"EVJect" - Reviewed by Tom on SoC

[rreddy3]

Tom has posted a review of a "breakaway" charging adapter. It is more or less the flip side of the posts by 21st C P and others on creating locks for the NACS/Ford adapter.

The breakaway adapter is designed to allow you to put the vehicle in gear and drive away if you feel you are in danger. It's currently in production and use for Tesla and I believe I understood him to say also the European CCS 2 protocol. CCS 1 in development. Evidently it will have a remote control to signal the device to terminate the charge if the vehicle in question doesn't have that capability built in.

The device is $299. It's a one-time use device, as you can imagine. At the present time the manufacturer will give you a new one free if you've used one in an emergency situation, as opposed to just clowning around, and send them the part that's still in the car along with your story.

I would say Tom presents the device in a fairly even-handed way, not hysterically for or against it. He also considers damage scenarios to the charging equipment. He actually demonstrated the thing using a Tesla borrowed from a friend. It worked, it didn't wreck the car or rip off its charge port cover, nor did it trash the Supercharger. If a person has an EVJect and actually uses it, that may address fears or concerns the person may have about DC fast charging in areas perceived to be risky.

If you have the time and inclination, watch Tom's YouTube video on the EVJect and draw your own conclusions. I believe it was posted either yesterday, the 10th, or earlier today. If nothing else, it's an interesting device.

I'm not advocating or pushing for this device one way or the other. It just struck me as an interesting concept. (I did a word search and did not see a thread already existing on this ... if there is one, I missed it and apologize for doubling up.)

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[electric-in-the-desert]

What a strange device. I’m curious how this even works from the vehicle side since you can’t switch out of park when plugged in.

also imagine the cost of this device failing by not fully releasing but still allowing you to drive away…

 

[Mach-Lee]

I saw they were working on a CCS version, is that out yet?

EDIT: Here's video since the OP didn't include it. Tom tested the Tesla version of the EVject, the CCS version is not available yet.

 

[generaltso]

I saw they were working on a CCS version, is that out yet?

Not yet. Tom has a 3D printed prototype. But with the requirement of an internal battery and remote, I'm guessing the CCS version will be more expensive.

It's not something I would pay for, but it's an interesting product.

 

[echeck]

This is very interesting. Just two weeks ago I found myself charging at a supercharger outside of Atlantic City at 3am in a well lit WaWa gas station parking lot when a homeless man came up to the car insisting I roll my window down. He puts his head halfway through the window and starts acting very aggressively asking me questions, and then tells me he just got out of prison for murder. He was clearly on something based on his behavior, and I couldn’t leave since I was connected. I considered my options and decided to try to talk to the guy and see if I could de-escalate.

Long story short I was able to engage in a way that disarmed him, and I ended up getting out of the car and having a conversation outside the car. I was able to unplug while in conversation, and made sure to stand in view of my front and rear dash cams in case identification was ever needed.

I’m a decent sized guy, and have some professional training, so I wasn’t scared, but I was ready.

It really hit home that situations can arise like this, and they can go either way. Calling for emergency response takes time that a driver may not have. We need a way to leave a charger while connected.

 

[rreddy3]

What a strange device. I’m curious how this even works from the vehicle side since you can’t switch out of park when plugged in.

also imagine the cost of this device failing by not fully releasing but still allowing you to drive away…

If it didn’t “breakaway “ I guess that would be a messy and potentially dangerous situation.

It appears to be designed to separate into two pieces. One part remains plugged into the vehicle, the other remains in the charger dispenser. From Tom’s description I infer the halves are held together by six screws. He retrieved four but counted six locations for the screws. I guess the screws are strong enough and adequately mounted to hold the device together but with enough force the screws strip out. As I understood what he said, he asked the manufacturer if he could test one and they agreed.

I don’t believe I would buy one either. But personal safety/security/mitigation methods/risk tolerance are highly individual choices even though some basic strategies, such as awareness of one’s surroundings and having a plan if things look like they’re headed south, should be common. And in fairness to the inventors and promoters of this device, they would say it is a bona fide security measure allowing a person to extract themselves from a developing, threatening situation before things spin out of one’s ability to avoid a hostile encounter or control an outcome.

 

[rreddy3]

This is very interesting. Just two weeks ago I found myself charging at a supercharger outside of Atlantic City at 3am in a well lit WaWa gas station parking lot when a homeless man came up to the car insisting I roll my window down. He puts his head halfway through the window and starts acting very aggressively asking me questions, and then tells me he just got out of prison for murder. He was clearly on something based on his behavior, and I couldn’t leave since I was connected. I considered my options and decided to try to talk to the guy and see if I could de-escalate.

