Charging Is Terrible / Tesla Super Charger Adapter
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2024
Posts: 147
Likes: 16
Charging Is Terrible / Tesla Super Charger Adapter
We were planning to take a longer trip for some time with our Type S ZDX. It always got delayed but we finally did it. What a bad experience!! We got maybe 210 miles on a full charge (interpolated as we charged it to 100% and obviously didin't go down to 0%). Granted, it was a lot of mountain driving, heater on, my wife's seat heater on, my wife doing a lot of accelerations and breaking. But still 210 miles? But that's not even the worst part. We could find a lot of Tesla charger stations. Try find a CCS1 charger if you are not in a bigger city. And we had to travel from a small city to nowhere to go skiing. We ended up having to drive to a CCS1 charger 10 miles away unless we wanted to spend 2 hours at a 50kW charger. And of course, Acura AGAIN delayed the release for an Acura super charger adapter. Even my wife now says this car is unsuitable for r.long distance driving. Something I always said and it's 10x elevated that Acura still can't get their act together with giving us that adapter for Tesla super charge.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2024
Posts: 147
Likes: 16
Maybe I am just not up to speed but when I googled this last it said May. Then after yesterday's experience my wife googled it and came up with June. Based on your comment it was already June. But considering all the delays, I wouldn't be surprised if they pus it out again. And probably will be like $200+.
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,581
Likes: 554
Next time, get a NACS adapter to make your life easier. As you noted, there are plenty of mega-size SC stations along I-80. Even EA has a few big ones as well. I feel maybe the culprit is that you don't have SC access, so you cannot defer your last charging stop as late as possible. If you charge the car to 85+% before heading into charging deserts, you can survive several days without charging.
Plus, factoring in that the return leg is mostly downhill, you can set off at 20% in good weather, and still have plenty of margin to reach Sacramento area to do your first, and possibly only, charging stop.
But 20% is the absolute minimum you should start on a road trip. The 12V loop can become unstable at single-digit battery percentage, because the BECM stops charging the 12V battery when the high-voltage battery is below 11 or 13 %.
Plus, factoring in that the return leg is mostly downhill, you can set off at 20% in good weather, and still have plenty of margin to reach Sacramento area to do your first, and possibly only, charging stop.
But 20% is the absolute minimum you should start on a road trip. The 12V loop can become unstable at single-digit battery percentage, because the BECM stops charging the 12V battery when the high-voltage battery is below 11 or 13 %.
Last edited by sonyfever; Apr 5, 2025 at 09:00 PM.
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 67
Likes: 9
Maybe I am just not up to speed but when I googled this last it said May. Then after yesterday's experience my wife googled it and came up with June. Based on your comment it was already June. But considering all the delays, I wouldn't be surprised if they pus it out again. And probably will be like $200+.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2024
Posts: 351
Likes: 66
From: Austin, TX
I do as well. But "official" access will be nice in a few important ways. The most is that the built-in navigation system will route us to compatible SuperChargers, which it won't do now. Also we should get plug-and-charge capability at SuperCharger which we don't have now (basing this PURELY on the fact other compatible cars are able to do that as well).
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 67
Likes: 9
I do as well. But "official" access will be nice in a few important ways. The most is that the built-in navigation system will route us to compatible SuperChargers, which it won't do now. Also we should get plug-and-charge capability at SuperCharger which we don't have now (basing this PURELY on the fact other compatible cars are able to do that as well).
Trending Topics
Racer
Joined: Jul 2024
Posts: 351
Likes: 66
From: Austin, TX
In the general sense, plug and charge means you plug the cord into the car, the car identifies itself to the network, looks up your account, and authorizes the session, and finally charges your credit card. That's it. It's even easier than swiping a credit card at a gas station. No fiddling with the app to start a session, no RFID card, no swiping a credit card, etc.
Now, in the specific sense this gets more complicated. Partially because "Plug&Charge" is not just a generic term but also a proper noun. It refers to ISO 15118, a standard on the protocol to allow this. Electrify America uses this protocol, but our cars do not (at least not yet) support it. Then there is "autocharge+", a different protocol for the very same thing, that EVgo supports and our cars support. I am enrolled in autocharge+ with EVgo and actually used it yesterday. Plug in the car and do nothing else. Lastly, Tesla has their own protocol for the very same thing.
