Tesla Sues Chinese Auto Parts Company Over Dangerous NACS Adapter

[Tim-in-CA]

Looks like everyone should stay away from this brand

https://driveteslacanada.ca/news/tesla-sues-chinese-auto-parts-company-over-dangerous-nacs-adapter/

Tesla has taken legal action against Yancheng Jeco Auto Parts Co. Ltd., also known as JecoEV, over their North American Charging Standard (NACS) adapter. The complaint, filed on Monday in the California Northern District Court, claims the adapter is marketed deceptively to non-Tesla electric vehicle (EV) owners, and poses significant dangers to them.

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Best thing to keep people away from cheap adapters is for Tesla to sell (or provide) Tesla adapters on their own. I am guessing Tesla lacks the production capacity to keep up with current demand. Also somewhat telling that this one is particularly bad is if Tesla is picking this one brand to sue, and leaving the other brands alone (at least for now).

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

However... It's pretty common for western businesses to contract Chinese companies to handle manufacturing. And these connections are almost never made public. Does Jeco make adapters sold under other names? We haven't a clue.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Guess I'll have to order this one then: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807030427638.html

 

[BigSkies]

Yea, I think we should be getting better communication from both Tesla and Rivian at this point.

No one has any idea when their adapters will arrive.

All third party adapters are supposedly not supported, but simultaneously acceptable to use from some unnamed brands and unacceptable from others. Can someone just friggin tell us when the adapters will arrive, or which adapters are acceptable to use in the interim? It seems like a reasonable ask.

 

[beatle]

No offense to OP, but the article isn't very good. It doesn't specify whether this is a NACS >> CCS adapter or a NACS >> CCS, and the picture only shows the NACS side. The former should be capable of carrying a lot more current (up to 1000A) vs. the latter which would be no more than 80A. While a cheap J1772 adapter can still be dangerous, the stakes are a lot lower.

I believe Tesla's own J1772 >> NACS adapter lacks a thermistor to relay temperature issues. Mine was half-melted by a crappy public L2 charger a few months ago. This likely wouldn't have happened if a thermistor alerted the car it was hot enough to melt the plastic.

 

[ndmiller]

Yea, I think we should be getting better communication from both Tesla and Rivian at this point.

No one has any idea when their adapters will arrive.

All third party adapters are supposedly not supported, but simultaneously acceptable to use from some unnamed brands and unacceptable from others. Can someone just friggin tell us when the adapters will arrive, or which adapters are acceptable to use in the interim? It seems like a reasonable ask.

Both Rivian and Tesla have been clear, no other adapters are supported or ok. What anyone chooses to do taking all responsibility for their actions is up to them. My speculation is you use a non approved adapter and it works, most likely all good, you damage or destroy Tesla property most likely no ok.

As to when they will arrive Rivian is clearly sending emails requesting address confirmation when they have a batch to send out. Rivian at the mercy of Tesla who is manufacturing them for Rivian, Ford and the other brands as part of the deal. They have nothing more to share.

 

[Blueassassin]

Guess I'll have to order this one then: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807030427638.html

Only $178 and just came out in the last 30 days definitely ordering this. ??

 

[BigSkies]

Both Rivian and Tesla have been clear, no other adapters are supported or ok. What anyone chooses to do taking all responsibility for their actions is up to them. My speculation is you use a non approved adapter and it works, most likely all good, you damage or destroy Tesla property most likely no ok.

As to when they will arrive Rivian is clearly sending emails requesting address confirmation when they have a batch to send out. Rivian at the mercy of Tesla who is manufacturing them for Rivian, Ford and the other brands as part of the deal. They have nothing more to share.

I can't say I agree. If I place an order for ~100,000 widgets, with a commitment to buy ~50k more per year, I'd think it's reasonable to have some delivery timeline or SLA attached to that order.

 

[ndmiller]

Tesla placed the order

I can't say I agree. If I place an order for ~100,000 widgets, with a commitment to buy ~50k more per year, I'd think it's reasonable to have some delivery timeline or SLA attached to that order.

Tesla placed the order not Rivian and you're not Tesla's customer. I'm sure if Rivian had information they would share it....They don't. Tesla is probably telling Rivian another 300 will be coming in July and Rivian sends out 300 emails. You'll get the same notice everyone is getting about a month or two.