Long story short I was able to engage in a way that disarmed him, and I ended up getting out of the car and having a conversation outside the car. I was able to unplug while in conversation, and made sure to stand in view of my front and rear dash cams in case identification was ever needed.

I’m a decent sized guy, and have some professional training, so I wasn’t scared, but I was ready.

It really hit home that situations can arise like this, and they can go either way. Calling for emergency response takes time that a driver may not have. We need a way to leave a charger while connected.

That’s a tough situation. Fortunately you have the skills and had the presence of mind to develop and execute a plan that allowed you to de-escalate the situation and withdraw with no one being the worse off. Not everyone can do that.

 

[electric-in-the-desert]

If it didn’t “breakaway “ I guess that would be a messy and potentially dangerous situation.

It appears to be designed to separate into two pieces. One part remains plugged into the vehicle, the other remains in the charger dispenser. From Tom’s description I infer the halves are held together by six screws. He retrieved four but counted six locations for the screws. I guess the screws are strong enough and adequately mounted to hold the device together but with enough force the screws strip out. As I understood what he said, he asked the manufacturer if he could test one and they agreed.

I don’t believe I would buy one either. But personal safety/security/mitigation methods/risk tolerance are highly individual choices even though some basic strategies, such as awareness of one’s surroundings and having a plan if things look like they’re headed south, should be common. And in fairness to the inventors and promoters of this device, they would say it is a bona fide security measure allowing a person to extract themselves from a developing, threatening situation before things spin out of one’s ability to avoid a hostile encounter or control an outcome.

Absolutely makes sense, and I totally believe there is a market for it. And now I’m curious if DCFC could eventually add some sort of breakaway feature that doesn’t require replacement of the connector… figure that’s a ways off though

I’m guessing there is some circuitry on the charger side that detects when a certain threshold is met on the connector, and once that happens it terminates the charging session. I’ll be curious to learn more about how it works

 

[Kevin P]

What a strange device. I’m curious how this even works from the vehicle side since you can’t switch out of park when plugged in.

also imagine the cost of this device failing by not fully releasing but still allowing you to drive away…

Exactly. BEVs, in general, and definitely the Mach E, won't let you put the car in gear and drive away if anything is plugged in. Seems like this device would be largely useless unless it somehow defeated that safety mechanism.

I myself have TRIED to drive the car off several times while plugged in.... Glad it won't let you.

 

[CarsIMBwife]

While watching the video, I originally thought the MME wouldn’t go if the charge port door was open, but Tom corrected me. In the Tesla, he was able to stop the charge from inside the car before driving away. So, technically it wasn’t charging at the moment of detachment. Wonder if with CCS version if we could stop the charge from inside via an app. If I remember correctly, the EA app lets you stop the charge, wonder if Charge Assist (or whatever it’s called) would stop the charge. Interesting product. I tend to plan road trips with weekday DCFC charging, and L2 hotel weeknight charging. Totally agree that some charging locations are in sketchy locations.

 

[rreddy3]

Exactly. BEVs, in general, and definitely the Mach E, won't let you put the car in gear and drive away if anything is plugged in. Seems like this device would be largely useless unless it somehow defeated that safety mechanism.

I myself have TRIED to drive the car off several times while plugged in.... Glad it won't let you.

Per Tom, all EVs prohibit the driver from engaging a gear. I’m not an engineer, nor an electrician, nor a scientist, and have no idea how this device actually functions to override the car’s “no drive” feature. Someway or another the device defeats or overrides the car’s “no drive” when plugged in safety feature.

He said when the manufacturer has a production version of the device in CCS1 format he would test it. Maybe a forum member in Jersey can loan Tom a MME to be the test mule ?.

He should test one as a straight CCS1 to CCS1 and also one in conjunction with a NACS/CCS1 adapter, presuming the EVJect manufacturer has determined the device will safely operate with an adapter and determined which side of the adapter you place the EVJect. And that also means you’d have different EVJects depending on which side of the adapter to which you attach the EVJect.

 

[rhfritz]

Interesting concept. And I'm glad eCheck was able to de-escalate the situation. Those are the skills I'd like to acquire. The scenario described could've just as easily been at, and standing next to, a gas pump, which as of late all have break-away hoses. Though it's a mixed bag as to whether you could actually be in your car and pumping gas. And of course, plenty of YT videos show that nothing in an ICE vehicle prevents you from driving away from a gas pump. The point is that the concept solves a problem that exists in a narrow set of circumstances. If I found myself outside of any WaWa at 3 a.m. charging, I might go into the WaWa to avoid being trapped in my car.

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