Lectron Vortex adapter doesn't like the heat

[Singletracker]

The other day I stopped by a Tesla SC to charge my R1T using the A2Z adaptor. Right off the bat it was ripping at well over 200 kw, but shortly the speed dropped significantly. I got a message on the driver display stating that the charger was limiting speed. It was 90+ degrees out and the sun was beating down on the driver’s side of the car. Also, I had been storing the adaptor in the frunk. The charger plug and adaptor were pretty warm to the touch, so I assumed the reduction in charging speed was due to heat management. I‘m not convinced having the adaptor stored in the frunk had much to do with it. It’s not like the adaptor was particularly warm when I took it out of its case. But, who knows?

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[Trinculo73]

The other day I stopped by a Tesla SC to charge my R1T using the A2Z adaptor. Right off the bat it was ripping at well over 200 kw, but shortly the speed dropped significantly. I got a message on the driver display stating that the charger was limiting speed. It was 90+ degrees out and the sun was beating down on the driver’s side of the car. Also, I had been storing the adaptor in the frunk. The charger plug and adaptor were pretty warm to the touch, so I assumed the reduction in charging speed was due to heat management. I‘m not convinced having the adaptor stored in the frunk had much to do with it. It’s not like the adaptor was particularly warm when I took it out of its case. But, who knows?

My experience with it so far is that if the adapter is overheating, it essentially disconnects the charging pins completely - so limited speed is likely coming from the Tesla dispenser itself. I've seen multiple people mention Tesla having that issue with the older, non-liquid cooled cables, so that does track.

 

[Singletracker]

My experience with it so far is that if the adapter is overheating, it essentially disconnects the charging pins completely - so limited speed is likely coming from the Tesla dispenser itself. I've seen multiple people mention Tesla having that issue with the older, non-liquid cooled cables, so that does track.

The speed reduction was a function of the Tesla charger, as I received that specific notification to that effect. At one point, the speed dropped well below 140, as I recall. I charged from 40% to 75%. Later in the charge cycle, the speed did bounce back up a bit. Maybe things had cooled down by then. Certainly could have been related to the cables, but dunno.

 

[HaveBlue]

There are two temperature sensors for two different requirements to be safety certified. The first is conductor temperature. If the electrical conductors exceed a specified temperature the sensor will disable charging to prevent damage to the adapter. The second is a casing sensor. If the temperature of the outside casing exceeds a specified temperature the sensor will disable charging to prevent damage to the person (their hand when they grab the adapter). This second limit is pretty low and easy to exceed if the adapter is in the hot sun. This is how the A2Z one functions and likely how a Lectron or Tesla one does as well.

 

[Singletracker]

Will the charger, in this a Tesla, reduce the charging rate to help control temperatures, before they get to the point that the systems shut down? So, maybe it’s not necessarily an on/off situation. This was what I interpreted was happening with my latest experience. But, it certainly could have been something else.

 

[azbill]

I have the Tesla adapter, from Ford, and have used it with the R1T. The Tesla adapter has a temperature sensor tied to the control pilot and sends it to the Supercharger. Ford engineers confirmed this is how it works.

I plugged in the R1T at low SoC (<20%) and outside temp at 108F, it started at 190kw for less than a minute, then dropped to 110kw. The truck indicated limited by the charger.

I am not sure the Lectron or A2Z actually communicate the temp to the charger, I think they may just have a cutoff switch, if so, that is not a good implementation.

 

[Trinculo73]

I have the Tesla adapter, from Ford, and have used it with the R1T. The Tesla adapter has a temperature sensor tied to the control pilot and sends it to the Supercharger. Ford engineers confirmed this is how it works.

I plugged in the R1T at low SoC (<20%) and outside temp at 108F, it started at 190kw for less than a minute, then dropped to 110kw. The truck indicated limited by the charger.

I am not sure the Lectron or A2Z actually communicate the temp to the charger, I think they may just have a cutoff switch, if so, that is not a good implementation.

A cutoff switch definitely matches my observations. I didn't see any notification about charging being limited, the error message I got said that the cable was not fully connected, and to unplug/try again, which implies that the truck knew there was something connected but not correctly.

 

[joey128]

This happened to me this past weekend during a heatwave that hit the west coast. I was driving thru Nor Cal in over 100F (dash read outside temp @ 122F at one pt).

I pulled up to a TSLA SC station that was baking in the sun. The charger handle was already hot to the touch. I plugged the adapter in, it charged for about 3 mins and then shutoff. The below message flashed for about 5s on the screen and then disappeared. No matter how many times I tried replugging or moving to a different station, I could not get the charging to restart.

I also noticed that when it did work, charging speeds were reduced. I would see a message that rate was limited by the charging station. That said, I also saw this even when charging without the adapter sometimes but definitely more often when using the adapter.

 

[Proxy]

However when I got there and tried to charge, installing the adapter into the truck first of course, every time I clicked the NACS connector into the adapter a message popped up on my R1T's screen

Rivian recommends plugging the cable into the adapter first for the official adapter. Does Lectron or A2Z recommend something different?

 

[Redline]

Rivian recommends plugging the cable into the adapter first for the official adapter. Does Lectron or A2Z recommend something different?

Lectron says differently....which is stupid IMO and thus I wouldn't buy a Lectron.

 

[Trinculo73]

Rivian recommends plugging the cable into the adapter first for the official adapter. Does Lectron or A2Z recommend something different?

Yep, Lectron recommends plugging the adapter into the truck first, then plugging the Tesla connector into it. And reverse on the disconnect, remove the Tesla connector from the adapter first, then remove the adapter from the truck.

This has worked flawlessly for me several times (when the adapter isn't overheated of course) and for the folks who got the ones that were an extremely tight fit, made it much easier to remove the Tesla connector from the adapter using the entire truck as leverage. Fortunately the one I got didn't have those issues, I know about them second hand from this forum.

 

[evnewbie17]

Found this on the Lectron website. It's a safety feature

Found

 

[SarahsDad]

Revisiting this thread now that 2025.18 has been released with higher charging speeds and potentially more problems with adapters overheating.

I was charging at a Tesla V4 Supercharger yesterday using the Lectron adapter and saw a blazing 214kW even at 52% SOC and 14 minutes of charging. Very shortly thereafter however it throttled way back to 102-104kW and stayed there until I was finished at over 75% SOC (sorry didn't get a followup screenshot). No errors saying that the charger was limiting speed and I wouldn't expect a V4 charger to overheat. Was about 90º with direct sunshine on the adapter, and was very hot to the touch when I unplugged (although didn't get burned). Maybe the adapter was throttling the charge? This could happen more frequently since Rivian is letting the charging process run hotter (and faster!) with the new update.

 

[joey128]

Fwiw, I have the Rivian NACS adapter and it also derates rather quickly (doesn’t hold >200 kW for very long) though it was a more gradual step down (something like 212 > 190 > 175 > 120 > 85 > 50 as it approaches 80% SOC).

I have also seen similar charge curves at an EA DCFC station as at the Tesla v4 so I don’t think the adapter is the culprit.

but, to go from 214 > 104 is a pretty steep drop, so maybe.

There’s only 1 sure way to tell for certain…. Try charging under similar circumstances @ a CCS station.

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