3 ms·
The 15 minute charge time is based on an 800V charger. There's nothing magical here. Tesla (and the Nissan Leaf, and some other eVs) use a 400V charger which ch
by ebbv 11y ago
The 15 minute charge time is based on an 800V charger. There's nothing magical here. Tesla (and the Nissan Leaf, and some other eVs) use a 400V charger which charges to 80% in 30 minutes. If you double the voltage, then cutting the charge time in half is what you'd expect.
The thing that isn't mentioned here is that setting up a 400V charging station is already expensive. Tesla has taken up this expense themselves creating its SuperCharger (400V) network that all Tesla owners can use for free. I don't see anything in this article indicating Porsche is planning to do the same with 800V chargers. If they are that would be amazing, but I doubt it. Setting up 800V charging stations would be even more expensive than the 400V ones Tesla has invested heavily in.
Honestly, the best thing VAG (VW Audi Group, who own Porsche) and all other EV manufacturers could do is put a Tesla SuperCharger port in their vehicles to allow for using the SuperCharger network.
- jfoster 11y agoWhat actually stops other auto manufacturers from putting a Tesla SuperCharger port on their vehicles? Does Tesla's port do any authentication?
- ebbv 11y agoConsidering Tesla has opened up their patent portfolio, I think they'd be able to put the physical port no problem. But licensing use of the SuperCharger network probably involves some kind of agreement with Tesla.
- jfoster 11y agoHence my question. If a manufacturer built the port, does Tesla have any mechanism (eg. vehicle authentication) for blocking gray-charging?
- adventured 11y agoPorsche can probably more easily afford to setup the 800V network than Tesla can its 400V network. They have a large, wholly self-sustaining business. Their operating profit of $3.x billion last year is comparable to Ford's operating profit.
- ebbv 11y agoOf course they can afford it, that's not the issue. The issue is that EVs are 100% of Tesla's revenue, so the investment is obviously worthwhile, even necessary. EVs are none of Porsche's profit, they are just putting this out there as a concept thus far, so it's unlikely they're going to make that kind of investment.
- toddmorey 11y agoI thought this was a bit of marketing genius on Porsche's part to capture some media attention. I saw a lot of headlines that read "New Porsche charges twice as fast as a Tesla". Of course there are two caveats: (1) the new Porsche doesn't quite exist yet, but also (2) I think Tesla could fairly easily respond with the same charge time. As I understand it, Superchargers skip the Tesla's onboard chargers (that normally do AC to DC conversion) and use their own array of chargers working in parallel to deliver direct current right to the battery as fast as it can take it. So it feels like Tesla could provide 800V chargers with little to no modification needed to the cars. Does that sound right? I know they've been experimenting with higher voltage chargers.