I honestly don't see a Tesla only DC charging network work. If it's limited to only Tesla Model S's charging there it simply won't work. Nobody is going to give up parking space nor infrastructure for that occasional Model S who might come by.
Covering the whole of Europe? No way! A long the major auto routes, it might. But what if my journey doesn't take me there? The CHaDemo chargers are being planted throughout Europe. Like Kevin Sharpe already posted in another thread, some restaurants are starting the place them at their places so a visiting Leaf or other CHaDemo capable car can charge while the driver is grabbing lunch/dinner.
Do we always need 90kW? No, I guess not. Is it cool to charge with 90kW when possible? Sure! Max power when possible.
I do a lot of travelling through Europe. I play paintball as a sport and go to tournaments everywhere, France, Germany, Belgium, the UK, Poland and ofcourse in the Netherlands. In the last few months I've been thinking: Could I have don this with my Model S? For most trips the answer is: Yes. But then I was still assuming 3-phase support would be available for the Model S.
This weekend I had a trip to to Northern part of Holland, 380km from my home. Do-able with the Model S. Because of the long trip I stayed at a friend of mine who leaves there and lives on a farm. Check, 3-phase 16A available. 11kW of power, enough to give me a overnight charge. I arrived on Saturday around 18:00, we had dinner, drunk some beers (Talked about the Model S) and I left again at 07:00 on Sunday morning.
On Sunday I was at the paintball field until 18:00. It was at a bungalow park. Ah, check, 3-phase 32A on the wall there! 22kW of power for me
That's how I've been doing my trips and discovering lately, just looking for those charge opportunities while I'm still driving a Hybrid/ICE.
To get back to the DC charging, as long as it is Tesla only and there is no way for other cars (without a completely new charger) to charge there, I think it's doomed and won't come off the ground.
CHaDemo is beginning to get traction right now and that's good. Like I said, 90kW is cool, but 50kW as well. Even some McDonald’s (which are franchise here) are starting to put CHaDemo chargers at their restaurants. Being there for let's say 20 min or 30 min would give you a extra 15 to 25 kWh, enough for somewhere between 80 and 100km!
Here again, the Tesla DC network (if it gets of the ground) should be open to other cars and not just with: "Sure, other cars can charge here, as long as they support OUR 'standard'", but vise versa, a Model S should be able to use the existing CHaDemo chargers.
It's re-inventing the wheel again, thinking they can do everything better than the rest and need no help from existing infrastructure.
AC (and here I go again!) 3-phase is everywhere, that is sufficient for 90% of the charging. I don't see the DC being used that much, other than the trip where you have to do 700km on one day.
The "95% of charging is done at home, so we don't need high power AC" is rubbish! Tom Sax made a great post about this:
What charge port connector?
To conclude it once more: I seriously doubt if Tesla can get this up and running. I don't think so. A few chargers, probably. Covering Europe? No way.
