A2Z NACS extension cable for supercharging (and AC)

[ElGuano]

Very interesting:


For $280 you get a 5ft cable that supports 350A (140kw) and allows you to take one stall (the proper one).

Definitely some tradeoffs, but potentially allows you to charge (or to avoid drama) in cases where you otherwise can't. Is this interesting to anyone? At the proposed price?

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[Mr. Ham]

I like the idea of not taking 2 spots, but that will be a beast to lug around...

 

[NY_Rob]

The extension cable show in that video is a 16' long prototype, the one they plan to sell is only 5' long. The presenter mentions this fact at the 4:00min mark in the video.

 

[iamnid]

In the video, he says he's using a pre-production model. The production model won't be as long. 140kw is a little disappointing though.

 

[TXR1S]

Not interested at that price. Tesla opened up the superchargers, this is their problem, not mine.

 

[lefkonj]

Yeah I won't be using that, way to much to lug around for little benefits and there have been numerous comments about not using extension cables for DCFC.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Too much to lug around. And once Tesla upgrade sites to V4, it's obsolete. Plus, while it might be fine in winter, what happens in heat of summer? how much will charging be derated due to heat? $280, the cargo space it takes up, to sit at a charger in summer heat even longer... vs taking up two spots, charge faster and be on your way, freeing up both spots. Where's the gain?

Tesla itself acknowledges (and provides guidance) on taking up two spots. This is not a good investment only for sake of avoiding the odd chance of confrontation with an ignorant Tesla owner.

 

[ElGuano]

They say it's rated for 350A, but it's not limited to 350A but rather temperature. So it'll do 500A for 10-15min, which may be enough to cover a lot of the 200kw curve in real life.

Temperature de-rating is a big question for me, too, they've said they've tested it in the Texas summer without issue, but we'll see.

I agree it's a hefty price to pay, especially if it's not full speed....

 

[VSG]

allows you to take one stall (the proper one)

LOL.
Go ahead and waste your money if you like, but don't give me this crap about how I'm taking up "two" stalls. If the Tesla station is designed poorly (not all are, and most new ones are designed better), then a Tesla parked in one of those stalls blocks the adjacent one for Rivian drivers. Teslas don't have any more rights to use those chargers than Rivians do. Get over it and deal with it the same way all CCS vehicles do at EA chargers where we ALWAYS have a mix of vehicle charge port locations - we share and juggle and co-operate to make the best of the poor station layout. Anyone who doesn't do that is a poor excuse for a human being.

 

[ElGuano]

LOL.
Go ahead and waste your money if you like, but don't give me this crap about how I'm taking up "two" stalls. If the Tesla station is designed poorly (not all are, and most new ones are designed better), then a Tesla parked in one of those stalls blocks the adjacent one for Rivian drivers. Teslas don't have any more rights to use those chargers than Rivians do. Get over it and deal with it the same way all CCS vehicles do at EA chargers where we ALWAYS have a mix of vehicle charge port locations - we share and juggle and co-operate to make the best of the poor station layout. Anyone who doesn't do that is a poor excuse for a human being.

Let me just say I love the clear difference in attitudes on this issue. I'm sure armchair psychoanalysis and sociologists are just nodding their heads knowingly over some hypothesis of "there are two types of people."

One of the common use cases they discussed is when Superchargers are full, or when they are filled with drivers preconditioned from the V1/V2 days to take up every other charger (hey, it's like urinal etiquette, it's more common than not). Even if you are fully prepared to macho in and take up your god-given right to two spots, there may not be two spots open to take, and the people charging may be exercising their own god-given right to slow-charge the last 10% at a trickle. Furthermore, even when some someone leaves and opens a spot for you, you still might not have a free cable in that spot until the person to the left also leaves. So there is a self-interest incentive to consider as well.

 

[Dark-Fx]

The extension cable show in that video is a 16' long prototype, the one they plan to sell is only 5' long. The presenter mentions this fact at the 4:00min mark in the video.

Well, I guess I'm going to have to buy at least three of them.

Hey, if I use a CCS to NACS adapter on one end, and a NACS to CCS adapter on the other, I should be able to use this for any CCS station too.

