They are standardized, but the standard (at least in the US) was less than advanced so if you wanted things like a data connection between the charger and the c

They are standardized, but the standard (at least in the US) was less than advanced so if you wanted things like a data connection between the charger and the car you had to roll your own. Without this you can't do things like: 1) Have 2 cars share capacity. The car will decide how much wattage to draw so you have to limit each car to supply/number_of_chargers so that you don't over draw your supply. With data connection you have them share the available wattage, allowing cars to pull what is currently available, often this is more than supply/number_of_chargers as charger will empty or underdrawing due to charge state. 2) Auto bill. Tesla chargers have NO interface other than the plug. You literally just plug it in. This has changed now but Telsas have been pretty common for a long time here.