Nissan turned off a video tutorial for Ariya owners today which shows how to use a Tesla NACS adapter with your vehicle and includes a completely out-of-the-ordinary step: insert a small piece of plastic into your car's CCS port before connecting the adapter.
The Ariya is Nissan's first electric vehicle with a CCS port, and the automaker just activated the vehicle's ability to connect to Tesla's vast Supercharger network in October. Other manufacturers have also adopted Tesla's NACS standard, with companies like Ford and Rivian already shipping adapters to current EV owners. But none of those EVs require you to take a confusing extra step to get the adapter to work.
As explained in the video, the NACS adapter available through Nissan includes a “plug adapter” that must be installed in the hourglass-shaped cavity between the two DC pins on the bottom before charging at charging stations. NACS compatible fast charging. Nissan assures the viewer that it is “simple” and requires no tools. However, you'll need to use the adapter they provide or one from a US distributor, which may mean that other third-party options, such as the Lectron adapter, won't work. (Probably for the best, considering the Lectron adapter was recently recalled.)
The strange thing about the Ariya's charging port is that, despite it being a standard that works on many CCS-capable fast charging stations, there is a negative gap between the two DC pins at the bottom that is not present on most other electric vehicles. The plastic piece Nissan wants you to place in the opening fills the space to make it look more like other CCS ports. We asked Nissan what the purpose of the opening is and why the insert is needed, but have not heard back at the time of publication.
Nissan's other EV model is the pioneering Leaf, which uses the nearly obsolete CHAdeMO standard and probably won't get some magical adapter to connect to Tesla's Supercharger network (although there are some CHAdeMO to CCS Adapters now).