Now, in the specific sense this gets more complicated. Partially because "Plug&Charge" is not just a generic term but also a proper noun. It refers to ISO 15118, a standard on the protocol to allow this. Electrify America uses this protocol, but our cars do not (at least not yet) support it. Then there is "autocharge+", a different protocol for the very same thing, that EVgo supports and our cars support. I am enrolled in autocharge+ with EVgo and actually used it yesterday. Plug in the car and do nothing else. Lastly, Tesla has their own protocol for the very same thing.
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,581
Likes: 554
I feel Honda need to step up and take the heat more. They insist data from the car must flow through their backend Acuralink server. Rightfully so, but this means Honda need to implement the backend service for plug-and-charge themselves. Their backend still needs to interact with OnStar backend (through the vehicle account at the very least), which creates another layer of dependency. OnStar software stack does not have the best reputation, but it cannot be a blocker for so long, right?
Honda desperately want to move on from ZDX/Prologue and tend to push all blames to GM, but is it really the full story? I hope we don't see a repeat of software horror stories like GM/Polestar/VW on RSX.
Honda desperately want to move on from ZDX/Prologue and tend to push all blames to GM, but is it really the full story? I hope we don't see a repeat of software horror stories like GM/Polestar/VW on RSX.
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 67
Likes: 9
In the general sense, plug and charge means you plug the cord into the car, the car identifies itself to the network, looks up your account, and authorizes the session, and finally charges your credit card. That's it. It's even easier than swiping a credit card at a gas station. No fiddling with the app to start a session, no RFID card, no swiping a credit card, etc.
Now, in the specific sense this gets more complicated. Partially because "Plug&Charge" is not just a generic term but also a proper noun. It refers to ISO 15118, a standard on the protocol to allow this. Electrify America uses this protocol, but our cars do not (at least not yet) support it. Then there is "autocharge+", a different protocol for the very same thing, that EVgo supports and our cars support. I am enrolled in autocharge+ with EVgo and actually used it yesterday. Plug in the car and do nothing else. Lastly, Tesla has their own protocol for the very same thing.
Now, in the specific sense this gets more complicated. Partially because "Plug&Charge" is not just a generic term but also a proper noun. It refers to ISO 15118, a standard on the protocol to allow this. Electrify America uses this protocol, but our cars do not (at least not yet) support it. Then there is "autocharge+", a different protocol for the very same thing, that EVgo supports and our cars support. I am enrolled in autocharge+ with EVgo and actually used it yesterday. Plug in the car and do nothing else. Lastly, Tesla has their own protocol for the very same thing.
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 67
Likes: 9
I feel Honda need to step up and take the heat more. They insist data from the car must flow through their backend Acuralink server. Rightfully so, but this means Honda need to implement the backend service for plug-and-charge themselves. Their backend still needs to interact with OnStar backend (through the vehicle account at the very least), which creates another layer of dependency. OnStar software stack does not have the best reputation, but it cannot be a blocker for so long, right?
Honda desperately want to move on from ZDX/Prologue and tend to push all blames to GM, but is it really the full story? I hope we don't see a repeat of software horror stories like GM/Polestar/VW on RSX.
Honda desperately want to move on from ZDX/Prologue and tend to push all blames to GM, but is it really the full story? I hope we don't see a repeat of software horror stories like GM/Polestar/VW on RSX.
This is how i generate powern to my house
Racer
Joined: Jul 2024
Posts: 351
Likes: 66
From: Austin, TX
Thanks Sony, that explains a few things. Like why we did not get SuperCharger access at the very same time as GM Ultium products. Now, it taking another 9 months longer to make that happen... hard to excuse that as we all know. And I think this also explains why GM is plug and charge capable at Ionna, but we aren't. Even though both of us are also founding members of that network.
I still like the ZDX from the standpoint of it as a car. But the tech side is really lousy unfortunately.
I still like the ZDX from the standpoint of it as a car. But the tech side is really lousy unfortunately.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Yumcha
Automotive News
11
Dec 6, 2010 08:49 PM