Charging compatibility of Tesla Chargers with other electric cars. Will it work on a non-Tesla?

The market monopoly of Tesla in the EV market is dominated by its huge brand awareness by regular consumers coupled with the electrical infrastructure that is set in place already by the company. This puts the $380 Billion company miles ahead of its competitor. With the great market dominance of its position comes inherited with the market power. Its ability to control its resources like its charging infrastructure. Tesla has its own reasons however EVSE has conducted an analysis behind Tesla’s secret.

The EV charging industry is an continuously evolving as technology advancement pace increases. The world is starting to settle on a common plug and charging standards that are universal. Its not that Tesla was imitating an anti-competitive behavior, it was the existing car manufacturer that were hesitant on agreeing about the plug and charging standards.

Tesla charging history ranges back to the early era of 2008 when Tesla Roadster was first released. Tesla were in a search of a robust plug for general AC charging as well as allowing DC charging capacity. Due to the early market, there was no standard to abide by, hence Engineers created a plug that was practically applicable. However in 2010, as EV’s grew in popularity, especially Japan & the USA. Japanese Plug (Type 1 or J1772) for single phase and CHAdeMO became the new standard for the mass-market EV. However, with 3 phase AC delivery of power required a new plug type called Mennekes (Type 2).

Tesla charging infrastructure is not suitable for charging Type 2 EV’s even though in Australia it deploys Type 2 plugs. In theory, the plug type interface is identical however, Tesla AC EVSE’s may be set to charge "Tesla’s only". Tesla has included a special software in their charging infrastructure that does not allow all EV’s to charge successfully. This is hugely dependent on the which initial setting was chosen. As EV’s grow in popularity, the roll out of both private and public charging infrastructure to suit all electric cars in Australia.

For the DC chargers, Tesla’s superchargers of Type 2 DC Plug allows Tesla drivers to gain a super-fast charge. Unlike the AC type 2 plug type, the DC charging plug type is manufactured with an additional component that prevents it being inserted into a normal Type 2 socket. Instead, the rest of world’s EV manufacturer uses a higher capacity plug type to suit the CCS2 combo. As a result, other manufacturers cannot use Tesla’s super chargers. As the EV community comes to a cohesion, plug types of all EV’s will merge towards one standard. Hence allowing Tesla’s electrical infrastructure to be utilized to its optimum levels.

Sam Korkees travels every corner of the world and figuring out how to tackle both small and big problems. Tesla speaks volumes on both personal and professional level and that makes me a personal fan of Elon Musk. To know more, visit https://evse.com.au/tesla-chargers-charging-station

At Eve Australia we believe that the drive toward a better future starts today. Our mission is to help power the future of Australian Mobility through clean, affordable and convenient Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.