gundumb08 t1_j8ru51r wrote on February 16, 2023 at 2:39 PM

Reply to comment by happyscrappy in Tesla Agrees To Open Thousands Of Its Chargers To Other EVs By 2024 by 10MinsForUsername

Tesla WANTS their charging to be the standardized mechanism for EVs. They opened up their patents and published all the materials so other manufacturers could use their technology. They invested just as heavily in the Supercharging network as they have their vehicles, and if it became the NA standard, they'd make more money from charging than selling cars.

I agree about monopolization, but i think standardization is important too. having adapters and about 10 different charging "apps" is annoying, and it needs to be standardized. Tesla has the biggest network and most vehicles, so it'd make sense to use that format.

happyscrappy t1_j8s7wj5 wrote on February 16, 2023 at 4:12 PM

> Tesla WANTS their charging to be the standardized mechanism for EVs

There already is a standard. Coming by and saying "switch to me thing" is just an excuse.

> They opened up their patents

No they didn't. You got fooled by Musk's false bravado. They offer a patent swap. You can use their patents for free for electric car use in exchange for allowing them to use all your patets for free for any use.

It's an offer of a patent swap, and a bad deal at that. It's not any kind of good deal for a company which has a patent portfolio.

> Tesla has the biggest network and most vehicles, so it'd make sense to use that format.

Tesla has the single biggest network, but the number of non-Tesla chargers greatly exceeds the number of Tesla chargers. So the biggest interoperable network is not Tesla.

And switching to Tesla's connector after 10 years of using the standard one would be ridiculous. It would hurt everyone who made an investment in the standard. That includes car owners, charger makers and those who installed chargers (hotels, etc.).

Tesla switched to the standard connector in Europe with the Model 3. Because the EU forced them to. It's worked out great. The logical thing is to use the standard connector in the US also.

gundumb08 t1_j8sen6h wrote on February 16, 2023 at 4:56 PM

By patents I meant for their charging standard, NOT their cars, which I understand the swap.

https://www.tesla.com/blog/opening-north-american-charging-standard

This article is what I'm referring to.

happyscrappy t1_j8sfmrd wrote on February 16, 2023 at 5:02 PM

> By patents I meant for their charging standard, NOT their cars, which I understand the swap.

That does not indicate they offered any new (actually good) patent terms. It's just a PR piece of them trying to give their proprietary standard a new name. And posting mechanical drawings.