Good idea, small chance
Abdera, the builder An Innovative ‘Solar Car’, Tesla wants the charging connector to become standard in the US. It saves a lot of money and is a good solution according to the founders.
Optera founders Chris Anthony and Steve Fambrough have previously indicated that they themselves will use the Tesla charging connector for the Optera. Although this super-efficient EV is partially charged by the sun, it still has a charging connection. Tesla’s solution is more compact and lighter and, according to Optera, looks good and is easy to use. Hence the obvious benefits.
According to Anthony and Fambro, it’s a good idea to use this charging standard for all EVs sold in the US. To do that, two Started a petition on Change.org.
While this may not be the most relevant news for us Europeans, we find it interesting. The debate has erupted recently Tesla is opening up superchargers to other brands of electric cars. In Europe it was easier because here Tesla has been hanging CCS cables on the superchargers since the Model 3 arrived. This is not the case in the US and superchargers are still only equipped with the original, unique Tesla connection.
The Americans came up with the connector before the CCS connector was available, but Tesla himself never thought of making his own connector a standard. The brand has long been successful in Europe and uses CCS connectivity here for smaller models, while the Model S and Model X can currently use the Tesla-supplied adapter. Tesla’s use of the charging connection for all EVs in the U.S. will result in huge savings because the country’s largest network of chargers — Tesla’s chargers — won’t need to be replaced. However, with CCS becoming the norm worldwide, Optera’s plan is unlikely to come to fruition.
Incidentally, such a CCS or Combo plug is different than the one in the US. North America uses Type 1 connection, here Type 2 is standard. The difference is easy to see as the top ‘AC’ part of the plug is rounded there and flat here. This difference is said to be due to differences in electrical structure. In Europe, 3-phase is the norm, and only type 2 is suitable.