Speculation - New charging plug?

[Bokonon]

On bad days it stops before it is full, repeatedly. And in Oregon it isn't legal for them to start it again. (i.e. topping it off.)

Wow, I grew up in Portland and had no idea it wasn't technically legal for the attendant to restart the pump. The attendants at the gas station by my house even seemed to assume that I *wanted* to top it off, or that I wanted the price rounded up to the nearest dollar, because they always put a little extra in after the pump stopped.

I have never seen a car overflow at a pump in Oregon or Washington. ... In fact I'm not even sure I could make it overflow if I tried.

I've had it happen to me once, albeit here in Massachusetts in 10-degree weather. Not sure what went wrong, but just as I was looking at the numbers on the pump and thinking to myself, "Huh, it usually shuts off about now..." .... GOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHH!!! All of a sudden my shoes were drenched in diesel fuel. (I drove a Golf TDI at the time.) Needless to say, those shoes went straight into the trash when I got home.

 

[Mishakim]

I don't have to stand by the fuel port while refueling an ICE either, get out hookup the hose, get back in the car until it is done. (When I do it in Washington, in Oregon I don't even ever have to get out of the car since we aren't allowed to refuel an ICE ourselves.)

Aside from that being allegedly dangerous, here in Massachusetts it was supposed to be impossible until last year -- we had banned the little clips that keep the pump running when you let go. AFAIK, we were the only state to do so, and finally relented, but many places still haven't fixed their pumps to put them back.

 

[MP3Mike]

Wow, I grew up in Portland and had no idea it wasn't technically legal for the attendant to restart the pump. The attendants at the gas station by my house even seemed to assume that I *wanted* to top it off, or that I wanted the price rounded up to the nearest dollar, because they always put a little extra in after the pump stopped.

That restriction was put in to place in July 1st, 2009. (I looked again and the law does have an exception: If an attendant can confirm that a vehicle tank is not full after the click off, the attendant may continue to dispense fuel using best judgment and caution to prevent a spill. But they aren't likely to do that unless it clicks off right away.)

 

[stopcrazypp]

On bad days it stops before it is full, repeatedly. And in Oregon it isn't legal for them to start it again. (i.e. topping it off.) So if you get a pump "jockey" following the rules you have to pay, sometimes move your car, and have them try to start pumping the fuel again to actually get a full tank of gas. (I can't say that I miss any of that at all.)

I have never seen a car overflow at a pump in Oregon or Washington. (And in Oregon you likely have one pump "jockey" running around servicing 10 cars, they start one and move on to the next and will eventually get back to removing the hose from your car once it has stopped on it's own, long ago.) In fact I'm not even sure I could make it overflow if I tried. You can't even spray the fuel house around like a fire house if you try, it won't open unless the vapor recovery section is compressed. (Which I guess you could do by hand, but it isn't very easy.)

Same experience in California. Plenty of times it stops before full, but never seen it overfill.

 

[arnis]

Wow that went fast. From charging plug location to laws prohibiting parking on the opposite side of the road in some/most states to fuel pump stopping at the wrong time to smelly shoes.
Interesting, how slow are US fuel pumps. It takes like 60 seconds to fully fill the tank.
Or the difference is that our tanks are 60 liters and US tanks are 60 gallons (US gallons to be at least somewhat pro).

 

[Sonny Daze]

Wow that went fast. From charging plug location to laws prohibiting parking on the opposite side of the road in some/most states to fuel pump stopping at the wrong time to smelly shoes.
Interesting, how slow are US fuel pumps. It takes like 60 seconds to fully fill the tank.
Or the difference is that our tanks are 60 liters and US tanks are 60 gallons (US gallons to be at least somewhat pro).

From Wikipedia:

In the U.S. flow speed is limited to 10 gallons per minute for cars and 40 gallons per minute for trucks. This flow rate is based on the diameter of the vehicle's fuel filling pipe, which limits flow to these amounts.

Not all pumps pump the same speed though.

Most cars I've owned were 13 gallons.

 

[gregincal]

I really have no idea whether it's safe to leave the car fueling or not, since I never put gasoline in my car or ever want to again. Likewise, I really don't care. So if you want to discuss filling cars with gasoline, please go to some stupid ICE forum.

 

[gregd]

I don't have to stand by the fuel port while refueling an ICE either, get out hookup the hose, get back in the car until it is done. (When I do it in Washington, in Oregon I don't even ever have to get out of the car since we aren't allowed to refuel an ICE ourselves.)

Not to extend this side discussion, but getting back into the car while it's pumping can be really dangerous. Consider what could happen when you touch the gas pump nozzle after sliding off that virgin vinyl car seat while wearing rubber soled shoes. The static spark is plenty strong enough to ignite the works.

 

[BioSehnsucht]

Not to extend this side discussion, but getting back into the car while it's pumping can be really dangerous. Consider what could happen when you touch the gas pump nozzle after sliding off that virgin vinyl car seat while wearing rubber soled shoes. The static spark is plenty strong enough to ignite the works.

Regular cloth seats, regular jeans and t-shirt, every time I get out of my Mazda 3 I go ZZAAAP into the body as I exit. Not really a concern for fueling because I'm nowhere near the fuel door, and I've already discharged myself to the same potential as the vehicle, long before I reach the fuel door.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I think you mean "for people in the EU who do a lot of street side charging" it would be ideal - at the cost of making it less convenient for everyone else who would always have to walk around the car.

I'm not sure if its an EU thing or something that the competition has caused (because here the original BEV infrastructure was not based on Tesla influence), but I share @mutle 's sentiment.

