Tesla has finally launched the long-awaited CCS retrofit for the Model 3 and Model Y. The retrofit was originally supposed to launch in early 2023.
As we all know Tesla cars equipped with a North American Charging Standard (NACS) port. While Teslas Supercharger network is expansive, there are still many areas of Canada and the US where it does not have coverage, meaning owners have to rely on public and non-Tesla chargers with Combined Charging System (CCS) plugs.
But in order to use them owners need two things. One is a CCS adapter, and the other is the necessary hardware and software in their vehicle to support CCS charging.
Tesla launched their CCS adapter back in September 2022, but older vehicles built before around 2020 still needed to have their charge port ECU and other parts upgraded.
Tesla promised to launch a CCS retrofit to do just that in early 2023, but fulfilled half of that promise by offering it only to Model S and Model X owners in February, with a further promise it would be available for the Model 3/Y in mid-2023.
That deadline came and went, but now more than a year after it was first released to S/X owners, owners of early Model 3 and Model Y can also purchase the CCS retrofit.
According to the Tesla Shop listing for the CCS adapter, the retrofit will cost $475 in Canada, or $350 in the US.
This price however includes a CCS adapter, which by itself costs C$345/US$250, putting the cost of the retrofit alone to around $130.
The CCS retrofit is also available to schedule in the mobile app, although pricing is not included, so we don’t know how much just the retrofit by itself costs. We have scheduled an appointment (good news, it can be done by Mobile Service) for our 2019 Model 3 and will update this article when we get a response.
UPDATE Mar 12 2:34pm PT: Tesla Service has confirmed the adapter can’t be unbundled, and you have to purchase the full retrofit package.
The CCS retrofit is also needed if you ever want to charge at third-party charging stations with NACS connectors, as these stations will still be using CCS protocols to initiate the charging session.
To know whether your car has CCS charging enabled, go to the software menu in your car and tap on additional vehicle information. if you see “CCS charging and third party NACS DC charging: enabled,” you do not need this retrofit.
Will you be upgrading your Model 3/Y to support CCS charging? Let us know in the comments below.
