compatibility...

[kambites]

ruggedscotty said:

And be able to supply the right amount of power voltage and current.

If you mean every charger be able to charge every car as fast as the car is capable of, I don't think that's viable (because it would require updating every charger every time any manufacturer releases a new faster charging system) or necessary. Otherwise, as people have said, we're pretty much standardised across Europe already.

Right now if you have a CCS capable car (which is most of them) you can go up to almost any charger in the UK except Tesla Superchargers and expect to be able to use it. The few CHAdeMO only chargers still out there are quickly disappearing. I think we're stuck with the Supercharger network being separate for the moment (unless the EU passes a judgment against it from an anti-competitive standpoint) but ultimately once the mainstream charging network really gets up to speed, I think the Supercharger network will have fulfilled its purpose and will start to disappear or will simply get opened up to other manufacturers' vehicles.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 3rd June 07:45

[TheDrownedApe]

yeah we are already there. Plus OP it isn't like cars with larger fuel tanks can fill it up any quicker than those with small ones. The fuel is fed at a constant flow. At least EVs get a DC flow tailored to their capacity (mostly) lol

[ZesPak]

kambites said:

Right now if you have a CCS capable car (which is most of them) you can go up to almost any charger in the UK except Tesla Superchargers and expect to be able to use it.

...

I think we're stuck with the Supercharger network being separate for the moment (unless the EU passes a judgment against it from an anti-competitive standpoint) but ultimately once the mainstream charging network really gets up to speed, I think the Supercharger network will have fulfilled its purpose and will start to disappear or will simply get opened up to other manufacturers' vehicles.

Just for completeness: Tesla superchargers these days are CCS but only allow Teslas (basically it's part of the purchase of the car).
Iirc Tesla has tried to make deals with other manufacturers but either Tesla were too greedy or the others too stingy. Another theory is that other manufacturers just didn't want to validate Tesla that way, and the Tesla branding on all the chargers might not have helped. That makes some sense and makes you wonder whether they should have branded the chargers differently from the cars.
There's probably an interesting story there but I haven't seen any valid sources on it.

Didn't Rivian or some other start up talk about Tesla charging capabilities as well?

[kambites]

ZesPak said:

Just for completeness: Tesla superchargers these days are CCS but only allow Teslas (basically it's part of the purchase of the car).

In the UK (and probably all of Europe?) yes. Which is why it would be easy for Tesla to open the network up to other road users at a later date if they wanted to.

[ZesPak]

Europe as well as all their cars have been CCS for a couple of years now. (thanks to the EU)

[ruggedscotty]

kambites said:

ruggedscotty said:

And be able to supply the right amount of power voltage and current.

If you mean every charger be able to charge every car as fast as the car is capable of, I don't think that's viable (because it would require updating every charger every time any manufacturer releases a new faster charging system) or necessary. Otherwise, as people have said, we're pretty much standardised across Europe already.

Right now if you have a CCS capable car (which is most of them) you can go up to almost any charger in the UK except Tesla Superchargers and expect to be able to use it. The few CHAdeMO only chargers still out there are quickly disappearing. I think we're stuck with the Supercharger network being separate for the moment (unless the EU passes a judgment against it from an anti-competitive standpoint) but ultimately once the mainstream charging network really gets up to speed, I think the Supercharger network will have fulfilled its purpose and will start to disappear or will simply get opened up to other manufacturers' vehicles.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 3rd June 07:45

see this is what Im getting at - simple standardisation would allow for this - imagine any car being able to hook up and the car takes what it can manage. the post being a server and the car having the software to configure the point. As new systems come into play the cars can detect that and make use of that but if an old car it can still draw a reasonable charge to suit. thus its future proofed. being able to quickly adapt is the key.

I dont think the system is where it needs to be, but it could be

[gangzoom]

ruggedscotty said:

As new systems come into play the cars can detect that and make use of that but if an old car it can still draw a reasonable charge to suit. thus its future proofed. being able to quickly adapt is the key.

I dont think the system is where it needs to be, but it could be

This already happens, ALL EVs will draw the max rate possible that is deemed 'safe' by the cars software.

Someone else has already explained earlier, the actual 'charger' is in the cars not the 'pump'.

Think of it like a bath, and the charge rate been the size of the plug hole and taps been the pump. The taps can supply electricity at what ever rate you want/can but the amount of electricity going in the car is determined by the size of the plug hole and that's fixed.

Am not sure what vision of EV charging you are trying to hint at, but there is zero issues with compatibility of chargers and cars at present. The problems at present is we don't have enough taps and often the taps just don't work.

[kambites]

ruggedscotty said:

I dont think the system is where it needs to be, but it could be

Apart from Tesla being Tesla, which part of what you have suggested above isn't already the case?

[No ideas for a name]

ruggedscotty said:

see this is what Im getting at - simple standardisation would allow for this - imagine any car being able to hook up and the car takes what it can manage. the post being a server and the car having the software to configure the point. As new systems come into play the cars can detect that and make use of that but if an old car it can still draw a reasonable charge to suit. thus its future proofed. being able to quickly adapt is the key.

I dont think the system is where it needs to be, but it could be

As mentioned above - it is like that at present.

On a technical level, there is a pilot signal that the EVSE puts out to the vehicle... this informs the vehicle of the maximum available current. The vehicle responds to say it is ready, and the EVSE then connects the supply. The vehicle can take as much as it chooses, up to the limit of what is available. It is also dynamic, so that if the EVSE is shared, it may choose to lower the available current during charge.

Much confusion in the market in my view - it is unfortunate as it puts much of the general public off EVs.
Full disclosure - we don't have an EV yet - so haven't experienced the process in reality. Still, the apparent confusion of which public 'chargers' you can use, and lead compatibility, payment methods, cost does actually need to be improved.
This is one thing Tesla do seem to have right - if you have a Tesla, you can go to a Tesla 'charger' and all is good.

[brums evil twin]

As everyone has said its not a problem at all - we have standardisation on plugs and the chargers are in the cars already - What the problem is, is the payments, apps and signing up to different suppliers. Once this is sorted and all points have an easy way to pay (contactless payment as an example) that would solve all the issues.