Tesla also has no incentive unless it's in the deal to make adapters any faster than they are currently producing them. Tesla has other major hurdles to overcome and all of them are more important than production of a CCS->NACS adapter. Probably just a rounding error on their P&L.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Yea, I think we should be getting better communication from both Tesla and Rivian at this point.

No one has any idea when their adapters will arrive.

All third party adapters are supposedly not supported, but simultaneously acceptable to use from some unnamed brands and unacceptable from others. Can someone just friggin tell us when the adapters will arrive, or which adapters are acceptable to use in the interim? It seems like a reasonable ask.

You'll never see it from Tesla (they've not even bothered to tell/warn Tesla owners that there could be non-Teslas using Superchargers). And if Tesla isn't telling Rivian... Rivian has nothing to pass on. Do yourself a favor, treat it like a gift (which it is) that you may get someday, instead of something you think you paid for and are owed (which is exactly what it isn't).

You know what the best thing they could both do, together*? Task just one employee to test a dozen random A2Z adapters for a full week. Task another employee to accept and review testing data from A2Z. Then revise their joint CYA disclaimer to say, this one (A2Z) is probably OK to use, but you're still not off the hook. Let customers decide on their own with their wallets—170ish dollars out-of-pocket now, or wait.

*Rivian alone isn't going to do this testing or certifying (even if some employees have supposedly tried the aftermarket adapters)—because it's not their charging network that would be in harm's way.

I can't say I agree. If I place an order for ~100,000 widgets, with a commitment to buy ~50k more per year, I'd think it's reasonable to have some delivery timeline or SLA attached to that order.

Matters not whether you agree or disagree. Rate of manufacturing/distribution remains what it is: slow and not transparent. Wrong or right, you still don't have an adapter.

 

[BigSkies]

You'll never see it from Tesla. And if Tesla isn't telling Rivian... they have nothing to pass on. Do yourself a favor, treat it like a gift (which it is) that you may get someday. Instead of something you think you paid for and are owed, which is exactly what it isn't.

You know what the best thing they could both do? Task just one employee to test a dozen random A2Z adapters for a full week. Task another employee to accept and review testing data from A2Z. Then revise their joint CYA disclaimer to say, this one (A2Z) is probably OK to use. But you're not fully off the hook should anything go wrong. Let customers decide on their own with their wallets—$170ish dollars now, or wait.

I get it. I don’t want to come across as whiney and ungrateful. A free adapter I didn’t expect is great to get. I remain grateful for it. I just wish communication was handled better.

I’d have to look back at the communication, but I recall a lot of PR back in April about how everyone now has NACS access, and I felt (clearly incorrectly) that a significant percentage of owners would be getting adapters over the summer. A lot of people ended up with overly optimistic expectations. I’m not mad about that, I just wish there was some level of communication about what realistic expectations should be.

I don’t buy the excuse that some mystery vendor behind the scenes has all the information and refuses to share it. These are big orders from big purchasing departments whose job it is to track such things. If Rivian’s cost on these in $100/unit, that’s a ~$10M+ order to keep track of. $10M purchases don’t just fall into an information void.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I’d have to look back at the communication, but I recall a lot of PR back in April about how everyone now has NACS access, and I felt (clearly incorrectly) that a significant percentage of owners would be getting adapters over the summer. A lot of people ended up with overly optimistic expectations. I’m not mad about that, I just wish there was some level of communication about what realistic expectations should be.

Technically Rivian didn't lie or mislead. We all got access once the agreement was done and Tesla flipped the "switch". We just can't make use of that access until we get that approved adapter—or choose to be naughty. Could it have been worded better? probably. But at the same time, grown-ups should know to process info like... grown-ups?

I don’t buy the excuse that some mystery vendor behind the scenes has all the information and refuses to share it. These are big orders from big purchasing departments whose job it is to track such things. If Rivian’s cost on these in $100/unit, that’s a ~$10M+ order to keep track of. $10M purchases don’t just fall into an information void.

Someone somewhere knows. No one is saying absolutely no one knows. And those who know choose not to share or decided it's not in their place/duty to share. It is what it is. Unless you know who that person is and have enough access (and power of persuasion) to convince them otherwise, it doesn't matter what your feelings are. The sun rises and sets just the same.

 

[CrazyOne]

Tesla has no reason to make these faster. Infact, delays will help their car sales and we are seeing exactly that. There would be way many adapters if they really wanted to make more of them.

 

[DuoRivians]

Temu version, when?

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