and charge up when you want to?

And others are right about the combined weight of the chademo and the adapter on the port of the car? on a personal front I will be happy to see Model-s at the chargers over here, I dont see many needing or using them over here when the supercharger net is in place, might be the odd one or 2 before then.

my experience with Leafers at chargers has been great, plenty of folks stopping charging when I have pulled up as long as they have enough to get to their next stop and the like and I am much the same, I always stay within eyeshot of the car so i can unplug and let someone else on it.

 

[snfosberry]

Chap in the tesla store said the CHadeMO adapter will be available in the UK, but couldn't give me a price. He said its available to order from the States.

I did point out the US cars have a different interface and it won't fit....

 

[snfosberry]

@Kevin Sharpe - will the CHAd adapter not covered by the second line, if Tesla and / or DBT have designated / approved it?

Either way I expect connecting a DBT to a loose adapter hanging off the side of a tesla will be fairly awkward!

 

[Guesty]

I'd rather see a tesla charging at 50kw using the adapter than plugged into the AC side but only pulling 11kw.

But I think that it will be a fairly rare thing to see given the range of the Model S and the size of the UK.

 

[flipper]

IEC 61851-1 is pretty clear and likely to be the foundation of the EU directive - "Adaptors shall not be used to connect a vehicle connector to a vehicle inlet".

View attachment 627

...except you then completely ignore the next paragraph which starts "A conversion adaptor ... shall only be used if specifically designated and approved by the vehicle manufacturer..."

It looks clumsy, but for all we know it may be very light weight, with a rubber coating on the bottom to prevent damage,and it may even be magnetic to "clamp" to the car (although, are Tesla bodies made of steel?)

If you read the InseideEVs thread, it looks like Tesla owners have been asking for these - they'd certainly make sense in the UK if you had a Tesla now, it would give you access to a much bigger selection of chargers.

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

@Kevin Sharpe - will the CHAd adapter not covered by the second line, if Tesla and / or DBT have designated / approved it?

No... the IEC are adamant that adaptors between the vehicle connector and vehicle inlet are not allowed.

The second paragraph relates to the EVSE where OEM adaptors are allowed at the "socket outlet".

This should all become clearer when the EU clean fuels directive arrives because at that point the standards will effectively become law and hopefully new standards revisions will remove any ambiguity

It's possible that Tesla don't fully understand EU requirements at this time... certainly their portable EVSE ("UMC") is not currently standards compliant because it does not switch the neutral line.

 

[jontracey]

@Kevin Sharpe seems Tesla are getting ready to announce the UMC will not be available in the UK, do you know if any sells an EVSE with a type 2 cable that would/should work as a replacement

 

[flipper]

No... the IEC are adamant that adaptors between the vehicle connector and vehicle inlet are not allowed.

The second paragraph relates to the EVSE where OEM adaptors are allowed at the "socket outlet".

This should all become clearer when the EU clean fuels directive arrives because at that point the standards will effectively become law and hopefully new standards revisions will remove any ambiguity

It's possible that Tesla don't fully understand EU requirements at this time... certainly their portable EVSE ("UMC") is not currently standards compliant because it does not switch the neutral line.

We might be getting into the realms of semantics here, and I'm more than willing to admit that you probably have better knowledge and understanding than me, but (I can't resist a good discussion...) I found this:

"The term EVSE has been in use for a long time, and the 1996 NEC and California Article 625 defined (PDF) EVSE as:
The conductors, including the ungrounded, grounded, and equipment grounding conductors, the electric vehicle connectors, attachment plugs, and all other fittings, devices, power outlets or apparatuses installed specifically for the purpose of delivering energy from the premises wiring to the electric vehicle."

Now, I know we all think of EVSE as the 3-pin adaptor (i.e. a "portable EVSE"), but the definition above seems (to me!) a little broader. So could, technically, a Chademo Rapid charger be considered to be an "EVSE"? In which case, does that mean that the adaptor is actually allowed under the EU regs?

(I'm pretty sure that the Rapids aren't, really, covered under the term EVSE, TBH...)

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

(I'm pretty sure that the Rapids aren't, really, covered under the term EVSE, TBH...)

In Europe we define the term "EVSE" as follows in IEC 61851-1{ed2.0} 3.9;

"conductors, including the phase, neutral and protective earth conductors, the EV couplers, attachment plugs, and all other accessories, devices, power outlets or apparatuses installed specifically for the purpose of delivering energy from the premises wiring to the EV and allowing communication between them if required"

This does include everything from simple 'dumb' AC cables without a 'brick' (Mode 1) to 100KW+ DC 'rapid' charging systems (Mode 4).

Unfortunately, we all mix up the terms and are further confused by variants like "Charging Station" and "Charge Point" which is a trademark

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

... "Charge Point" which is a trademark

I know it is a trademark but OLEV use it regularly and so if it were enforced they would have to sue the UK government!

I am happy using charge point. To me Charge Point and Charge Station do have specific meanings but I accept that the meaning I ascribe to them may not be the same as others.

For me...

Charge point is a single connection to charge a car. Charge station is a collection of charge points in the same location.

I know the official definition but I for me the term EVSE applies to equipment and cables that have built in the charge controller. Without that it is just a cable!

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

@Kevin Sharpe seems Tesla are getting ready to announce the UMC will not be available in the UK, do you know if any sells an EVSE with a type 2 cable that would/should work as a replacement

Here's an early photo of a 22kW (32A 3 Phase) portable EVSE that we built for an "OEM" in Norway. They are incredibly tough with 'rubberised' enclosures that are used in the oil and gas industry. Overall size is 130mm x 450mm x 83mm and I'm using one for my new 6A-80A portable EVSE.

We could turn this into a product if the size was not an issue for you. Obviously, we could build a 7kW (32A 1 Phase) version as well. Thoughts?