My first Tesla charging experience.

Until the cables get longer, it’s a hassle, but it works.

I received my NACS adapter with the nice Porsche case from Suncoast a few days ago. I picked a Tesla charging location from the Tesla app. On arrival, one space was empty, and I was able, after raising the chassis to clear a small curb, to get within about two feet of the charging tower. The Tesla charging cables are amazingly light and easy to maneuver and the nozzle is much smaller and easier to handle than the one we use. As I was about to plug in, following clear directions on the app, I noticed that the terminal was out of service! There are no screens on the Tesla towers, so you *must* use the app to find a free tower. Eventually, one opened up. I drove into the second spot, easing in with the front fender over the small curb. After a second attempt, I was close enough in so that the Tesla cable, attached to the adapter, reached. Instructions after that were simple, with no requirement, as in EA chargers, to go back to the tower and press a “continue” button, whose label is often hard to see, because of the sun bleaching out the screen or scratches from use. I got a maximin charge rate of a disappointing 47 kWh starting at 53% SOC. When I reached the desired charge level, i hit “Stop charging” on the app. However, extracting the adapter nozzel from the Taycan charge port was very difficult. For a while, I thought I was permanently attached! The top, long adapter button, which releases from the car, would not press down. Eventually, I succeeded. I suspect there was too much angular tension from the cable being short, so that release of the upper catch on the adapter was stressed.

With longer cables, I’m pretty sure the Tesla experience will be far superior to that which we go through with our current cables, nozzles and charging towers. Cables are light and easily move around, the nozzle is small and easily plugged in, and the interaction with the charging station is far superior in terms of simplicity and ease of use — once you get used to looking at the app for selection of available charging tower!

To be clear, I was able to just barely drive straight in to the charging area, without the need to consume two spaces to park at an angle so that the cable will easily reach the Taycan charging port. I looked at pictures of charging stations on Plug Share and noticed that in some locations the curb appeared too far away to permit you to reach the cables.

Happy charging!



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I had a similar experience. I found myself very much wishing the PO had spent, on an otherwise very nicely optioned CPO GTS, the $150 for the 400v charger upgrade.

50kW is really only good enough for an emergency or if I want to take a longer lunch on a road trip. 150kW would be pretty usable, I imagine it would hold 150kW fairly deep into the pack.

It will get even easier when Porsche enables plug and charge at Tesla. Our Rivian has PnC and it's seemless.

I struggled a bit to get the connector loose as well, I think I had to use the stop charge button on the car to get it to release.

" ... I think I had to use the stop charge button on the car to get it to release." I will be polite and not say "duh." The top of the Porsche adapter is shiny and I found you can see the unlock light easily. As with native CCS, you have to push the button and wait for the light before you unlock. Then it is easy and exactly as it should be. That is for your safety. You push the button, the car tells the charger to stop and opens the contactors, and THEN unlocks the plug and lights the light. If you were able to pull the plug out before the contactors are open there would be big voltage at the socket. Bad.

gregeast said:

. . .

I struggled a bit to get the connector loose as well, I think I had to use the stop charge button on the car to get it to release.

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Yes, push the illuminated button and wait for it to go out. At that point, you are supposed to be able to release the adapter. In my case, even with the button not illuminated, I was unable to release it. However, this procedure raises the question: do you tap ”Stop charging“ on the app *first* and then *afterwards* push the illuminated button, or is the proper procedure the reverse? Or do you not have to push the button *at all* if you have first tapped “Stop charging” on the app, because the button will eventually go out by itself? With EA, you have to push Stop Charge on the charging tower, and then wait for the illuminated button to go out -- at least that’s the way I do it with EA, and it works. My guess is, with Tesla, you just tap the app to stop charging and wait for the button to go out by itself. I will try that procedure next time.

At EA I've also been unable to stop/unlock using the button on the car.
Instead had to stop in the app or console, then use the unlock button.
I'll try stopping at the tower next time, but I imagine it's faster stopping in the car.

I had stopped the charge in the Tesla app, so was expecting the car to know that the charge had ended.

No big deal, I pushed the release, tugged a couple of times, realized something more was required and then pushed the button. As the proud owner of 3(!) CCS1 to NACS adapters, this was not my first rodeo.

I assure you that at no time was I tempted to put my tongue across the DC pins like we used to do with 9v batteries

Charged today, and did not have problem. It is great to have a new option.

I purchased the adaptor from Suncoast, and was able to use a Tesla charging setup that allowed me to pull right next to the charger. The interface worked and I was charging in <2 mins.

--K

Kranky said:

… The interface worked and I was charging in <2 mins.

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The fact that this is still a thing worth mentioning says volumes about non-Tesla DCFC in the US…

A couple pictures from my recent trip to Pa.