Update: Using a Tesla level 2 charger with the Solterra

Solterra charging

The cheap BLRENT charger lasted about a year. The cable started to separate from the charging box (I think just the insulation, but it was still unnerving to look at), and then one day I couldn't get the J-1772 plug to disconnect from the car charging port, it had become slightly separated and the push-button wasn’t providing enough leverage to disconnect the latch. Sigh. It was ... fine? ... while it lasted. (About the same price as a tank of gas for my old Jeep, so I can’t complain too loudly.)

This time around I decided to go as inexpensive as possible while doing things “more right.” I also figured I’d future-proof a bit in the process.

Folks recommended the Grizzl-E stuff (and the Mini looked like it could have worked, for $479), but I don’t see that it works with the L6-30 plug I have access to at the office. Primecom ships an L6-30 24A unit, but it too is $449.

Instead, I went with a used Tesla Gen 2 Mobile Connector I found on Facebook Marketplace, from a very well organized seller with many different pieces in stock. $150 for the charger, $15 for an NACS to J-1772 adapter, and $20 to deliver it to me from Orange County. I’d buy that for a dollar! (Or, you know, $185.) To that I added an L6-30 Adapter for Tesla Gen 2 or Gen 3 from EVSE Adapters ($70). This took forever to actually get¹, but once it arrived, it worked perfectly, and auto-limits the current (zero chance of the adapter accidentally getting set to a higher load and tripping the breaker): “this adapter has an internal circuit that monitors the plug temperature and communicates with the car to automatically set the appropriate 24 amp charging current. No need to manually set the current – simply plug it in!”

I’m happy with the setup. I’m getting the same ~7%/hr recharge rate I was getting before, and even with the J-1772 adapter it all fits neatly into a Tesla carrying bag, which in turn drops tidily into the under-floor storage in the “way-back.”

So now, with the Lectron Vortex Plus (I actually have a Vortex, the Plus wasn’t out yet, but the Plus is the recommended SKU now) to adapt superchargers to the Solterra’s CCS1 DCFC port, the NACS to J-1772 adapter for level 2 Tesla (“destination”) chargers, and native support for CCS1 (level 3 DCFC) and J-1772 (level 2) charging stations, I’m pretty well covered. (Well, I don’t have CHAdeMO, but I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen one of those out in the wild.)

---

¹ Ordered on 1/15, a Thursday. Didn’t get a tracking numer until 1/21 (the next Wednesday), and even then, the tracking number sat on status “Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item” for another five (5) days, until late afternoon on 1/26, when it shifted to “USPS in possession of item.” USPS estimated delivery on 1/30, but actually got it here on 1/28, almost two weeks after it was ordered. The Facebook Marketplace seller of the UMC said that was a common complaint with those folks. But, they’re apparently the only game in town when it comes to oddball pieces like this L6-30 adapter, so, [I]t is what it is. (There’s at least one other seller; eBay store AC Connectors also sells their Tesla EV Charging Adapter | NEMA L6-30 (24A Limit, Gen 2/3 Mobile Connector) for $80.)