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Did Tesla keep their connector from becoming a standard or used by other manufactures and services? I understand that they would want to initially restrict the

Did Tesla keep their connector from becoming a standard or used by other manufactures and services? I understand that they would want to initially restrict their charging network to just Teslas, but that could be enforced through the software/service. Surely it would be in Tesla's interest to allow Tesla owners to have the greatest flexibility as well as potentially opening things up to others in the future? (I know there is an optional adapter for Tesla owners to use to connect to non-Tesla chargers, but it always nicer/better/more-convenient to not have to use adapters) Perhaps they were worried about the quality and safety of others producing a subpar equivalent/variant that might have led to incidents that tarnish Tesla's name and reputation? Similar to a few years back when there was a lot of controversy around USB-C chargers and how some deviate from the standard and could potentially damage your phone/device. I know a few years ago Tesla "opened" up a lot of patents other auto-manufactures could use for "free". I'd be surprised if there wasn't anything related to charging (including connectors) included in these "open" patents?

vel0city 4y ago
You only got access to Tesla's "free" patents if you also made all of your patents "free" to Tesla and all other companies using Tesla's patents. Its kind of like the GPL, but imagine if the license was if you included GPL code in just one codebase you had to open source every bit of code your company had ever made.
panick21_ 4y ago
Tesla as far as I know didn't publish a definition of the standard and the protocol. Without that I don't know how other manufactures would adopt it. A comprehensive approach would have been to create a standard for the charger, plus open source implementation of both the car and the charger software, including the software for automated payment. Also libraries for phones abs to integrate (or for others to integrate with the Tesla app). Establish a conference for charger testing, these exist for the CCS standard. Maybe even a certification program. They could have made home charger and the destination charger just work with any cars. And then made deals with specific auto makers for access to Superchargers. Or have program where they allow access at extra cost. > Perhaps they were worried about the quality and safety of others producing a subpar equivalent/variant that might have led to incidents that tarnish Tesla's name and reputation? Maybe. If you want my opinion. Its simply not how Musk thinks, thinking in terms of Open Standards and Open Source or even Partnerships just isn't an Musk thing Musk does. And everybody else is to busy doing what Musk wants to do. I think it one of the biggest weaknesses in Musk Maintaining a standard, having open software and partners and so on, is management effort Tesla just isn't interested in it seems to me.

vel0city 4y ago

You only got access to Tesla's "free" patents if you also made all of your patents "free" to Tesla and all other companies using Tesla's patents. Its kind of like the GPL, but imagine if the license was if you included GPL code in just one codebase you had to open source every bit of code your company had ever made.

panick21_ 4y ago

Tesla as far as I know didn't publish a definition of the standard and the protocol. Without that I don't know how other manufactures would adopt it. A comprehensive approach would have been to create a standard for the charger, plus open source implementation of both the car and the charger software, including the software for automated payment. Also libraries for phones abs to integrate (or for others to integrate with the Tesla app). Establish a conference for charger testing, these exist for the CCS standard. Maybe even a certification program. They could have made home charger and the destination charger just work with any cars. And then made deals with specific auto makers for access to Superchargers. Or have program where they allow access at extra cost. > Perhaps they were worried about the quality and safety of others producing a subpar equivalent/variant that might have led to incidents that tarnish Tesla's name and reputation? Maybe. If you want my opinion. Its simply not how Musk thinks, thinking in terms of Open Standards and Open Source or even Partnerships just isn't an Musk thing Musk does. And everybody else is to busy doing what Musk wants to do. I think it one of the biggest weaknesses in Musk Maintaining a standard, having open software and partners and so on, is management effort Tesla just isn't interested in it seems to me.