Alec graciously eats some of his previous words, and provides a fairly balanced take on the current state of charging infrastructure.
I see tech connections, I upvote!
Was it a “war” though? Tesla chose to keep the specs to themselves for years forcing the industry to come up with another standard.
Tesla’s charger and CCS1 came out the same year.
Ya I never ever got the sense it was a war. Tesla was just doing their own thing, largely not caring what other automakers did. Maybe their competiton saw it as a war, but I think Tesla just didn’t really care what they were up to.
That said, I think now they see significant opportunity for revenue from their charging network if managed properly.
I agree, a fairly reasonable essay on the current state of charging.
My only disagreement is at the end where he goes into the weeds a bit about how he doesn’t like plug and charge and would rather pay separately with a credit card or other payment system that’s not “tied to the car”. And tries to equate ev charging to filling up with gas (which is a strange angle as he’s been driving an EV for some time).
Almost seemed like a bit of John Cleese “would you like to have an argument?”
I also disagree with him on this point.
The premise of his argument is the the present day gas pump experience is perfect, and why do we want to diverge from it. Current day gas pumps have some REALLY big problems. Just the user experience is bad enough.
He says:
- “Just put in your credit card, and fill up!”
Except the real world is:
- Wiggle the card reader to make sure its not a skimmer
- Put your credit card in
- Answer prompt on screen: “Type in your 5 digit zip code”
- Answer prompt on screen: “Do you have a Super Fuel Club membership?”
- Answer prompt on screen: “Would you like to buy a car wash?”
- SUDDENLY LOUD COMMERCIALS ARE PLAYING IN YOUR FACE!
- MORE COMMERCIALS WHILE YOU PUSH EVERY BUTTON TRYING TO FIND ONE TO MUTE IT
- ALL BUTTONS PRESSED, COMMERCIALS STILL PLAYING AT FULL VOLUME! SUCKS TO BE YOU! DEAL WITH IT BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO CHOICE!
The alternative is a plug-and-charge situation like a Tesla Supercharger, where you just back in, press the button on the cord handle, your chargeport opens, and you plug in. Thats its.
Plus, when was the last time you went to a gas station where the windshield washing station was stocked, and fresh enough to not be counter-productive? I haven’t used those in many years because the last thing I need is a greasy windshield, plus thanks to climate change there’s nowhere near as many bug streaks.
In addition to all the negatives listed above about gas stations, there’s the fundamental issue where a gas station is designed with relatively few pumps to take care of many cars quickly. For the foreseeable future, EV charging will be much slower, so we do need more of a “parking lot” approach, suitable for handling large numbers of vehicles with slow refueling. Not a gas station. More comparable to a rest stop or truck stop, with slower amenities such as food and restrooms
Yet another issue with gas station is having one on every corner might be suitable for gas cars with fast fillip, but why would anyone deal with that for an EV with longer refueling time. The current approach of destination chargers and enroute chargers seems much more likely; most gas stations have no way to make the transition