this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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Car companies like Honda, BMW, and Hyundai are banding together to build an EV-charging network bigger than Tesla's Supercharger empire::Tesla has been building out its Supercharger network for over a decade. Now legacy car companies are taking a page from Elon Musk's playbook.

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[–] [email protected] 125 points 2 years ago (8 children)

Pretty ridiculous to have multiple standards for this anyway. Imagine if you had to hunt down a gas station that served whatever proprietary fuel you needed.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 years ago (1 children)

As someone who used to drive a diesel Jetta, I can confirm it was a pain in the ass.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Also cars that require higher octane can be slightly harder to find.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Even worse are the hydrogen fuel cell ones

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Virtually every gas station in the US I’ve seen has 3 types of unleaded non-diesel.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Many high performance engines require higher than the 97 octane that most regular gas stations sell as their Premium. That doesn’t even count any vehicles that run on 85% ethanol.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I guess if you're buying some exotic car that uses rocket fuel you either know what you're signing up for or have enough money that you don't care?

I just hit the button for cheap gas like a poor.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Many??

Name ONE mass production car that takes higher than 97 octane in it's factory configuration.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 years ago (4 children)

That’s early adopter pain for you. In Europe there is one standard, and in the US, we’re getting there. Yes it’ll be a pain for a while that people with CCS ports will need to use adapters at NACS chargers and vice versa, but we’re settling on the underlying CCS technology being the standard, so it’ll just be a matter of connector. Much better than the three standards we had very recently (add chademo)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

well with Ford and GM signing deals with Tesla to use their NACS, and Tesla releasing most to all of any ownership of NACS it could be the standard. It will be interesting to see. Some lobbying could get a new bill passed that allows gov funding for NACS super charger stations.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The article says they're going to build 30,000 new chargers with two different charging standards. That's not settling, that's hedging.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

we’re settling on the underlying CCS technology being the standard

Given how many manufacturers have declared they're moving to NACS it doesn't sound like CCS will be the standard I don't think ?

Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Polestar, Rivian, and Volvo have signed up.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Charging_Standard

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It's ridiculous but it's not quite the same. There are adapter plugs to make all the systems cross-compatible. It means having to carry around adapters though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Not quite the same because adaptors don't solve the charge rate problem. Rather than not finding your gasoline at all, it's more like if you don't find your preferred station, your gasoline will take 45 minutes to dispense instead of 3. Tesla Roadsters have been abandoned by Tesla and would take 30 hours for a full charge on 120v, worst case.

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I’m glad they plan on having both major charging plugs on the stations. But, this would be an ok time for some government regulation to dictate a plug format nationwide. Not having to worry about whether you will be able to charge your vehicle at a charging station would make the experience less stressful for new EV owners.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Agreed. Only took the EU a couple decades to tell cellphone manufacturers (Apple) to use a standard plug.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago

To be fair, it's been far less than a decade since a non shitty standard plug came out.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I'll believe it when I see it.

Even in Norway (home to a fuck load of EVs) I am using Tesla chargers for my non-Tesla on vacation.

I tried to use a hand full of other brands but they required apps and accounts that required a Norwegian citizen ID or Norwegian phone number to sign up.

Absolutely insane that it's not just a tap to pay on the terminal.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Hm that seems like Problem specific to norway. I have one app with which i have access to over 250k chargers all over europe. I just checked the charging point map and indeed, in norway there are very few i can use.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Does the app just find the chargers, or do you have to have the app to use the chargers?

I'm legit asking. I don't have a car new enough to have OnStar, let alone keyless ignition.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

With the App i can use the chargers. Its the App of a lange energy Provider in germany. With this App i can use all These 250k + chargers. Additionaly i have a card that i can use for starting the charging process, if i am somewhere with no mobile Internet Connection. On top of that i always pay the same price per kw/h no matter if i use a charger in germany, Italy, Sweden etc.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Cool, as long as everyone settles on something decent.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The industry is coalescing around Tesla’s plug, which they put up for public adoption as the North American Charging Standard.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 years ago (6 children)

Also I want to be able to pay via a credit card and not deal with half a dozen different apps and we are all golden.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago (5 children)

I’ll believe it when I see it.

Honestly I’m surprised companies like Exxon, BP, and Chevron aren’t opening charging stations under shell companies with new brand names.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago

Most of the time they don’t own the actual gas stations, they’d need to get their franchisees to do it and invest in it.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Wait.. Honda? Do they even have an EV?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

They had the prototype EvPlus and then the Fit EV and Clarity EV (which did CCS DCFC) available on lease only. The Clarity FCEV had ChaDeMo in Japan. And also the Honda E

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Honda's first EV is going to be made by GM using GM's Ultium platform.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Seems like this should have happened like 2 years ago.

The industry depended on VW's network and as usual VW shows us how incompetent they are.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

one would argue that VW actually building a network made them more competent than most of the others...

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago (2 children)

This has got to be the death knell for Tesla, right? They used to be the only game in town if you wanted an EV with a long range and a design that looks like a regular car, but that hasn't been the case for the last few years. The only real selling point they have now is the robust network of charging stations, and if that advantage goes away, there is literally no reason to buy a Tesla vehicle instead of a comparably priced EV from a traditional car company.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Correct. Tesla will get destroyed in the future when other car companies have fully stepped up. Nobody is buying a shitty made Tesla over BMW or Mercedes or even Hyundai or Kia at this point. The Hyundai iconic 5 N and Kia ev6 or gt6 slaps Tesla In build quality and performance to boot.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Assuming that consumers will be rational is a bit premature.

Tesla wants to position itself as the Apple of cars, and it's largely succeeded. Most techies or people more in the know might be quick to dismiss them, but I don't think that's the opinion shared by the public at large.

There's still a wait time for pretty much any new Tesla

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Exactly. I don't need a new car now, but when I do in a few years, it'll definitely be an EV (I have solar panels on my roof, so it's a total no-brainer). Five years ago, it would've been a Tesla, but now, that Mustang Mach looks awfully compelling.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

As a Tesla owner myself, that's mostly how I feel. The only thing I would add from my experience with my current EV is that their driver assist and auto steer are still better than most other car companies but not by much at this point, their integration with the car and the charging network makes long trips easier, and I feel the build quality is pretty bad still.

If there are enough chargers using CCS stations across the continent then Tesla then my next EV will not be Tesla.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago

It should be a national standard and thats that. Also cash options to charge. Why do we have a standardized sizes for gas and diesel nozzles but not w/ electric?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Great if it happens, but not holding my breath.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Eh, this doesn't seem like a pipe dream, or even unlikely. It's in every EV manufacturer's best interest for there to be a big network of charging stations with universal compatibility.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

you know elon is gonna post an Invincible meme about this

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

They will still be using the Tesla plug, so he already won not having to change out the existing network plugs.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Just turn every highway into a giant Scalextric (slot car?) track and be done with it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Ok, but I want more public transportation and rail. Thanks.

Edit: or at least just give me a robust charging network and then make an EV version of the Dacia Sandera without all the fancy lane departure, self adjusting cruise control or any other sophisticated nonesense, thanks.

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