Don't get me wrong. I definitely wish Tesla would actually support Roadster owners more than they do. I'd have no issue with Roadsters using the Tesla destination charger network... especially if they had an official or officially endorsed product that permitted it.
However, as much as I'd like to believe they want to do so, their actions to date seem more like just enough to keep Roadster folks from having a fit vs actual support for the product and owners. For example, the new battery upgrade could have easily included a Model S/X-type charge port and even supercharging capability with minimal additional effort. They're removing and modifying the entire battery and PEM anyway. With what would be minimal additional effort they could have added the few bits of hardware necessary to bring a Roadster up to par with their other models on the charging side of things. Perhaps not 120kW supercharging, but easily something like 60kW could be done.
To me, this is the biggest telltale from Tesla with regard to the Roadster. Sorry, @bonnie, but I just don't buy the narrative that Tesla would act against their own interests with regard to the Roadsters. There is so much they could very easily do to improve things for Roadster owners that they simply will not do because it just doesn't benefit them. It simply isn't in Tesla's best interest at this point to do so for the same reasons they refuse to upgrade/retrofit new tech on to older Model S/X vehicles. Why offer an upgrade that will generate only a portion of the profits that could be had if that owner simply traded in their current vehicle towards a new one? This is why we see no battery upgrades, no AP tech upgrades, or virtually any other retrofitted improvements. Sure, Musk publicly tries to brush this off by saying it would somehow slow progress. But most of these upgrades, in particular battery upgrades, take no additional effort on Tesla's part. For example, the new 100 kWh pack is a drop in replacement part for ANY existing Model S or X. At best it requires a plastic spacer piece be swapped with an alternate one on the HV connector... which Tesla already produces so that they can do warranty pack swaps when an older pack isn't available.
I might be convinced that the issue with the Gen2 HPWCs with regard to the Roadster is an oversight, except that maintaining compatibility with the Roadster prevents the power-sharing feature of the new design from functioning. The new HPWCs have digital communication with the vehicles in order to perfectly share power on Gen2 HPWCs which are on a shared circuit. So, if one car on an 80A shared circuit is only pulling/wanting 20A and another wants as much as possible, the other will get 60A vs just splitting the available power 40/40 in a "dumb" way when two cars are connected, meaning 20A would be unused in the previous example. Using the cars themselves for managing this power sharing makes the HPWC design itself less complicated (no need to monitor current in the device, for example) and more efficient. The Roadster simply doesn't have the hardware needed for this digital communication (same comm used for supercharging).
So, again, I would love for Roadsters to have access to ALL Tesla charging... but it's just not in Tesla's interest to make this possible. Whether or not they'll purposefully make it more difficult is another story. I think the issue with Roadster compatibility with the Gen2 HPWC is just the cost of progress.
Perhaps when proceeds from Model 3 start to roll in and Tesla can be less concerned about quarter-to-quarter sales things will change. But right now, I just don't see it happening. Tesla has been strategically releasing new things to drive demand at predictable intervals. They need to S/X demand right now more than they need to worry about a few Roadster owners not being able to use things not designed for them.
For the record, my stance on non-Tesla vehicles using Tesla chargers stands. Unless Tesla officially releases some kind of adapter making it possible (and thus completely safe), or forges a relationship with another manufacturer where they utilize a Tesla charge inlet... non-Tesla vehicles should use non-Tesla chargers. If a non-public charger owner wants to let non-Tesla vehicles use an adapter, by all means. Just make sure others know it's been done so they don't risk damage to their vehicles when using your potentially damaged charger. But I shouldn't have to go to a public Tesla destination charger and wonder if it's damaged to the point where it will damage my vehicle. I highly doubt the Tesla->J1772 adapter folks are putting in the engineering efforts @hcsharp has.
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