The electric vehicle market has expanded exponentially over the past five years. Tesla drew attention to the zero-emissions powertrain with the launch of its all-electric (and all-expensive) lineup.
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The electric vehicle market has expanded exponentially over the past five years. Tesla drew attention to the zero-emissions powertrain with the launch of its all-electric (and all-expensive) lineup. General Motors entered early with its Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and Bolt EV, and Nissan introduced the Leaf. Today, nearly every automaker in the U.S. is racing to produce the best EVs and has pledged to go all electric by 2035 or beyond, but wider adoption of EVs brings a few challenges.
One of the major roadblocks to wider EV adoption is the availability of robust charging infrastructure. Within the existing universe, there are three available charging levels: 1, 2 and 3. Each level differentiates charging based on voltage, which simply translates to speed of energy delivery. Tesla has notoriously used a proprietary network of Level 3 and Level 2 chargers, but now certain adapters will connect non-Teslas to Tesla chargers and vice versa. That’s not without one major exception: Level 3.
Tesla’s vast network of Level 3 high-speed chargers, called “Superchargers,” use a proprietary plug. Nissan and Mitsubishi use the Asian standard plug called CHAdeMO and all other manufacturers use the Combined Charging System, or “Combo” plug, to hook up to DC Fast Chargers, or DCFC. Currently, only the lesser used CHAdeMO plug offers an adapter for Teslas to charge via DCFC.
Level 2 and Level 1 chargers use SAE J1772 plug types, also called the “J-Plug.” Level 1 charging provides the same power as a standard 120-volt wall outlet (because it is a standard wall outlet). Level 2 chargers deliver up to 240-volts and are either a plug in your home, or a charging station. Teslas have J-Plug adapter that works with both Level 1 and 2 chargers, however, its Level 2 charging is still Tesla-only. These include Tesla Destination Chargers (Tesla chargers installed by property or business owners for public use), and the Tesla Wall Connector (installed by owners for home charging at their residence). Other non-Tesla EVs use Level 2 charging stations run by companies like Charge Point or Electrify America.
We researched the best electric charge adapters on the market, including EV charger adapters for both Tesla to J-Plug and J-Plug to Tesla, selecting the top two products in each category. Note that the nature of this product type means these adapters only work with Level 1 and Level 2 charging—not with Supercharging or DCFC.
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