Why can't other cars use Tesla's charging network?
Discussion
It doesn't work very well at all as has been mentioned because the supercharger stalls are setup in the most part for cars with the charging port on the very rear left side of the vehicle.
With no standardization across manufacturers you'll end up with EV's blocking 2 charging stations, parking sideways etc. as has been seen during the trial. As an example the etron below is taking up 2 stalls as the space it is parker in would usually be for the next supercharger along (that you can see behind the Audi) and the driver would reverse in. If there's no further space then that stall becomes unusable.
With no standardization across manufacturers you'll end up with EV's blocking 2 charging stations, parking sideways etc. as has been seen during the trial. As an example the etron below is taking up 2 stalls as the space it is parker in would usually be for the next supercharger along (that you can see behind the Audi) and the driver would reverse in. If there's no further space then that stall becomes unusable.
ecs said:
Those are some seriously short cables! (And a ridiculously positioned charging port).
They make a lot of sense. Safer to reverse in and drive out forward for everyone milling around, stops the cable having to touch any bodywork, far less likely damage will occur to the charger itself etc.gangzoom said:
However there is zero chance Tesla will get any where by continuing to ask permission to build a service that only serves a small group of EV owners. They have to open up the SC network inorder to gain the support needed to build more sites.
Fair point gangzoom. Always enjoyed reading your Tesla stuff over the years. It’s very rare to see lots of empty charging Tesla spots these days - out of the ones I use, it’s probably still only Telford that is still very quiet - for some reason the car seldom chooses this as a charging stop on my trips into North Wales. Edited by gangzoom on Monday 4th April 11:08
SWoll said:
It doesn't work very well at all as has been mentioned because the supercharger stalls are setup in the most part for cars with the charging port on the very rear left side of the vehicle.
With no standardization across manufacturers you'll end up with EV's blocking 2 charging stations, parking sideways etc. as has been seen during the trial. As an example the etron below is taking up 2 stalls as the space it is parker in would usually be for the next supercharger along (that you can see behind the Audi) and the driver would reverse in. If there's no further space then that stall becomes unusable.
That is very easy to sort, just ban cars which don’t have the charge port rear left or very front using the Tesla chargers.With no standardization across manufacturers you'll end up with EV's blocking 2 charging stations, parking sideways etc. as has been seen during the trial. As an example the etron below is taking up 2 stalls as the space it is parker in would usually be for the next supercharger along (that you can see behind the Audi) and the driver would reverse in. If there's no further space then that stall becomes unusable.
SWoll said:
It doesn't work very well at all as has been mentioned because the supercharger stalls are setup in the most part for cars with the charging port on the very rear left side of the vehicle.
With no standardization across manufacturers you'll end up with EV's blocking 2 charging stations, parking sideways etc. as has been seen during the trial. As an example the etron below is taking up 2 stalls as the space it is parker in would usually be for the next supercharger along (that you can see behind the Audi) and the driver would reverse in. If there's no further space then that stall becomes unusable.
Perfect for another eTron to charge on the far side of the one already there.With no standardization across manufacturers you'll end up with EV's blocking 2 charging stations, parking sideways etc. as has been seen during the trial. As an example the etron below is taking up 2 stalls as the space it is parker in would usually be for the next supercharger along (that you can see behind the Audi) and the driver would reverse in. If there's no further space then that stall becomes unusable.
JackReacher said:
limpsfield said:
That photo shows the bland ubiquitous nature of their car offering. Their cars are good, but they need additional paint options and not make each model look exactly the same!Great cars though. I think we have a reasonably similar car history. Still miss my M240.
SWoll said:
paralla said:
Perfect for another eTron to charge on the far side of the one already there.
You're assuming there's another space, which there's a good chance there won't be with it being the last charger in the row.paralla said:
SWoll said:
paralla said:
Perfect for another eTron to charge on the far side of the one already there.
You're assuming there's another space, which there's a good chance there won't be with it being the last charger in the row.As an example if an etron parked as above in the nearest location below it would be blocking the last charger from use?
or here where the Model S is currently parked.
Edited by SWoll on Monday 4th April 20:54
paradigital said:
If BMW rolled out their own petrol stations at great cost, would they open them up to VW?
Would owners of BMWs that used to have a USP over VW now be annoyed because they have to queue behind a glut of non-BMW cars at the petrol station they used to be able to exclusively use?
BMW are part owners of the IONITY charging network so in a way they are building their own filling stations - and they do allow others to use themWould owners of BMWs that used to have a USP over VW now be annoyed because they have to queue behind a glut of non-BMW cars at the petrol station they used to be able to exclusively use?
limpsfield said:
It's a fair point! At least it does show that they are not all white...
Great cars though. I think we have a reasonably similar car history. Still miss my M240.
That is true they have moved on from just white Great cars though. I think we have a reasonably similar car history. Still miss my M240.
Yes your car history is similar, I do miss the m240i a little but not as much as the Cayman or Lotus. Looks like you have great combo now, an EV for family everyday use and a sports car for the weekend. Ideally I would have similar but don't feel confident enough in the charging infrastructure to make that leap yet!
The short cable thing does seem a bit short sighted by Tesla because regardless of whether they open the superchargers to other vehicles they've basically tied themselves into never moving the charging ports to another location on the cars in the future. History is full of situations where a manufacturer has picked what they think is the best solution for something, tied themselves into it some how, then regretted it later.
kambites said:
The short cable thing does seem a bit short sighted by Tesla because regardless of whether they open the superchargers to other vehicles they've basically tied themselves into never moving the charging ports to another location on the cars in the future. History is full of situations where a manufacturer has picked what they think is the best solution for something, tied themselves into it some how, then regretted it later.
It's an engineering and commercial compromise, at the time when these were designed there wasn't really any competition.From the engineering perspective, if you have a 5m cable with 250kw+ it needs to be liquid cooled for health and safety.
This also massively increases the cost of the charger.
A 1.5m cable doesn't
From a commercial perspective, Tesla have a lot of charging points, this cable is not cheap, you'll be talking £100s per metre.
There are 25000 Tesla charging points world wide, so you get savings only installing the required amount of cable and no more.
annodomini2 said:
From the engineering perspective, if you have a 5m cable with 250kw+ it needs to be liquid cooled for health and safety.
Does anyone have a 5m cable? I don't know of any.The real issue is not so much the length of the cable, it's that the charger is to the side of the parking space. If it was in the middle then a shorter cable would reach both sides and the front of the car, but because it's on one side some cars have to use the "wrong" charger for that space.
aestetix1 said:
Most other charger networks have decent size spaces so that people can charge without blocking no matter where their charge port is. Tesla is the exception with narrow spaces.
It's the placement of the charger and length of cable that's the issue, not the size of the space. Tesla spaces are perfectly fine.Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff