Charging at NACS Superchargers

[Science]

I'm hoping this is not merely redundant. I know lots of owners have been posting about charging at North American Charging Standard (NACS or Tesla) supercharging locations. I'm hoping to bring a new facet to those discussions.

We are previous Tesla owners and we are impressed with the scope of Tesla's supercharging network. Now we own a Lucid Air Touring. I am under the impression that certain Tesla superchargers are currently open to other manufacturers' cars...including Lucid. More are coming in 2025.

If you go to Tesla's web page: Tesla.com/findus, you can locate Tesla chargers that are theoretically open to us Lucid Owners. The Tesla web page even has this note:
"NACS Adapter Required to Charge at this Supercharger. This Supercharger is Open to Tesla and NACS Enabled Vehicles with CCS Compatibility."

We "heard" that Lucid cars will have built-in NACS (Tesla) charging capability "soon" but in the meantime, those articles we read said that Lucid is providing an adapter form CCS to NACS until the native, built-in capability is available.

When we picked up our car and asked about an adapter, they told us that Lucid does not provide any such thing.

Is J3400 a standardized version of Tesla NACS connectors? Can Lucid owners charge at a station that has a J3400 connector with an adapter if there is such an adapter?

So is there a comprehensive answer for NACS adapters? Is Lucid planning one and it just doesn't exist yet? Are there 3rd party adapters? Or, did we just simply misunderstand?

 

[BACamster]

Is J3400 a standardized version of Tesla NACS connectors? Can Lucid owners charge at a station that has a J3400 connector with an adapter if there is such an adapter?

• Yes, and yes in the future when Tesla open up their SC to world.

So is there a comprehensive answer for NACS adapters? Is Lucid planning one and it just doesn't exist yet? Are there 3rd party adapters? Or, did we just simply misunderstand?

Not sure what you mean by comprehensive answer for NACS adapter. As of today, Lucid doesn't have news of providing either J3400 (NACS) to J1772 adapter or J3400 (NACS) to CCS1 adapter. There are plenty of J3400 (NACS) to J1772 adapter on the market such as Teslatap, Letron, A2Z, and gazillion of them on Amazon. As for J3400 (NACS) to CCS1, there are 3 of them on the market, Tesla (magic dock), A2Z Typhoon Pro, and Lectron Vortex.

 

[ColonelBadger]

I think what you're missing is that Lucid Airs are currently NOT NACS enabled vehicles, even with a CCS adapter. There are a number of others that are right now like Rivian, but we're waiting for Lucid to be added to the Tesla "list", which is supposed to happen in 2025.

One caveat is the Tesla Magic Dock superchargers that support all CCS vehicles.

 

[Science]

Is J3400 a standardized version of Tesla NACS connectors? Can Lucid owners charge at a station that has a J3400 connector with an adapter if there is such an adapter?

• Yes, and yes in the future when Tesla open up their SC to world.

So is there a comprehensive answer for NACS adapters? Is Lucid planning one and it just doesn't exist yet? Are there 3rd party adapters? Or, did we just simply misunderstand?

Not sure what you mean by comprehensive answer for NACS adapter. As of today, Lucid doesn't have news of providing either J3400 (NACS) to J1772 adapter or J3400 (NACS) to CCS1 adapter. There are plenty of J3400 (NACS) to J1772 adapter on the market such as Teslatap, Letron, A2Z, and gazillion of them on Amazon. As for J3400 (NACS) to CCS1, there are 3 of them on the market, Tesla (magic dock), A2Z Typhoon Pro, and Lectron Vortex.

As to adapters, I found this (see attached photo) on Amazon. It looks like it will plug into the Lucid. And remember the Tesla quote I posted which said that (some) Tesla Superchargers could be used with an adapter. But I guess that isn't enough. Does that mean that the car itself has to have some new modification or feature?

A related question is about Tesla's "Magic Dock." Can Lucid owners plug in at Magic Dock stations or does that need a Tesla/Lucid agreement?

 

[Science]

I think what you're missing is that Lucid Airs are currently NOT NACS enabled vehicles, even with a CCS adapter. There are a number of others that are right now like Rivian, but we're waiting for Lucid to be added to the Tesla "list", which is supposed to happen in 2025.

One caveat is the Tesla Magic Dock superchargers that support all CCS vehicles.

Colonel. Yes, understood. But I thought I saw that Lucid was on that list this autumn. I can't find that now.

 

[Science]

Here's a screenshot of Tesla's "findus" supercharger map. Note that there is the usual red lightening symbol and another symbol that looks like the business end of a plug.

The Tesla sites that show that "plug" logo have the notice I quoted: " This Supercharger is Open to Tesla and NACS Enabled Vehicles with CCS Compatibility." The standard lightening logo does not have that notice. Am I just "wishing" that we can charge at stations with the "plug" logo?

 

[BACamster]

As to adapters, I found this (see attached photo) on Amazon. It looks like it will plug into the Lucid. And remember the Tesla quote I posted which said that (some) Tesla Superchargers could be used with an adapter. But I guess that isn't enough. Does that mean that the car itself has to have some new modification or feature?

A related question is about Tesla's "Magic Dock." Can Lucid owners plug in at Magic Dock stations or does that need a Tesla/Lucid agreement?

Yes you could charge the Lucid at current Tesla SuperCharge with Magic Dock. Note there aren't that many of them.

