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Thursday, April 9, 2015

Tesla CHAdeMO Adaptor Is Here!

Tesla CHAdeMO Adaptor in use At Solar World in Hillsboro Oregon
Photo by Chris A via PDX Tesla 
Tesla has been selling their CHAdeMO adaptor in Japan since mid-2013. In the U.S., they started accepting preorders (by invitation only) in December 2013. The preorders started shipping in January 2014. However, you were still not able to order them from the Model S accessories page. January came and went, February did the same, March arrived and the first day of spring blossomed and still the CHAdeMO adaptor was not available in the Tesla online shop.

"Coming Soon" replaced with "Add To Cart"!
Today, that has changed! The CHAdeMO adaptor is finally available for general purchase. The "coming soon" label (which has been there for over a year) is finally gone.

CHAdeMO Adaptor for the Tesla Model S Received in the Mail
photo by Dennis Pascual
Here in the NW corner of the US, there is a vast CHAdeMO network, as you can see in the image below. A CHAdeMO adaptor would be very handy around here.

Oregon & Washington CHAdeMO Charging Stations, Oct 2014 
If you'd like one, for just $450, it can be yours. Here is the link to Tesla's accessories page: http://shop.teslamotors.com/products/chademo-adapter

Here is an image of the adaptor at work:
Tesla Model S charging up with the CHAdeMO adaptor
Photo by Chris A via PDX Tesla
It is important to note that CHAdeMO stations are not as fast as Tesla Supercharger stations. Superchargers are ~120kW today, where as CHAdeMO stations are 25 to 50kW. So you can expect to "only" to get about 140 miles of range per hour while at a CHAdeMO station. This rate means that a typical lunch break will get you enough to get you to a local destination or the next charging station.

Happy Charging!

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