There is a reason why Tesla sells a fairly long and rigid Type 2 (AC charging) cable in the EU, while the competition often sells shorter ones. Teslas need the huge cable, which is very incovenient to store etc.

A charge port on the right side of the car would be optimal for me and I am often in a bit of trouble with the Tesla because of its charger placement. (Meaning having to move/turn the car around in odd places not really designed for it.) Everything seems to be designed for chargers with ports on the right side or in the middle and nothing for chargers on the left side. If I would have been able to select the side on order, I would have selected the right side of the car, it would simply make my life so much easier.

Now, of course those in RHD markets in the UK and Asia would find right hand side charge port with other benefits and possibly downsides as well.

Dual ports would be great, of course. I would pay extra for that option. Put a third port in the frunk and I'm be super happy.

 

[arnis]

Not to extend this side discussion, but getting back into the car while it's pumping can be really dangerous.

As dangerous as using big kitchen knife for cutting tomatoes. If you don't know stuff you can kill yourself both ways.
Should we ban big kitchen knifes because of that?

 

[S70D]

Well while supercharging today, I looked over and what did I see ... a Model 3 parked next to my Model S supercharging. Port open, Green T (aka Tesla) light blinking.

 

[McManX]

Looks like one Tesla port to me (as we all knew deep down)

 

[MP3Mike]

Port open, Green T (aka Tesla) light blinking.

Where is the T that was blinking? Did you get any other pictures? Interior maybe?

 

[Bokonon]

Well while supercharging today, I looked over and what did I see ... a Model 3 parked next to my Model S supercharging. Port open, Green T (aka Tesla) light blinking. View attachment 227962

Wow, nice catch! So the charge port door on this RC opens vertically? Hmmm...

Question: did it seem like there was some kind of thin cloth/plastic "cover" surrounding the charge port? The reason I ask -- and y'all feel free to call me completely nuts on this one -- I almost see the shadow of the two lower CCS pins below the Tesla connector (see enhanced image below). Is there an alternate explanation for what I'm seeing here?

If, hypothetically, this port accepts a CCS connector (which, as we know, is a big honkin' beast of a plug), that would certainly explain why the charge port door opens upward, rather than sideways like the S/X...

 

[stopcrazypp]

Wow, nice catch! So the charge port door on this RC opens vertically? Hmmm...

Question: did it seem like there was some kind of thin cloth/plastic "cover" surrounding the charge port? The reason I ask -- and y'all feel free to call me completely nuts on this one -- I almost see the shadow of the two lower CCS pins below the Tesla connector (see enhanced image below). Is there an alternate explanation for what I'm seeing here?

View attachment 227967

If, hypothetically, this port accepts a CCS connector (which, as we know, is a big honkin' beast of a plug), that would certainly explain why the charge port door opens upward, rather than sideways like the S/X...

The Tesla connnector (at least the USA one) is not compatible with the CCS. If there is a CCS port, I would expect it to be on the other side of the car.

 

[RubberToe]

Seems like an awfully big door for such a small Tesla plug. Lots of room on the right.

RT

 

[Bokonon]

The Tesla connnector (at least the USA one) is not compatible with the CCS. If there is a CCS port, I would expect it to be on the other side of the car.

True... the top portion would have to be a J1772 socket, and a Supercharger located in California would obviously not be compatible. Those two circles below the connector still seem odd to me though...

Here's an even crazier thought (which makes even less sense, given Tesla's focus on making the Model 3 easy to manufacture and fully autonomous), but bear with me... ... What if the charge port were to have the ability to reconfigure itself between Tesla and J1772 (e.g. using a built-in "sliding adapter" that could expose either interface while changing the electrical connections underneath)? Such a design (with the addition of the two CCS DC pins below) would make the Model 3 compatible with J1772, CCS, and Supercharger connectors out-of-the-box, and would largely eliminate the need to carry and attach/detach any external adapters (unless you needed CHAdeMO). This would be a huge improvement in usability and allow the Model 3 access to a wider range of public charging stations.

I recognize that this is a rather unlikely scenario, and that I am probably seeing nothing more than rainbow-dusted unicorns in those two dark circles, whose geometry might not even be correct for the CCS DC pins. But we've still got two months to go, and it's rare that I get a chance to dream these days... so I allowed myself to indulge in what could be, rather than what likely is.

 

[bogienut]

Wow, nice catch! So the charge port door on this RC opens vertically? Hmmm...

Question: did it seem like there was some kind of thin cloth/plastic "cover" surrounding the charge port? The reason I ask -- and y'all feel free to call me completely nuts on this one -- I almost see the shadow of the two lower CCS pins below the Tesla connector (see enhanced image below). Is there an alternate explanation for what I'm seeing here?

View attachment 227967

If, hypothetically, this port accepts a CCS connector (which, as we know, is a big honkin' beast of a plug), that would certainly explain why the charge port door opens upward, rather than sideways like the S/X...

The plug appears to be mounted on a temporary steel plate. I suspect we are in for a surprise.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Nice catch @S70D!

Looks like one Tesla port to me (as we all knew deep down)

The plug appears to be mounted on a temporary steel plate. I suspect we are in for a surprise.

Yes, I actually think this image is proof of a port revision coming up. Why else the big charge port door too and a port tucked away in a corner? A CCS port would fit next to that Tesla port...

That said, there is the chance the new port might launch later than Model 3. After all, Model X had room for multiple forward cameras since day 1 but only shipped with 1 for the first year...