Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use Tesla's EV charging plug

Re:Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use T... by amluto on Wednesday December 20, 2023 @12:00PM (#38710804)

I expect a degree of intelligence to be important in the adapter. Specifically, unless the adapter is rated for the highest possible current and voltage that the physical form factor can support (1kV, 600A? Is there even a pre-ordained limit? Tesla reports that they’ve tested NACS up to quite impressive voltages and currents.), then the adapter needs to tell the car and/or charger to limit voltage and current. Otherwise it risks arcing and/or overheating.

Also, whatever water cooling magic keeps the charger plug and its terminals cool won’t cool the adapter.

Even the little charge-a-J1772-car-off-a-Tesla-level-2-charger hack adapters are generally dumb adapters designed for 40A or so and are not safe if connected to a full-spec 80A EVSE.

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Re:Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use T... by Rebelgecko on Wednesday December 20, 2023 @04:16PM (#38713750)

Isn't that negotiation already part of the CCS protocol? Otherwise 400v cars would be fried when they end up getting 800v from an L3 charger, or a Bolt would end up getting 300kW that it can't actually use

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Re:Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use T... by amluto on Wednesday December 20, 2023 @11:16PM (#38716948)

Yes, but if there’s a dumb adapter between the car and the charger, how do the car and charger know it’s there and know its current and voltage limits (which may be less than the car’s)?

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Re:Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use T... by Rebelgecko on Thursday December 21, 2023 @03:17AM (#38718158)

Can't you just buy the right adapter for your car/? I think that's how TeslaTap does it, they sell a few different amp options.

Or is the issue trusting people to buy the right one?

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Re:Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use T... by clouddrover on Wednesday December 20, 2023 @05:34PM (#38714551)

> I expect a degree of intelligence to be important in the adapter.

No, that's done by the car. The adapter just changes the shape of the plug.

The car controls the charge curve.

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Re:Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use T... by amluto on Wednesday December 20, 2023 @09:41PM (#38716416)

> The car controls the charge curve.

Exactly. If a car uses an 800V battery and can charge at 500A, and the charger can supply 500A at 800V, and the adapter is only rated for 150A, something needs to tell the car not to draw more than 150A. Similarly, an adapter rated at 400V that is used with an 800V car needs to tell the car or charger not to charge at 800V (which may mean not charging at all).

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Re:Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use T... by clouddrover on Thursday December 21, 2023 @12:05AM (#38717185)

All parts of the charging chain have temperature sensors (charger, cable, plug, adapter, inlet, battery). If they overheat they'll derate.

If your car can pull 500 amps then you should get an adapter rated for 500 amps. Here's an example:

https://a2zevshop.com/products/nacs-ccs1

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