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Comment by fiddlerwoaroof | Hacker News Reader

Except, historically, it was “Tesla had a nice slim cable and all the other manufacturers didn’t want to use it so they invented a monstrosity”: I’d be really unhappy having to use a CCS port with a Tesla, after the current plug.

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Exactly this. The American CCS is terrible. The European Mennekes connector isn't so bad, supports pretty high 3 phase power (as well as split phase), and Tesla even figured out how to run like 120kW DC power through it. Something like that wouldn't be so bad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_2_connector

Really, we ought to just standardize on the Tesla plug as it can handle 250kW (perhaps upgrading it to allow higher voltage... gets you to 500kW). It's simply better (as long as we're not going to do 3 phase power anyway). Probably cheaper, too, as it's much smaller.

Doesn't Tesla already ship cars with Type 2 connectors?

https://cdn.nettiauto.com/live/2021/03/10/9199ab21d7082c3d-l...

https://cdn.nettiauto.com/live/2021/08/06/66c771a8155706d1-l...

Yes, but the US Tesla plug is better.

How?

And in what way does it make sense to make the connector that one manufacturer uses the standard one when you could make the connector that everyone, including that one specific manufacturer, uses the standard?

Tesla’s plug is smaller than the Level 2 J1772 plug (not to mention the fast charging standards) and is able to handle both Level 2 and Level 3 charging. I’ve used both types of plugs, and Tesla’s is just much more elegant and better designed.

It makes sense to standardize on Tesla’s plug because as far as I know Tesla built it before either of the other standards existed and Tesla was (and still is?) willing to let other manufacturers use the plug: I’ve never heard a good reason why the other manufacturers didn’t take up the Tesla plug and invest in the supercharger network when Elon invited them to.

Doesn't CCS handle level 2 and level 3 charging as well? CCS can also do up to 350 kW charging.

Tesla's plug being the first one doesn't make any sense when it comes to standardization. That's like saying that we should standardise on the Lightning connector instead of USB-C because it was the first one.

The plug being smaller also doesn't really make sense. Are petrol cars superior since the nozzle is much smaller and more elegant than even the smallest EV plug?

>I’ve never heard a good reason why the other manufacturers didn’t take up the Tesla plug and invest in the supercharger network when Elon invited them to.

Why would the major car companies start investing into an unknown startup's supercharger network? It doesn't make business sense.

In no world did the Tesla charger come first. CCS was proposed in 2011, in development much longer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Charging_System

The Model S was announced in ‘08 and first prototype was displayed in ‘09 (per wiki). I’m fairly certain that Tesla’s plug was finalized before the CCS standard existed.

It’s really hard to find a good timeline of the plugs, but I know I’ve seen at least one article that claimed the CCS standard exists because the other manufacturers didn’t want to adopt the Tesla plug.

But, even if I’m wrong about the history, I find the Tesla plug much more user-friendly than the alternatives.

Chademo feels like I’m about to try and charge a locomotive compared to plugging in a svelte Tesla connector/cable.

https://electrek.co/2020/04/28/chademo-and-china-release-new...

> Tesla had a nice slim cable and all the other manufacturers didn’t want to use it so they invented a monstrosity

Didn't or couldn't? Especially due to some sneaky Tesla clause preventing use.

I seem to remember Tesla opening up a bunch of patents. As a guess, that should be near the top of the list

The terms of license under which the patents were opened up were full of poison pills no sane automaker would agree to.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a35030461/why-other-car-co...

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