Jun. 20th 2017 5:23 pm

Here’s a controversial new electric car accessory, the JDapter Stub (Tesla Charge Station Adaptor), which allows owners of non-Tesla electric cars, like the BMW i3 or the Nissan Leaf, to charge at Tesla’s public Destination Chargers or using the Tesla Wall Connector.

Like Tesla’s Supercharger, the lower-powered Destination Chargers also use Tesla’s proprietary connector, which made them unavailable to other vehicles.

It was by design since it enables Tesla to only use a single plug, but it also limits access to the stations, which are often supplied for free to businesses, like hotels and restaurants, in order to propagate the charging infrastructure for Tesla’s fleet.

Those chargers are now in over 5,000 destinations around the world – making it one of the most important electric vehicle charging networks out there.

For years now, several companies and hobbyists have been working on workarounds for non-Tesla EV owners to access them. We have seen several solutions being teased and beta tested – like this one:

Tony Williams of Quick Charge Power, a one-stop shop for all things EV charging, has been working on his own solution for years and even started a Kickstarter campaign last year (since removed) for what is now JDapter Stub.

The $400 adapter is now listed ready to ship on his website where he lists several caveats:

NOTE 1: JDapter Stub will NOT work with the Tesla Supercharger – Direct Current (DC) charging

NOTE 2: JDapter Stub will NOT work with vehicles with European Mennekes Type 2 inlets

NOTE 3: JDapter Stub will NOT work with Tesla UMC / mobile connector / HPWC / wall connector with European Mennekes Type 2 plugs

NOTE 4: JDapter Stub will NOT work with TESLA Roadster charge stations. JDapter will, however, work with Tesla Roadster using Tesla or aftermarket supplied J1772 adaptor

NOTE 5: DO NOT EXCEED 40 AMPS

NOTE 6: It is not recommended to use at over 264 volts on most EVs, except the 2012-2014 Toyota RAV4 EV and 2014 and newer Mercedes B-Class ED / B250e

NOTE 7: Some second generation Tesla charge stations may require up to 30 seconds to begin charging your EV While it’s definitely a legitimate product that can be used by EV owners in the context of buying a Tesla Wall Connector for charging other EVs than Tesla’s at home, its use on public Tesla chargers, aside from Superchargers of course, is more of a gray zone. Technically, any EV owners could just plug into most of Tesla’s Destination chargers (in the US and Canada) and just start charging on the network paid for by Tesla and its Destination Charging partners. Tesla also has its own J1772 adapters to use free stations or other paid networks. What do you think? Help accelerate the advent of electric transport or is it unfair? Let us know in the comment section below.

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