stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
In Europe, there is no negative to switching to the CCS socket, since it'll still support Tesla's connector. It can also potentially provide 2x the current carrying capacity (another 350A for a total of 700A) if they parallel the conductors.I can't see it. All Tesla's original objections to J1772 plugs apply - larger, unwieldy plug with less self centering/rotation, smaller contacts for the big loads - and you add in the complexity of fiddly little covers over the DC contacts for when you're charging on J1772 AC.
From a business standpoint, I think Tesla has more to lose than to gain from switching midstream to a connector that their competition will also have - they incur a whole lot of cost to convert the largest EV fleet and charger network out there, and for what?
So that their competition can charge at their stations? (or at least clog them up while attempting to charge, which already happens in Europe since the Superchargers there look like Type 2 connection that most EVs have, but won't charge those cars.)
So that the folks who buy their cars can have the option to pay twice as much to use someone else's smaller charging network without an adapter?
There's something to be said for one standard - but if we're going to one worldwide standard, Tesla's European standard is the way to go. It gives up some of the size and centering advantages of the US version in exchange for being able to charge off of three phases (more important in other parts of the world.)
If it doesn't have to be a single worldwide standard, Tesla is already using the best ones out there for the regions I think, and if they do a good job with the 3 launch they'll be dominating the industry in sales as well. Maybe the industry can come to them instead.
For the US, if they use the conductor paralleling idea from Tesla's European connector, SAE CCS gives 80A more current (20% more than currently) for 430A total. Not as big an advantage, but it's still there.
Also, in the long run, it makes sense that everyone uses the same socket as that completely eliminates the need for adapters. Keep in mind an adapter is currently needed not only for CCS, but also for regular J1772 AC.
Access control to superchargers can be done in software and the difference in protocol (as it currently is done in Europe). Yes, you would still have some clueless people that try to charge anyways, but from what I can tell, it is extremely rare.
In the short term, an adapter may make more sense, but in the long run adopting a common standard makes more sense.
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