Tesla DC charging network

[VolkerP]

RAIC = Redundant Array of Independent Chargers?

 

[rabar10]

(cross-posted from HPC 2.0 thread)

Bucking Trends, Tesla Goes It Alone on Plug Design

The company has also designed its own D.C. fast-charge unit, capable of delivering 480 volts, which would be called the Supercharger. Mr. Musk said that the first Supercharger would be installed along Interstate 5 at the Harris Ranch in Coalinga, Calif., roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, within the next three or four months.

Tesla claims that the Supercharger would take any Model S from a 10 percent to a 90 percent charge in 45 minutes, but Mr. Straubel said in an e-mail that the company would prefer to focus on “recovering more than a 50 percent state of charge in 30 minutes of charging, or 150 miles of driving range in 30 minutes with the 300-mile-range vehicle.”

Supercharger

 

[Lloyd]

Supercharger

I think the tag they put on the DC charging network is bad. I hope this name does not catch on. Customers need to understand the difference between AC and DC, and the potential power and charging time they will require. This just dumbs down the system. IMHO

 

[TEG]

...Tesla claims that the Supercharger would take any Model S from a 10 percent to a 90 percent charge in 45 minutes, but Mr. Straubel said in an e-mail that the company would prefer to focus on “recovering more than a 50 percent state of charge in 30 minutes of charging, or 150 miles of driving range in 30 minutes with the 300-mile-range vehicle.”...

I can relate to the 80% (10% to 90%)... But I wonder why the emphasis on 30 minute 50% charging? Are there further concerns that doing 80% of full charge with high speed DC is not good for the batteries? Or do they just want to start saying "fast charge in half an hour" to compete with smaller pack cars that make that claim?

 

[TEG]

Supercharger

Yeah, that name already has a common usage...

And the connotation is that it makes the car go quicker/faster.

I can see it now: "How much better is the 0-60 if I use the Supercharger?"

 

[Larry Chanin]

I can relate to the 80% (10% to 90%)... But I wonder why the emphasis on 30 minute 50% charging? Are there further concerns that doing 80% of full charge with high speed DC is not good for the batteries? Or do they just want to start saying "fast charge in half an hour" to compete with smaller pack cars that make that claim?

Wouldn't they want to do both? That is, discourage fast charging from 10% (due to risks of reduced battery life) and show that realistically it can charge in just 30 minutes.

Larry

 

[vfx]

Yeah, that name already has a common usage...

And the connotation is that it makes the car go quicker/faster.

This was my thought. It's taken.

Why not explore new adjectives?

Ultracharger

Gigacharger

Megacharger


[all TM 10/11]

 

[ckessel]

I'm not sure why they just don't focus on the range/hour recharge rate. "Gain 300 miles of range per hour of charging." (with a little * saying "limited to 80% of normal battery capacity").

 

[vfx]

Elon: We developed something we call a Tesla Supercharger, which kind of recycles a term from the gasoline combustion engine world. It recharges the battery at over 100 miles every 20 minutes.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon...ric-car-got-its-revenge-2011-10#ixzz1buI32UyP

 

[Lloyd]

This was my thought. It's taken.

Why not explore new adjectives?

Ultracharger

Gigacharger

Megacharger




[all TM 10/11]

Tesslisimo

Tesmaximus

Ugghhhhh....... Worse!

T-Power
T-Charger
T-DC Fast
T-FastCharger
Tesla 100 MPH power

Better?

I like T-Charger, and replace the T with the Tesla logo T!

 

[TEG]

http://www.businessinsider.com/elon...ric-car-got-its-revenge-2011-10#ixzz1buI32UyP

...Chris has a nice way of saying it which is, you have enough electricity to power all the cars in the country if you stop refining gasoline. You take an average of 5 kilowatt hours to refine gasoline, something like the Model S can go 20 miles on 5 kilowatt hours. You basically have the energy needed to power electric vehicles if you stop refining...

Important point to consider!

...Look for charging stations in parking meters. As Paine explains, "You look at places in Denmark, they're retrofitting parking meters and adding electric chargers to them, taking advantage of the electric circuit in every parking meter."...

Yes, I think we (somewhat unfortunately) will have to go to a model where you pay something as you stay parked at a charging spot, otherwise some opportunists will stay parked there all day even though they don't need any more charging. Free charging is a nice incentive / perk, but I think it will need to go away someday...

...We gave all customers a tour of the factory and a rise in the beta model S...

Hmm... Customers got a "rise" in the Model S? :redface:

​

 

[ckessel]

Elon: We developed something we call a Tesla Supercharger, which kind of recycles a term from the gasoline combustion engine world. It recharges the battery at over 100 miles every 20 minutes.

I think this is definitely the way to address adoption issues. Electric cars have the infinite range of gas right now since electricity is ubiquitous, it's just a pain in the ass due to the refueling time. The more battery pack size becomes cheaper per kWh capacity and the faster you can recharge it, the less pain there is in the refueling. At some point, that refueling locations become powerful enough and the and refueling time differential becomes small enough that range anxiety disappears.

 

[GSP]

The Supercharger name is starting to grow on me. I think the name will work well for Tesla marketing. It is after all a "Super" Charger. .

The connotations of that name being associated with "Blower Bentlys," Duesengerg SJ's, Hi-Perf Mercedes cars for nearly 100 years, and high performance pre-war aircraft engines, suit Tesla's high end market.

GSP

 

[VolkerP]

I think the tag they put on the DC charging network is bad. I hope this name does not catch on. Customers need to understand the difference between AC and DC, and the potential power and charging time they will require. This just dumbs down the system. IMHO

"D.C. charger? I am in Iowa! I must be able to use it far away from Washington!"

 

[jcstp]

"D.C. charger? I am in Iowa! I must be able to use it far away from Washington!"

I thought this is ac dc

 

[jcstp]

I think this is about someone that got too close to the battery while driving his car allnight :biggrin:
Probably for not knowing the difference between AC and DC

 

[Norbert]

Exclusive Interview: Elon Musk Shows Cool Confidence About Tesla's Future | PluginCars.com

Presumably Tesla could simply have styled a better-looking plug that nonetheless used the J1772 connectors, but that’s not the company’s approach. “If we have a choice of a great standard or being forced to adhere to a crap standard, we choose ours,” Musk said. “Ours is awesome. We can get 90 kilowatts through such a tiny plug. And we’ve made the cord as light as physics will allow to still be able to carry that amount of power.”

Since most public stations will be set up to charge with the J1772 plug, this is a potential problem, but Tesla says it will supply adaptors to accommodate any existing standard. The company also unveiled its home charger (which it calls a “connector,” since the actual 10- or 20-kilowatt charger is on the car). The wall-mounted unit is an ultra-sharp angular design, in various colors to match customers’ cars.

 

[Larry Chanin]

Tesla Announces Rapid-Charging Corridor Between L.A. and San Francisco

These 90 kilowatt SuperChargers can add as much as 150 miles of range to a Tesla vehicle in 30 minutes or less. Unfortunately, other vehicles with rapid-charging capabilities will be unable to plug into these charges as well. We’ve basically talking about a charging network for a handful of affluent Tesla customers that is off-limits to other EV drivers. So rather than lumping all EV drivers together, there is already a divide between those who can *only* afford a Leaf or Volt, and those who have the cash to splurge on a Tesla Roadster or Model S. This is EV elitism at its worst.

Larry

 

[Norbert]

Tesla Announces Rapid-Charging Corridor Between L.A. and San Francisco

Larry

Not a word that EVs with standard (non-DC) J1772 won't be able to use DC chargers anyway, that the only EV (actual or announced) which could theoretically use it would be the Leaf, and the Leaf doesn't use J1772 for DC either. Not a word that J1772-DC-combo doesn't even exist in real life, and why Tesla would have a reason not to use it.

 

[zack]

I'd love to have been in on the discussions at Tesla that gave rise to these particular decisions. I bet the DC chargers are smart and can adapt to different models with different voltages in their packs as Tesla releases them and the technology changes.

As far as the 20 miles of range that's saved by not refining a gallon of gasoline, there goes the argument about the "long tailpipe." Every single electric car we put on the road diminishes the use of electricity by refineries at exactly the rate we need to supply those electric cars off the grid. It takes down the load on the grid just enough to power the car... the very existence of the cars causes the grid to improve at the rate we need.