First Use of JDapter Stub for Tesla Destination Charger to Chevy Bolt

[paulgipe]

In short, it worked as advertised. For us this opens up trips to hotels and motels throughout California that were once restricted to Teslas only.

We've been road tripping with an electric vehicle for the past four years, first with a Nissan Leaf and now with a Chevy Bolt. We made the limited range Leaf work for us in trips from Bakersfield to all points on the compass. Sometimes these trips required hours sitting in an RV Park while our Leaf charged. In each case we were limited to the J1772 level two, where available, or our own mobile charge cable. Occasionally, we were lucky enough to find a DCFC station.

Unfortunately, we could never take advantage of the many Tesla destination chargers installed in California. That's all changed with Quick Charge Power'sJDapter Stub (Tesla Destination Charge Station Adaptor). We have the 40-amp base model that's suitable for Chevy's Bolt and Nissan's Leaf.

This past week we drove to Santa Cruz, a 270-mile trip from Bakersfield. We chose to stay at a Holiday Inn Express on Ocean Street because it advertised that it had two Tesla destination chargers on Plugshare.com. None of the hotels we looked at had a J1772 EVSE. The choice was simple: Find a Tesla destination charger and charge overnight or spend our limited vacation time at a DCFC station.

While Tesla has begun installing a J1772 EVSE when they install their destination chargers, many of the early locations only have Tesla EVSEs. That was the case in Santa Cruz.

The JDapter Stub has a female receptacle for the Tesla plug, a short length of cable, and a J1772 plug on the other end. Simply push the Tesla plug into the female receptacle and insert the J1772 plug into your vehicle. The Tesla wall charger runs through its diagnostics, closes its contactor, and begins charging the vehicle just like any J1772 EVSE.

Both the female receptacle and Quick Charge Power's J1772 plug are a tight fit. Don't despair if they take some effort to unplug. They will unplug, but they may take more force than you're accustomed to using.

Technically, the adapter will work with the Tesla UMC, Tesla Mobile Connector, Tesla HPWC, and Tesla Wall Connector. They WILL NOT WORK WITH TESLA SUPERCHARGERs! (I put that in all caps because I've had people contact me wanting to use the JDapter Stub at a Supercharger station. Yep. You can't make this stuff up. I don't know what would happen but I suspect that Tesla's diagnostics would signal a mismatch and not connect. But I don't know for sure and I am not about to test it myself.)

The JDapter Stub costs ~$250 plus shipping. Like the Jesla mobile charge cable from Quick Charge Power, we find the JDapter Stub is good value for the money. Product quality is excellent and Quick Charge Power is prompt in servicing customer accounts. We consider it an investment in driving electric. We are not going back to a gasser. The JDapter Stub has become an essential part of the gear we carry on a road trip.

We hope to use the adapter again in a few weeks in an ambitious drive to Toulumne Meadows via Mammoth Lakes where our hotel again has a Tesla destination charger and no J1772.

Disclosure: We paid full retail price for all products mentioned.

 

[Evoforce]

My son has used his a few times and is very happy with it. Very nice write up. The adapter is very much worth having for taking trips because CCS is so sparce and Chevy is not helping by not installing charging stations.

 

[gpsman]

I’d say I’d have to use it more than 10 times to make it a worthwhile purchase. ($25 per use)

In a year and a half, I have never run into a case where I needed it or wished I had one.

I go on long trips too.
I find DCFC and L2 adequate with some opportunity L1 charging mixed in.

Pre-planning makes it stress free.

 

[Anonymous]

The existing 240 VAC receptacle / circuit . How many amp is the circuit breaker ?

God bless


Wyr

 

[SparkE]

The existing 240 VAC receptacle / circuit . How many amp is the circuit breaker ?

Sorry - I didn't really understand your question, and I don't want to guess. Can you re-state, using other words, or maybe just more words or sentences to explain? Thanks - I'd be happy to help you.

 

[theothertom]

Thanks for the review. A couple of questions:
How did you activate the Tesla charger...credit card or some other way?
How much did it cost to charge?