 

[Leftlane]

I’d be really cautious about getting a “made in China” adapter on Amazon. It might stink to wait, but I would definitely prefer an OEM version that has been tested and approved by the car manufacturer. Also, I seem to recall that even when Lucid will be able to charge at Tesla supercharger, the speed will be throttled to 50 kWh.

 

[Science]

Yes you could charge the Lucid at current Tesla SuperCharge with Magic Dock. Note there aren't that many of them.

Thanks for the reply. I'm new here, but I'm assuming that "plug" logo means "Magic Dock." Maybe "not a lot" but I count four of them in a ten mile radius on this particular map of the Northwest Chicago Suburbs.

 

[Leftlane]

That plug logo doesn’t mean magic dock, it means that non-Teslas can charge with an adapter. Of course, not all non-Teslas, only those that have contracted with Tesla. Magic docks are still few and far between.

I’d recommend downloading the Plugshare app and the Superchargers app - they are very helpful.

 

[BACamster]

The Tesla App does a better job. Given you screenshots show that you are looking at Illinois, there isn’t a Tesla SC with Magic Dock in Illinois. The nearest one to you is in Wisconsin.

 

[Science]

That plug logo doesn’t mean magic dock, it means that non-Teslas can charge with an adapter. Of course, not all non-Teslas, only those that have contracted with Tesla. Magic docks are still few and far between.

I’d recommend downloading the Plugshare app and the Superchargers app - they are very helpful.

Yeah...I have that app but haven't used it for several years...since the early Tesla years. I'll look at it again. Thanks!

 

[CWedge411]

Final Note 50kw is the fastest you'll get...42kw is about it.

So unless you want to wait 3 hours to charge or are in a jam or no rush at all , Tesla superchargers don't add much for lucid owners.

 

[par11768]

The adapters you can buy that have a NACS on one side and a CCS plug for the Lucid are ONLY for level 2 chargers. I have one and use it with my Tesla home charger. You can find the superchargers that support CCS on your Lucid here: https://www.plugshare.com/location/466734 As others have said, Lucid only supports a maximum of 50kw charging speed due to the need to upscale the voltage.

 

[Tâm]

Colonel. Yes, understood. But I thought I saw that Lucid was on that list this autumn. I can't find that now.

This is the list from tesla.com/NACS:

It does not have Lucid listed. You heard about the layoff of the entire Supercharger team which may not help to get Lucid on the list quicker.

 

[Tâm]

We "heard" that Lucid cars will have built-in NACS (Tesla) charging capability "soon"

The only native NACS port for Lucid is Gravity, which will be released by the end of the year.

but in the meantime, those articles we read said that Lucid is providing an adapter form CCS to NACS until the native, built-in capability is available.

That will only happen when Tesla allows the Lucid fleet to access its Superchargers. Right now, they only allow 5 car brands but not Lucid.

Those 5 car brands didn't provide the adapter (free or fee) until they got fleet access. The same should be for Lucid.

When we picked up our car and asked about an adapter, they told us that Lucid does not provide any such thing.

See above

Is J3400 a standardized version of Tesla NACS connectors? Can Lucid owners charge at a station that has a J3400 connector with an adapter if there is such an adapter?

Tesla needs to grant you access first. You can use adapters from above 5 car brands but they won't charge your Lucid because Tesla has not granted access.

So is there a comprehensive answer for NACS adapters?

Yes. But remember you can have an adapter but do you have access?

Is Lucid planning one and it just doesn't exist yet?

Planning one when access is granted by Tesla. Adapters exist on the market but are useless without a permission for access.

Are there 3rd party adapters?

Some are made by Tesla and handed to Ford. Ford did a recall and used Lectron to manufacture their own with the "Ford" label on.

Or, did we just simply misunderstand?

I hope you are clear now.

 

[TGO]

I have charged my Lucid Air Pure at a magic dock Supercharger at Bucce’s in Terrell Texas. All Bucce’s have some Tesla Superchargers with the Magic Dock. Here are my experiences:

• You must download the Tesla App and you must put in a verified payment Credit Card.
• There is no signage indicating which chargers have Magic Docks. However they looked a bit different then the other ones.
• You must straddle parking spaces, taking up two. Even says so in the Tesla App. The reason for this is the charging cord is to short and even with taking over two spots, I had to move my vehicle so the front was over the concrete bump stop. Luckily there was no one else charging their vehicle while I was there.
• It took me a few plug and unplugs to get everything working. As soon as the Tesla App recognized my vehicle, the Lucid allowed it to be charged.
• Right now all Tesla Superchargers are 400v, our vehicles are 800+v so charging is limited to 50KW, I saw 47KW for the whole charging period. I started at 5% charge. The Supercharger was rated at 250KW.
• As I was only charging for enough to get home (about 30 miles away). I got 14.5440 KW in 18 minutes at a rate of .47 per KW which came to $6.31 plus 8.25% tax, .52 for a total of $6.83.
• IMO it’s good that we have another option of a place to charge. The price was reasonable. Being located at Bucce’s means you have some place to go for the charge time. The Lucid was able to charge. The magic dock is an eloquent solution.
• The bad is the short cords require taking up two spaces. The slow speeds means it’s not the best choice out there. Tesla firing their Supercharger team means these quirks probably won’t get resolved anytime soon.