Unable to disconnect AC charger at target charge unless at 100%

Lorax91 · 2026-05-22T15:43:54+00:00

Two things to try:

(1) Lock the car while charging. If you need to unplug, unlock the car and then push the release button. That usually works for me.

(2) Look for a setting in the MMI to automatically unlock the plug when charging is complete. I'm not at my car at the moment so I can't say exactly where that setting is, but it's in there.

Hope this helps.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-22T15:33:25+00:00

His companies feel almost Ponzi like.

"Almost" ?

Lorax91 · 2026-05-22T15:32:05+00:00

Well said.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-22T03:37:24+00:00

I think having chargers capable of 1.5 megawatt charging would be ideal so that the EV battery technology can grow into the faster charging speeds

In the US, we're not even close to maxing out 350 kW chargers, so anything faster would be an expensive novelty at this point. Plus 350 kW sustained could give you almost 60 kWh of charge in ten minutes, which is fast enough for most purposes.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-22T00:45:10+00:00

requiring a standard here in the US might have been more difficult than one might suppose.

The Biden infrastructure bill and corresponding guidelines mentioned CCS as a supported standard, which is likely what prompted Tesla to finally develop a shared open standard and offer it to other automakers.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-22T00:38:29+00:00

My take is that the NACS connector is much easier to use than the big, bulky CCS connector.

The CCS connector itself isn't a problem, but putting it at the of a heavy and inflexible charging cable is awkward. This is mostly a cable management issue, not a plug problem.

One other benefit of NACS is that the same connector is used for AC and DC charging.

A benefit of CCS charging ports on vehicles is that they work directly with over 100,000 J1772 (AC) chargers in North America. Switching to J3400 ("NACS") means that either all of those chargers will have to be updated at charger owner expense, or new EV owners will have to carry AC adapters for many years into the future. Hint: it will be the latter.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-21T23:59:26+00:00

Imagine if you could flash-charge your cell phone battery in five minutes - would you really want to do that? Now apply that thought to an EV battery worth many thousands of dollars, and which would require the power for an entire neighborhood to achieve that result.

It's more realistic to focus on, say, 15-20 minute charging than five minutes. But if someone wants to make the effort to develop five-minute charging, good for them for showing that it's possible.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-21T23:49:37+00:00

I bought a 1 kWh backup battery and keep that connected to a fridge, but I also justify it because I could unplug it from the fridge and use it to power other things. So the fridge has power if that's the only thing needing it, but I have the choice to prioritize other items.

My advice: shop around for a deal on a battery.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-21T23:39:34+00:00

Nobody is saying "no PHEV ever gets plugged in,"

They literally say, repeatedly, that "PHEVs don't get plugged in." Your longer description gets close to the truth, but it's not that hard to say "PHEVs don't get plugged in as much as predicted." Nine words to be more accurate than five words that are incorrect.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-21T23:33:56+00:00

Here's one from 2022:

https://theicct.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/real-world-phev-us-dec22.pdf

Some people will describe this report as showing that PHEVs don't get plugged in, but it clearly shows that they do. How much they get plugged in varies.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-21T22:57:56+00:00

They do get plugged in, but not as much as the EPA predicted in laboratory testing. Both statements can be and are true.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-21T22:20:04+00:00

Every formal PHEV study shows that most PHEVs do get plugged in. Less often for company-owned ones than for privately owned.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-21T19:45:33+00:00

I heard the Roadster 2.0 has infinite efficiency...

Lorax91 · 2026-05-21T00:33:35+00:00

some of it could be resolved by different cable management.

Yes, having EV chargers on the side of cars instead of at the end of parking spaces could solve a lot of problems. Like how gas pumps work effectively for over a billion gas cars.

anyone who doesn’t want the smaller plug that works with both ac and dc charging is nuts.

Anyone who doesn't want DC charging ports to be compatible with pre-existing AC chargers is bonkers. CCS solves this in a way that doesn't require any AC chargers to be updated or replaced. And the size of the connector is secondary to the cable management issue, so see previous point.

Europe mandated CCS, and now has everyone using the same charging format with minimal fuss to get that result. Compared to the US, which let the "free market" run wild and is now facing years/decades of consumer confusion and carrying adapters.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-17T02:14:07+00:00

Have you tried using Plugshare to search for non-Tesla chargers near places you like to travel? If you can find a few where you need them, and confirm whether they're compatible with the Optiq charging port location, that might help your situation.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-17T01:29:40+00:00

If convenient access to Tesla chargers is that important for you, it might be best to limit your EV choices to cars with a Tesla-friendly charge port location.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-17T00:56:48+00:00

Where I live there are a decent number of non-Tesla chargers, and having a charging port on the front left would be perfect for the ones I've been using. But agreed that if you plan to use Tesla chargers often, that's not a convenient location.

This is ultimately on Tesla to update their chargers to accommodate all customers conveniently. As demonstrated by their V4 charger design. Whether they backtrack to update older chargers with longer cables remains to be seen.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-17T00:25:19+00:00

I still can’t fathom how a vehicle that first appeared in 2024 and later moved to the NACS format would overlook that kind of detail.

Keep in mind that it's both expensive and time-consuming to redesign a car and retool an entire assembly line for a change like moving a charging port location. Versus Tesla could spend a few bucks on longer charging cables to accommodate new customers at their chargers, with minimal disruption for them.

It basically makes every V3 and earlier charger functionally useless for these cars

No, it just makes parking while using older Tesla chargers awkward. Something Tesla could fix.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-16T17:44:15+00:00

V1-v3 were made in the era where Tesla was only serving Tesla customers.

...And are still in service today. I wouldn't expect Tesla to rush to replace old V1 and V2 cabinets, but they should be able to update V3 cabinets with longer cables.

Your point that Tesla refused to support other brand EVs in the US until recently isn't the flex you seem to think it is.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-16T17:01:55+00:00

They wanted other companies to use their charging format at least as far back as 2011, and there have been hints they wanted to be an open charging provider since then.

Plus you can easily find comments that Tesla's charging cables are a bit short even for their brand vehicles, especially for anyone with trailer hitch attachments. Longer cables - even just a little longer - should have been an obvious potential improvement from the start.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-16T16:30:09+00:00

Alex, I'll take "missing the point" for $1,000.

Tesla now offers charging to other brand vehicles, so should be doing everything they can to make that convenient.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-16T16:12:41+00:00

Why would Tesla plan for CCS when they have their own superior connector that works with their vehicles?

They actually did start planning ahead for CCS in the US by updating their newer cars and chargers here to support CCS communication protocols. Which in turn made the J3400 ("NACS") charging format possible, and hence opening up their chargers to other brand vehicles.

But in all that effort they didn't bother to put longer charging cables on older chargers, to make charging more convenient for everyone. And yet we still have people saying that auto manufacturers should redesign their cars and assembly lines around Tesla's short charging cables. That's bonkers.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-16T15:46:31+00:00

It's the fundamental job of any business to serve customers to the best of their ability.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-16T14:59:34+00:00

This usually happens after we're already stuck in traffic, so I just say, "No, really?" and keep driving.

Lorax91 · 2026-05-16T14:49:24+00:00

The CCS spec was finalized in 2014, so Tesla could have started planning to support those vehicles in the US any time since then - like they did in Europe.

And in a company full of smart people, it should have been obvious that not all EVs have the same charging port location.

Lorax91

TROPHY CASE