 

[VSG]

Even if you are fully prepared to macho in and take up your god-given right to two spots

Don't put words in my mouth. You're deliberately mis-stating my position. There is NOTHING in my post that suggest I think I have a "right" to take up two spots. JUST THE OPPOSITE - I went out of my way to say that everyone should co-operate to make the best use of the poorly designed stations. At no time did I say I'm going to park wherever I want and damn everyone who doesn't like it.

(EDIT: And again, I'm not taking up two spots. I'm taking up one spot, just like everyone else.)

allows you to take one stall (the proper one)

The "attitude" I was replying to was this statement of YOURS that says there is one and only one "proper" spot to use, with the implication that everyone not using the "proper" spot was behaving badly. I even quoted your statement to make it clear what I was replying to.

That is not the case. There is NO "proper" spot, and EVERYONE will obstruct the use of a charger for vehicles that are not like theirs, whether they are Teslas or Rivians or Fords or Kias, etc.

Fact is, MOST EV models have the charger port on the front left or rear right. Tesla models are in the MINORITY. Although in actual vehicle numbers, Teslas are still the majority, that has been rapidly changing over past few years as Tesla loses market share and an ever increasing number of other models hit the market.

So while *Tesla* owners may feel outrage about others using their stations, there is no reason at all that all the rest of us should feel like we have to kowtow to anyone else at a supercharger. We have just as much right (not more) to use them as they do. If someone asks, I will gladly swap spaces at a supercharger so that BOTH of us can charge at the same time, just like I would do (and have done) at an EA station. But I will NOT vacate my space just to give it to someone else who thinks they have a greater right to use it than I do.

filled with drivers preconditioned from the V1/V2 days to take up every other charger

These (Tesla drivers) are the ones who are exhibiting bad etiquette. Sorry if they have to re-learn and adapt now that the superchargers are open, but they're the ones at fault because THEY are blocking half the spaces that others could be using. If I get to a supercharger and Teslas are parked every other spot, I will ask one (probably the one on the end) to move over a spot so we can both charge at the same time. Everyone wins. And like I said I would gladly move over a spot myself if it would accommodate both of us.

So there is a self-interest incentive to consider as well.

Let the waffling begin ... You originally stated that there was one and only one "proper" spot, and that was the reason to buy this extension. Now you're doing the "weave" and trying to portray this as something other than Tesla-owner entitlement. I'm not buying that.

 

[TomServo2112]

Let me just say I love the clear difference in attitudes on this issue. I'm sure armchair psychoanalysis and sociologists are just nodding their heads knowingly over some hypothesis of "there are two types of people."

One of the common use cases they discussed is when Superchargers are full, or when they are filled with drivers preconditioned from the V1/V2 days to take up every other charger (hey, it's like urinal etiquette, it's more common than not). Even if you are fully prepared to macho in and take up your god-given right to two spots, there may not be two spots open to take, and the people charging may be exercising their own god-given right to slow-charge the last 10% at a trickle. Furthermore, even when some someone leaves and opens a spot for you, you still might not have a free cable in that spot until the person to the left also leaves. So there is a self-interest incentive to consider as well.

Well-put.. some people just don't think things through when knee-jerking with their snark.

 

[TomServo2112]

Don't put words in my mouth. You're deliberately mis-stating my position. There is NOTHING in my post that suggest I think I have a "right" to take up two spots. JUST THE OPPOSITE - I went out of my way to say that everyone should co-operate to make the best use of the poorly designed stations. At no time did I say I'm going to park wherever I want and damn everyone who doesn't like it.

"deliberately mis-stating" is also putting words in one's mouth, no? Or at the very least, intent. Looking at your first post in this thread, we can infer you may have "deliberately" mis-stated a few things, too. "waste", "give me this crap" (it's a public forum, not directed at you), "designed poorly" (they're designed per their original intentions, and that has pivoted), "get over it and deal" (the OP was providing information, not hypberbolic, overly-dramatic opinion as you were). You set a blaze and then complain when someone responded to it.

 

[VSG]

"deliberately mis-stating" is also putting words in one's mouth, no? Or at the very least, intent.

So, how would *you* characterize it when he attributed an attitude to me that was specifically and explicitly contradicted by my own words? Either it was a deliberate mis-statement or he is incapable of understanding English. Since I reject the latter, it must be the former. A hyberbolic straw-man argument like he made IS a deliberate mis-statement and IS putting words in my mouth.

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