 

[paulgipe]

This is a non-networked EVSE. There's no charge. You stay at the hotel.

Paul

 

[theothertom]

This is a non-networked EVSE. There's no charge. You stay at the hotel.

Paul

Thanks

 

[grbadave]

What about an affordable adaptor for CHAdeMO to CCS? Any experience?

 

[WetEV]

What about an affordable adaptor for CHAdeMO to CCS? Any experience?

Wouldn't be easy, so probably isn't affordable. Communication protocols are rather different. Would need, at minimum, a battery powered microcomputer with a CHAdeMo on one side and a CCS on the other. Even that might not work, there might be a message timing on one side or the other that could not be handled.

L1/L2 protocol is dirt simple, and I think is exactly same as what Tesla Destination Charger uses, so I'm fairly sure that JDapter is just wires.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

What about an affordable adaptor for CHAdeMO to CCS? Any experience?

There isn't enough of a market to develop this, even if it could be produced affordably once designed. Most new chargers have both CHAdeMO and CCS, so there is no need for an adaptor.

I'm still waiting for Tesla to open their supercharging network to all EVs, and sell adaptors for CCS and CHAdeMO :lol: I'm not holding my breath.

 

[boltage]

I'm still waiting for Tesla to open their supercharging network to all EVs, and sell adaptors for CCS and CHAdeMO :lol: I'm not holding my breath.

Tesla SuperChargers have a tendency to be full, because so many Teslas have free (or free up to a limit) SuperCharging, so their owners tend to use them for the free charging whether or not they need the charge at the time.

Until SuperChargers get to the point where there is spare unused capacity, do not expect Tesla to open them to other EVs or offer adapters.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I'm still waiting for Tesla to open their supercharging network to all EVs, and sell adaptors for CCS and CHAdeMO :lol: I'm not holding my breath.

Tesla SuperChargers have a tendency to be full, because so many Teslas have free (or free up to a limit) SuperCharging, so their owners tend to use them for the free charging whether or not they need the charge at the time.

Until SuperChargers get to the point where there is spare unused capacity, do not expect Tesla to open them to other EVs or offer adapters.

Depends entirely on location. Even at the busiest times, I've never seen the Binghamton, NY Supercharger (the one I would use most often) anywhere near full. I'm sure in SoCal, many are full more often than not. I have no idea where you are.

I do not expect Tesla to open them to other EVs or offer adapters ever. It would be wonderful if they eventually did. Then again, by that time EA will have a competing network that is almost as good. Plus other CCS networks will be in place (e.g. EVGo). It will not be nearly as critical. But hey, I'd still appreciate the gesture.

 

[user 1354]

We just got back from a round trip to Rochester NY from south-central Massachusetts, where we ran into a situation at a hotel (at 2AM) where the one J1772 plug in a row of charging stations was already in use. The other plugs on the charging stations were all Tesla. We had to find a public parking lot with a J1772 L2 charger, leave the car plugged into that overnight, and get a Lyft back to our hotel. Hassle! We have now ordered one of these JDapter pigtails for our 2017 Bolt.

It would really be nice if the NY Throughway would smell the coffee and install DCFC stations at their rest areas. All of the rest areas on the Mass Pike have them.

 

[paulgipe]

We just got back from a round trip to Rochester NY from south-central Massachusetts, where we ran into a situation at a hotel (at 2AM) where the one J1772 plug in a row of charging stations was already in use. The other plugs on the charging stations were all Tesla. We had to find a public parking lot with a J1772 L2 charger, leave the car plugged into that overnight, and get a Lyft back to our hotel. Hassle! We have now ordered one of these JDapter pigtails for our 2017 Bolt.

It would really be nice if the NY Throughway would smell the coffee and install DCFC stations at their rest areas. All of the rest areas on the Mass Pike have them.

QCPower's Jdapter is a good investment even if you only use it once or twice. I use mine about 2-3 times/yr and find it's worth it. Of course I still use our Jesla 2-3 times per year too here in "EV friendly" California.

I just keep the Jdapter in the car. I add the Jesla when I know I am going to need it.

Paul