Tesla (A2Z) Adapter is Really a Game Changer!

[imstriker]

We decided this weekend to road trip over to Kansas City for a Royals game which is about 8 hours of driving for us. I ordered the A2Z adapter since my Ford one had not shipped. Their customer service was awesome and got it to me before my trip. Thank goodness they did.

We made it to our first stop in Effingham, Illinois and went to the EA chargers. All 3 of them were down and out completely. Another poor soul was there in his Hyundai saying he was down to 22% and had no idea what to do. Honestly I wouldn't have had any plan either. Thankfully we had the adapter, went a mile up the road and were charging in minutes. The peace of mind of not relying on that EA garbage is amazing. The rest of the trip was an absolute breeze and my confidence in road tripping is dramatically higher then before.

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[Sikkun]

We made it to our first stop in Effingham, Illinois and went to the EA chargers. All 3 of them were down and out completely. Another poor soul was there in his Hyundai saying he was down to 22% and had no idea what to do. Honestly I wouldn't have had any plan either.

Best advice is to have checked PlugShare ahead of time. Then you’d already know they were down and plan accordingly.

 

[bshaw]

We decided this weekend to road trip over to Kansas City for a Royals game which is about 8 hours of driving for us.

8-hours!?! At least the Royals won today's game.

 

[bshaw]

Best advice is to have checked PlugShare ahead of time. Then you’d already know they were down and plan accordingly.

Not just down, but EA has been occasionally de-rated here in the Northeast in the past couple of years. Last road trip, I went a little out of the way to use the EA station that had recent plugshare checkins (1-2, and ~5 days ago) saying they got max charge rate.
De-rated to ~34kW is better than down, but it's gonna take a *lot* longer to get to 80%.

 

[imstriker]

Best advice is to have checked PlugShare ahead of time. Then you’d already know they were down and plan accordingly.

Not wrong and I suppose that is the best part. Previously I would have poured through scenarios in ABRP (which oddly didn't say this was down) and Plugshare. I really would not have made this trip in an EV at all without the adapter as that stretch is really spartan. Having the adapter (and having tested it before leaving) gave me plenty of options unlike the poor Hyundai. EA is such a joke. That charger has been down for a month for "upgrades" and they were not doing a thing to it.

 

[imstriker]

8-hours!?! At least the Royals won today's game.

Yeah, what can I say we love ball parks. My wife has been on me for a couple years to get to that stadium so it was a bit of a whim. We went to the Saturday game though where they got spanked.

 

[Tampamike]

Here’s a question. Could you have helped the Hyundai guy out by having him follow you to the Tesla charger and letting him use your adapter? Would that have worked on a Hyundai if you initiated the charge through your Tesla app? Don’t take this wrong - no judgement here. I was just thinking about it and wondered if that would even work. Anybody know?

 

[Sikkun]

Here’s a question. Could you have helped the Hyundai guy out by having him follow you to the Tesla charger and letting him use your adapter? Would that have worked on a Hyundai if you initiated the charge through your Tesla app? Don’t take this wrong - no judgement here. I was just thinking about it and wondered if that would even work. Anybody know?

Only Ford and Rivian vehicles can use the adapters currently.

 

[mdolan92869]

Here’s a question. Could you have helped the Hyundai guy out by having him follow you to the Tesla charger and letting him use your adapter? Would that have worked on a Hyundai if you initiated the charge through your Tesla app? Don’t take this wrong - no judgement here. I was just thinking about it and wondered if that would even work. Anybody know?

No because the Tesla charger would've rejected a Hyundai.

 

[imstriker]

Here’s a question. Could you have helped the Hyundai guy out by having him follow you to the Tesla charger and letting him use your adapter? Would that have worked on a Hyundai if you initiated the charge through your Tesla app? Don’t take this wrong - no judgement here. I was just thinking about it and wondered if that would even work. Anybody know?

I really wanted to. I felt so bad for that guy. Unfortunately, no.

 

[sdoo25]

Agree. Recently did a trip from Georgia to New York and only used Tesla chargers. It's so much more relaxing knowing that the Tesla chargers are available. Also, there were at least 8 charging plugs at each Tesla station versus usually 4 at EA stations.

 

[Donna216]

Best advice is to have checked PlugShare ahead of time. Then you’d already know they were down and plan accordingly.

Agreed, but ON THE EXACT DAY YOU ARE TRAVELING. I did a couple days ahead and got to the rest stop and they were completely gone, lol.

 

[Sikkun]

Agreed, but ON THE EXACT DAY YOU ARE TRAVELING. I did a couple days ahead and got to the rest stop and they were completely gone, lol.

Agreed. Which I know people are in Tesla love mode currently. But I’ve also pulled up to a super charger in Atlanta where half the stations are down….so. /shrug. Growing pains.

 

[RickMachE]

Agreed, but ON THE EXACT DAY YOU ARE TRAVELING. I did a couple days ahead and got to the rest stop and they were completely gone, lol.

Yes, but No.

Plan your trip with ABRP. Check the chargers with PlugShare BEFORE the trip AND during the trip. Make sure your plan includes working chargers, and verify it the day of the trip.

ALWAYS have options.

 

[imstriker]

Yes, but No.

Plan your trip with ABRP. Check the chargers with PlugShare BEFORE the trip AND during the trip. Make sure your plan includes working chargers, and verify it the day of the trip.

ALWAYS have options.

You are not wrong, which just goes to remind me how far we are from mass adoption. Could you imagine telling the average person they need to use this special app to plan their trip and then this crowdsourced information app along their way to see which gas pumps are working. EA is really pitiful and far from treated like critical infrastructure. I am very happy Ford got the Tesla integration up and running.

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