Long-time EV scene member Tony Williams of Quick Charge Power in the USA is now planning to offer a CHAdeMO upgrade for the Roadster. Having already offered such a product for the RAV4 EV (with similar drivetrain) this should be a relatively simple upgrade. The unit is roughly 28 x 12 cm so can be mounted in the trunk or other free space at the back of the car.
The price will be US $2999 and Tony is looking for several deposits to make this happen. See:
To me this sounds much more interesting than the $30k Roadster 3.0 battery upgrade…
One caveat is he is looking for people or companies that can perform the upgrade in Europe. We have one candidate in the UK but hopefully there are competent people in Germany too. It is apparently a relatively easy job, no more than 4 hours but needs high voltage expertise.
Quite impressive. I’m wondering if the socket could be installed in the front of the roadster. As far as I can tell there are two boxes. The socket with the charging electronics and some kind of junction box, which intercepts the PEM connection to the battery?
Yes I’d also like the socket to be in a more discrete location than in the trunk. Your idea was already mentioned over on TMC so maybe it could happen.
I will first have to talk to my service center how it might affect my warranty. If they commit to still do annual service and don’t void my bumper to bumper warranty except battery I’m good to go.
Eigentlich kann man den Roadster auch nicht mehr absperren, wenn der Kofferraum offen ist (wenn man den Trick17 nicht kennt)
Und wenn man den Trick17 kennt, dann kann damit auch schön die Alarmanlage auslösen.
I’ve just put my deposit down for this. I think QC Power needs to see more deposits to make this happen.
They plan to demonstrate a CHAdeMO charge on a Roadster in the coming week.
It’s not yet decided if the plug is located in the trunk. They plan to have it behind the license plate, but if this is not possible then in the front by the brake booster is another possibility.
Talked to my SeC today. In principal they would be ok with it and wouldn’t void my bumper to bumper warranty if no seals of the PEM will be broken. And this won’t be the case as far as I understood.
I guess I will make a deposit then. This is a far better offering than the battery upgrade for 30k.
@dpeilow just tried to make a deposit, but it seems like it is the normal order process. This will also add 419$ shipping cost, which seems a bit high to me… and essentially it won’t be shipping to me anyways. I guess I rather wait until it is a bit more clear how it is going to work.
I also had the same concern and posted on the forum SpeakEV where QC Power is communicating with customers on this. What I was told is:
They are using their shop page to take deposits. If you want, select the cheapest postage option which is US Postal Service at $150. They will refund that immediately if you want, but otherwise it will be used in the final delivery.
You must make a deposit before the cut off date of 29th Feb to be on the list.
If they change the price upwards and you do not like it, you can get a full refund by 29th Feb.