Sorry if this is a dumb question - Adapter

[GoEagles]

Hi

I have a 2022 Leaf. i'm all for the CCS adapters that are 'newly' available but I can't currently get over the cost and reliability (not working at every charger).

I vaguely recall someone posting a year or two ago that Chademo was natively more similar to tesla (NACS) than CCS. So, is it stupid to hold out for a future Chademo > NACS adapter?

 

[BillAinCT]

Waiting for a NACS to CHAdeMO adapter (you're going to the Leaf's CHAdeMO) potentially has the same risks as the current CCS to CHAdeMO adapters. They could be expensive and might have reliability problems also. And you're waiting for something that probably won't happen since the Leaf ends with the 2025 MY. Regarding some reliability reports on the A2ZEV adapter, they may have to do with the connection sequence sometimes being required that doesn't match what the instructions state. I know this personally because it happened to me.

Without a CCS to CHAdeMO adapter, if you get to a CHAdeMO FC that is busy or worse, broken, your chances of finding a close one that is available will be much worse than if you get to a CCS FC and it's unavailable and you need to get to the next one. As CHAdeMO continues its demise, this problem will only get worse, while more CCS FC will be added over time improving the chances of finding a close FC.

I bought my 2022 Leaf in 2021 hoping for an adapter to come out to remove the CHAdeMO limitation. By early 2024 I was getting worried I blew it and I was going to end up with a local driver at some point. In May 2024 when 2 sources of adapters became apparent, I was excited. I waited 6 months before purchasing to see how each was doing and to choose the one that I felt more confident in.

 

[Martin Carlsson]

Waiting for a NACS to CHAdeMO adapter (you're going to the Leaf's CHAdeMO) potentially has the same risks as the current CCS to CHAdeMO adapters. They could be expensive and might have reliability problems also. And you're waiting for something that probably won't happen since the Leaf ends with the 2025 MY. Regarding some reliability reports on the A2ZEV adapter, they may have to do with the connection sequence sometimes being required that doesn't match what the instructions state. I know this personally because it happened to me.

Without a CCS to CHAdeMO adapter, if you get to a CHAdeMO FC that is busy or worse, broken, your chances of finding a close one that is available will be much worse than if you get to a CCS FC and it's unavailable and you need to get to the next one. As CHAdeMO continues its demise, this problem will only get worse, while more CCS FC will be added over time improving the chances of finding a close FC.

I bought my 2022 Leaf in 2021 hoping for an adapter to come out to remove the CHAdeMO limitation. By early 2024 I was getting worried I blew it and I was going to end up with a local driver at some point. In May 2024 when 2 sources of adapters became apparent, I was excited. I waited 6 months before purchasing to see how each was doing and to choose the one that I felt more confident in.

Hello!

So regarding the Chademo to CCS adapter - which one did you get and what has your experience been using it, if you don't mind telling me/us?

Regards
/M

 

[Wrench7747]

I vaguely recall someone posting a year or two ago that Chademo was natively more similar to tesla (NACS) than CCS.

Not sure what you read, but that is not true today. Tesla had their own proprietary signalling between car and charger originally in the past, so it might possibly have been true then. But Tesla switched over to CCS electronic signalling for NACS/J3400, and all new Teslas in the past 4 years and going forward use it. Today, the difference between NACS and CCS is just the shape of the connector; the electronics and protocol are the same.

With CCS and NACS DCFC, the car has the smarts and controls everything. With Chademo DCFC, the charger has the smarts and controls everything. In a Leaf-to-CCS connection, the Leaf is waiting for the charger to control things, and the CCS charger is waiting for the car to control things. So it requires an expensive smart adapter box in the middle, to act as a smart Chademo charger to the dumb Leaf, and as a smart EV to the dumb CCS/NACS charger. It's not just a different-shaped connector.

 

[BillAinCT]

One point since you say "controls everything" both with CCS (using an adapter) and CHAdeMO the Leaf controls the charging power the charger supplies. Perhaps this is obvious, but with CHAdeMO the Leaf has enough smarts to throttle back the charger.

 

[BillAinCT]

So regarding the Chademo to CCS adapter - which one did you get and what has your experience been using it, if you don't mind telling me/us?

No I don't mind. I went with the A2ZEV adapter. I felt a bit safer being in the US purchasing from NA. Their web site mentions more data about the adapter than the 3 bullets I was seeing at the Accraine site. Especially the temperature sensing additions and UL pending. Finally, with a WEB coupon it saved me $100. I've used it twice. The second time for 40 minutes from 72kW to 36kW (16% to 83% SOC). It was 41F outside temperature and the adapter wasn't even warm. It wasn't 41F cool to the touch but I expected to feel some warmth. The first time I used it it was warmer outside and the adapter was slightly warm. I haven't seen reports of it not working anywhere (doesn't mean there aren't). The Accraine device has complaints of non-working sites.

 

[Wrench7747]

with CHAdeMO the Leaf has enough smarts to throttle back the charger.

Yes. In both CCS/NACS and Chademo, it is a mutual handshake.

"Control" might not be the right word to describe the difference between them. (And smart vs dumb is oversimplified and not literally correct.)

Perhaps "initiate" might be more accurate. A CCS-to-Chademo adapter for the Leaf has to do two jobs: initiate a Chademo conversation to the Leaf, and initiate a CCS conversation to the CSS/NACS charger.

 

[BillAinCT]

On these CCS to CHAdeMO adapters, do you (or anyone reading this) know if the adapter's battery is used just to get the communications going? Or is the battery used the entire time the vehicle is charging? My hunch is it's used for the entire charging time to avoid tapping into 350+ volts to get the 5V(?) they require. Which leads me to worry, if that's true and the battery runs out, there would be a potentially unsynchronized shutdown to the charging session, which might not be good. I know a lot of if's and might's but to me it is worth knowing.

 

[WetEV]

I don't know, but 400 V to 5 V DC to DC, isolated for safety, with fairly trivial current, isn't a big deal to design. That's how I'd do it. I'm interested to hear from someone that knows. what they did.

 

[BillAinCT]

I sent A2ZEV an email yesterday asking what I wrote above. I got a call back today. Very good support. Not only does it not use the battery when it's charging the Leaf, but it charges it's own battery while charging. This was great news. My additional question as to how can I tell when the oboard batter is charged, they said you can't tell. Just plug it for 8-12 hours. And they added if the adapter isn't used for like 3 months or so to be sure the battery is charged before you need it. I wouldn't expect a drain when not in use so this was puzzling. I'll remove the battery and check it's voltage and see if it drops. One could just carry a fully charged battery in the Leaf.

 

[ElectricToolbox]

I found this adapter today via a friend in the Aus electric vehicle network.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008308177581.html
AU$1,277.69 (~US$767)

Has anyone purchased this converter from "WeLike ELV Store" on aliexpress?

looks identical to other units discussed, cheaper by a decent margin.
I've been expecting the price to drop once early prototypes were debugged and verified across multiple chargers and vehicles.
The trick will be veryifying software compatability with chargers and EV's as while this might be a solved problem via some distributors, the software updates might not be available.