Original Post Date: March 24, 2022
Source: Popular Mechanics
Read the full article here

Thanks to the Lectron J1772, the electric vehicle infrastructure opens up further for drivers who haven’t bought into Elon’s fold.

Trevor Raab

With gas prices at an all-time high, making the switch to an electric vehicle from one with an internal combustion engine is especially appealing. It’s no secret that juicing up an EV is more affordable than filling up at the pump. However, the current charging infrastructure isn’t as robust as that of gas stations. And your options can be further limited, since some proprietary connectors—ahem, Tesla—won’t fit every EV.

If you are considering going electric, this $160 J1772 adapter from Lectron makes it more feasible and appealing. That is until Elon opens up his charging network to the masses, which we’re still waiting to see—much like the Tesla Roadster and the CyberTruck.

How to Use It

Whether you’re parking up at a Tesla Destination charger on the road or juicing up at home, the process is the same: Plug the male end of the charging cable into the female end of the adapter, and then connect the male end of the adapter to your vehicle as you would normally.

Be sure to double-check that the other connector is compatible with your vehicle. We used the Tesla to J1172 adapter to suit a Hyundai IONIQ 5 we had in for testing. The only other charging standard that you’ll have to worry about is CHAdeMO, but this has become quite rare in 2022—it’s currently used only by certain models of the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV.

Limitations

Unfortunately, the Lectron adaptor isn’t compatible with Tesla Superchargers—it’s limited to just level 2 Destination Chargers. This is because Elon’s current network of fast-charging points (a.k.a. Superchargers) supply a much higher voltage via Direct Current (DC) instead of Alternating Current (AC).

For some background, the power coming from the outlets in your house is AC. That’s great, but the battery in your electric vehicle—and most other devices that you use every day—can only store electricity as DC power.

Because of this, every electric vehicle needs to have an onboard converter to translate AC power into DC juice that the car can then accept. These converters are generally limited to 11 kWh of power. This is actually part of the reason why “DC” fast chargers—which have built-in converters—can flow considerably more current into the battery. More voltage means faster charging and less time plugged into the grid.

To Buy or Not To Buy

Despite the up-front cost of the adapter, I absolutely recommend Lectron’s cable for non-Tesla owners. Aside from the convenience factor of being able to use Tesla destination chargers, it’s great for peace of mind on longer road trips. It definitely saved my bacon more than once while driving the Hyundai IONIQ 5.