CCS to CHAdeMo adapter?

NomadMac · Jan 4, 2014

So, Teslas have different adapters available to use different charge stations. Is there any chance that there will be a CHAdeMO to CCS adapter?

There is a Blink station at the bottom of my hill and I see NGR eVgo has just installed a fast charger at Northgate Shopping Center in Terra Linda.

An adapter would make leasing a Spark EV with fast charging a lot more attractive.

cwerdna · Jan 4, 2014

You should lobby GM and the CCS "players" to do that.

There has to be a business justification for the expenditure needed (i.e. R&D, testing, certification, tooling, sourcing, vendor qualification, manufacturing, etc.). Judging by the sales figures at http://insideevs.com/december-2013-plug-in-electric-vehicle-sales-report-card/ and the dearth of J1772 CCS vehicles in existence, it seems like the chances aren't that great.

But, yes, it could help sure sell/lease more J1772/Mennekes CCS vehicles.

TonyWilliams · Jan 5, 2014

You could probably use the Tesla / CHAdeMO adaptor ($1000) plus an adaptor from Tesla plug to Frankenplug inlet in your GM or future German EV with optional Frankenplug port.

Actually, I'm hoping that the over 100,000 CHAdeMO cars on the road will get a Frankenplug adaptor so they can use all 5 of the Franken-stations in the USA.

Heres a map of all the CHAdeMO and Tesla Supercharger stations in the USA:

Skullbearer · Mar 17, 2014

These adaptors are mostly about communication and less about the power connection. The two standards are publically available, its possible to make an Arduino based interpreter module and make an adaptor kit. I can look into it, but it will take some time, initially development for reliability and safety, as well as testing. Before I can even start to test it I need to add in the fast charge option to my own Spark!

jeasterday · Mar 18, 2014

Skullbearer said:
These adaptors are mostly about communication and less about the power connection. The two standards are publically available, its possible to make an Arduino based interpreter module and make an adaptor kit. I can look into it, but it will take some time, initially development for reliability and safety, as well as testing. Before I can even start to test it I need to add in the fast charge option to my own Spark!

Skullbearer, you will have a lot of friends if you do engineer a CHAdeMO to CCS adapter. Ever thought about starting a kickstarter or indiegogo campaign and promote it here? If Spark EV owners each kicked in $100, it might make it feasible to invest the time.

Skullbearer · Mar 19, 2014

I'm going to build a scope and milestone plan for the adaptor, as well as a Bill of Materials (BOM). The Tesla price of $1000 per adaptor may not be very far off of low volume part cost, these are very expensive connectors in low volumes for UL listed versions. Plus the adaptor will need to be large gauge cable capable of safe 600V operation in all weather...

Luckily I'm familiar with all of these components. Sourcing in volumes less than 50 is the issue. Buy in just to purchase the Chademo receptacle for instance could be a Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) of 50+. I'll contact some suppliers and get some estimates together.

Ideally the long term solution would be an injection molded adaptor with no loose cable, so it plugs in rigidly and the Chademo plug isn't hanging.

TonyWilliams · Mar 19, 2014

Skullbearer said:
Ideally the long term solution would be an injection molded adaptor with no loose cable, so it plugs in rigidly and the Chademo plug isn't hanging.

We have a similar effort for the Toyota Rav4 EV called "JdeMO".

Anonymous · Sep 10, 2014

Given the recent release of the i3, and upcoming release of the e-Golf - has there been any additional progress on a CHAdeMO to CCS solution?

TonyWilliams · Sep 10, 2014

EVatl said:
Given the recent release of the i3, and upcoming release of the e-Golf - has there been any additional progress on a CHAdeMO to CCS solution?

That is basically what the Tesla CHAdeMO adaptor is. That costs $1000.

Assuming that it would cost another $500-$750 for a physical adaptor to plug into a CCS Combo1 car (all 1000-ish of them in the USA / Canada), there's not a market for such a device.

Actually, I doubt even one could be sold to Spark EV owners. Maybe a few BMW i3 owners?

It will be a few years before we would consider this, however we are looking at a CHAdeMO plug on the BMW i3 and Mercedes B-Class ED, in addition to the Rav4 EV, that would likely cost about $3000.

We will not do the Spark EV, and likely won't do the VW eGolf either.

corwin · Sep 17, 2014

Considering a CHAdeMO inlet costs about $500 and the Combo plug about $700, just the connectors are gonna set you back $1200. Add a mounting case, $100 for misc electronic bits and you have about $1400. I seriously doubt there's any way to get an end-user price down to much below $2000 even as a 'kit'. Considering the small number of Combo ports driving around, this product is a LONG ways off.
-Corwin

cwerdna · Sep 21, 2014

Re: the high costs of connectors, one possibility is to do 3D-printing of the connectors. That's what the http://www.emotorwerks.com/ guys have been doing for their CHAdeMO DC FC.

Skip to ~56:30 of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW9GEm2iqr4 to hear them talk about their DC FC. At ~58:05, he starts talking about the connector. I did see their 3D-printed CHAdeMO handle at the Cupertino NDEW event yesterday.

NomadMac · Sep 28, 2014

My original inquiry from the beginning of January is moot, I opted out of the DC FC option when I leased my Spark at the end of January.

cwerdna · Oct 13, 2014

TonyWilliams said:
EVatl said:

Given the recent release of the i3, and upcoming release of the e-Golf - has there been any additional progress on a CHAdeMO to CCS solution?

Click to expand...

That is basically what the Tesla CHAdeMO adaptor is. That costs $1000.

Someone on a FB group pointed out that (surprisingly), the Tesla CHAdeMO adapter price has dropped from $1K to $450: http://shop.teslamotors.com/products/chademo-adapter.

It still says "coming soon" despite them already being in the hands of Japanese Model S owners.

This is good news if someone wants to use the inlet end as the basis of trying to create a CHAdeMO to Combo1 adapter...

CCS to CHAdeMo adapter?

Help Support Chevy Spark EV Forum:

NomadMac

Well-known member

cwerdna

Well-known member

TonyWilliams

Well-known member

Skullbearer

Active member

jeasterday

New member

Skullbearer

Active member

TonyWilliams

Well-known member

Anonymous

Guest

TonyWilliams

Well-known member

corwin

Member

cwerdna

Well-known member

NomadMac

Well-known member

cwerdna

Well-known member

Similar threads

Latest posts