CCS Chargers New York City area

[EV4NYC]

Hello All,

Does anyone have any idea about CCS charger future in the North East, so far it looks like there are two in Vermont and many in Canada, but nothing in the New York City area. We currently have many chademo chargers in the area and no CCS so curious if there is or will be a way to convert between these two standards, for obvious reasons.

Thanks!

 

[Flyingdutchman81]

Hey EV4NY

It is not possible to convert ChaDeMo to CCS - so you will not find any type of "convertor" that will do this. Part of this is that these connections are not "dumb" but to my layman understanding are more akin to an HDMI which negotiates between 2 parties (the car charger and the EVSE)

 

[EV4NYC]

Thanks... Yea my understanding is that there are intermediary protocols that the chargers must speak. I understand this fact and felt the same way as you until I read that TESLA is coming out with a converter for their car which is on a different standard all together.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

An adapter absolutely can be made to convert either way between the two standards. The trouble is, it would not be cheap. Tesla's adapter is $450. A CCS/CHAdeMO adapter would be at least as much. It cannot just be two connectors and a cable.

Just because I speak English and French is spoken in Quebec does not mean we cannot find someone bilingual to translate for us.

 

[tdk408]

There are three main kinds of signalling between electric car and charger: square wave pilot signal. CAN bus, and radio signals on the power conductors. Telsa and CCS use the same signalling protocol, so an adapter is simple. CHAdeMO uses a completely different kind of signalling between charger and car, so conversion is comparatively complex. The following post by SPELLOW explains the three systems.

1. AVCON, Tesla Roadster, North American Model S, IEC 62196 Type 1 (aka SAE J1772), Type 2 (aka Mennekes) and Type 3c all use different plugs but identical electrical signalling which dates back to the '90s with an amendment in 2009 - a PWM square wave in the pilot signal line whose wavelength sets the current limit the car can draw and set voltage levels for readiness to accept charge.

2. CHAdeMO uses a CAN bus to signal cell voltages and temperatures to allow the offboard charger to control charge rates as well as pilot lines to give an additional safety interlock. The older version of CHAdeMO, the so-called TEPCO charger, used RS-422 signalling and the same physical plug, but you don't find this outside of Japan.

3. CCS (SAE Combo both the Type 1 and Type 2 version) and the Tesla Model S supercharger use PLC (powerline communications - radio signals on the power conductors) to signal cell voltages and temperatures to the offboard charger.

Thus:

Any AC charging standard can be converted to any other with a dumb adapter.

CCS and Tesla Model S can inter-operate with a dumb adapter.

CHAdeMO can talk to CCS cars and the Model S with an active adapter (and vice-verse). It will need a circuit to translate signalling from CAN bus to PLC.

While a circuit to translate CHAdeMO's CAN bus signals to CCS (SAE Combo) is theoretically possible, I am unaware of any existing product or even demo.

 

[EV4NYC]

Hey does anyone know if the BMW of Manhattan CCS charger indicated on plugshare is usable by the general public?

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Is a CCS filter available on PlugShare? I can't seem to find it, if it is there.

 

[GRA]

Is a CCS filter available on PlugShare? I can't seem to find it, if it is there.

Yes, it is. Go to Plugshare, and uncheck "Residential Chargers" and "Public Stations" in the "Legend" drop down box on the upper right. Then click on "More Options" at the bottom of that, or else click on the gear wheel icon at the center of the top toolbar. Doing either will bring up the "Settings" page. Uncheck the "CHAdeMO DCFC" and "Tesla SuperCharger" boxes in the "Outlets (Local)" section at the top; make sure that the "SAE Combo DCFC" box in that section at the bottom of the second column is checked, and close the page. The map should refresh and show only CCS chargers.

Before you make plans to use any CCS charger you find on the map, read the comments and (especially, unless someone with a CCS-equipped car has posted about charging there) look at any photos of the charger for that particular site, as some are erroneously listed as CCS when in fact they're only CHAdeMO, J1772 or something else.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Thanks - I did find that after posting, but I am glad to have it confirmed. The closest CCS station to me here in Massachusetts are in New York and Vermont. So, not useable yet, for me. I hope that VW and BMW make good on their promise to build 1,000 and that they do it soon.

Or that someone makes a reasonably priced CHAdeMO to CCS adapter.