Why aren’t the NACS adapter’s 2 in 1?

[AliRafiee]

I was also looking at the Lectron that has what appears to be the AC pins, but it says it only works with superchargers.
I wonder why that is.
I’ve also never charged at a public L2 Tesla charger. I don’t know what is involved there.

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[4sallypat]

I was also looking at the Lectron that has what appears to be the AC pins, but it says it only works with superchargers.
I wonder why that is.
I’ve also never charged at a public L2 Tesla charger. I don’t know what is involved there.

NACS can use either AC or DC with the same plug/receptacle so they can plug into an AC or DC charger.

Difference is that Ford CCS uses DC to charge (L3) at a public charger like Tesla, EVGo, EA, Shell, etc...
Ford uses AC charging thru J1772.

Lectron does make a AC charger adapter (L2) for Tesla Destination chargers for your Ford.

The complimentary Ford adapter is only for DCFC (L3) and will not work with Tesla L2 AC chargers.

Same issue with folks with Ford Lightnings that use the Pro Charger (CCS) at home with AC charging but in turn can backfeed DC to a house inverter.

 

[generaltso]

I was also looking at the Lectron that has what appears to be the AC pins, but it says it only works with superchargers.
I wonder why that is.
I’ve also never charged at a public L2 Tesla charger. I don’t know what is involved there.

Since NACS uses the same pins for AC and DC charging, the adapter would have to have logic built in to switch between the two. That would make it much larger and much more expensive.

 

[AliRafiee]

NACS can use either AC or DC with the same plug/receptacle so they can plug into an AC or DC charger.

Difference is that Ford CCS uses DC to charge (L3) at a public charger like Tesla, EVGo, EA, Shell, etc...
Ford uses AC charging thru J1772.

Lectron does make a AC charger adapter (L2) for Tesla Destination chargers for your Ford.

The complimentary Ford adapter is only for DCFC (L3) and will not work with Tesla L2 AC chargers.

Same issue with folks with Ford Lightnings that use the Pro Charger (CCS) at home with AC charging but in turn can backfeed DC to a house inverter.

Lectron makes this.
https://ev-lectron.com/products/lec...tination-chargers-and-mobile-connectors-black

 

[Mach-Lee]

I was also looking at the Lectron that has what appears to be the AC pins, but it says it only works with superchargers.
I wonder why that is.
I’ve also never charged at a public L2 Tesla charger. I don’t know what is involved there.

Because 2 in 1 would expose the AC charger pins to the full 400V pack voltage, and it was only designed to handle about 280V maximum.

It's not safe or possible to do a 2 in 1.

 

[highland58]

Lectron makes this.
https://ev-lectron.com/products/lec...tination-chargers-and-mobile-connectors-black

The Tesla Tap mini is more expensive but same purpose. It does have some advantages and can sometimes be found at a lower price.

 

[jgcom]

I agree with the others who said that a competently-designed switch to connect the NACS charge pins to one of the CCS pin pairs would make the device much more expensive.

To be frank, I'm kind of amazed that NACS works as well as it seems to. One theoretical advantage of CCS is that daily use of the AC charge pins, often with random dirty or worn level-2 chargers, doesn't wear out the level-3 pins, which need to carry much more current safely.

 

[RMoore]

The Tesla Tap mini is more expensive but same purpose. It does have some advantages and can sometimes be found at a lower price.

Except when the fit is so tight that it becomes torture to remove. That’s been my issue with it. I should have returned mine when I had the chance but decided to see if using it would make it a bit looser. It has but only slightly and it’s still a pain. I’ve heard the newer ones don’t have this issue.

 

[generaltso]

Except when the fit is so tight that it becomes torture to remove. That’s been my issue with it. I should have returned mine when I had the chance but decided to see if using it would make it a bit looser. It has but only slightly and it’s still a pain. I’ve heard the newer ones don’t have this issue.

Yup. That’s why I switched from the Tesla Tap Mini to a Lectron.

 

[Aubury]

Because 2 in 1 would expose the AC charger pins to the full 400V pack voltage, and it was only designed to handle about 280V maximum.

It's not safe or possible to do a 2 in 1.

In theory it could be possible with a set of contactors and a microcontroller, if you could find a way to power the controller and contactors, to detect which type of system you're charging with. However, the adapter would be quite big and likely expensive enough that it would just be cheaper to get DC and AC adapters separately.

 

[RMoore]

I agree with the others who said that a competently-designed switch to connect the NACS charge pins to one of the CCS pin pairs would make the device much more expensive.

To be frank, I'm kind of amazed that NACS works as well as it seems to. One theoretical advantage of CCS is that daily use of the AC charge pins, often with random dirty or worn level-2 chargers, doesn't wear out the level-3 pins, which need to carry much more current safely.

How much more expensive? More than say $500 which would be about what having a TeslaTap plus a NACS adapter would cost (not counting the fact that many of us are getting the Ford one free of charge).

 

[RMoore]

Yup. That’s why I switched from the Tesla Tap Mini to a Lectron.

Smart. I remember our back and forth about this a while ago. I use a block of wood and a hammer to bang it off. I should really just get the Lectron. Which did you get?

 

[generaltso]

Smart. I remember our back and forth about this a while ago. I use a block of wood and a hammer to bang it off. I should really just get the Lectron. Which did you get?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09DCTJCTV/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A7IJLMQOGRJMT&th=1

 

[Mach-Lee]

So for those that don't study engineering, here is what a 500A 1000V DC switch looks like:

It's 6" x 8" x 5" and weighs 8 pounds. I don't know cost but it's probably four figures. Definitely not microcontroller controlled (unless you want to add a giant servo motor). Imagine that being inside the adapter which would have to be basketball size.

And what would happen if you left the switch in the AC position at a Supercharger by mistake? The Supercharger would precharge your AC on-board charger with 400V. Not good.

Teslas are designed differently so their on-board chargers can handle the input voltage of DC charging. We can't do that after the fact, so we a stuck needing to use two separate adapters.

Hopefully this shuts down any rational discussion over the feasibility of adding a switch inside a DC charging adapter. It's not happening.

 

[highland58]

Has anyone tried a little lubricant before connecting the tesla tap - Silicone spray or similar? I must admit that I have never used my tesla tap mini, I try to use up my free charging at EA as much as possible.

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