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Tesla has a monopoly on working electric car charging infrastructure. There are other chargers out there but all the others work poorly

euroderf 3y ago
So what is the key to Tesla's competence in maintenance, that the rest of the chargers (and most of the American economy) cannot seem to fathom ?
- supportengineer 3y ago
  From a leadership point of view all it takes is someone at the top saying this will be done. Making Supercharger monitoring and maintenance a priority. As opposed to MBAs seeing it as a cost center to cut against.
  - bdcravens 3y ago
    Only one data point, but when I did a long road trip, I encountered a tech at an Electrify America station. He told me they tend to only make servicing a station a top priority when none of the stalls are working. Otherwise, broken stalls are put into a queue for service.
    - notyofriend 3y ago
      They Usally only have 2-4 stalls so it can happen pretty quickly
bdcravens 3y ago
Is this based on anecdotal evidence or personal experience? There are charging stations that work poorly, but many of them work well. Bigger issue is cars/charger among non-Teslas.
bhpm 3y ago
“Monopoly” is a bit strong. They’re the market leader because they’ve excelled at it. What anti-competitive tactics have they used?
- mensetmanusman 3y ago
  They are a natural monopoly; nothing wrong with dominating and providing the best value, but we note when monopolies occur because bureaucracies tend to naturally exploit them.
  - bhpm 3y ago
    Monopoly by what metric? What’s the difference between being a market leader and a monopoly? Investopedia defines a natural monopoly like this: “A natural monopoly is a type of monopoly in an industry or sector with high barriers to entry and start-up costs that prevent any rivals from competing.” But there are many rivals to Tesla in this space. ChargePoint, ElectrifyAmerica, and even a start-up called Volta that does free ad-supported EV charging. Shell bought them earlier this year. KBB lists a ton more, including regional ones: https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/ev-charging-networks-list/ https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/ev-charging-networks-list/
    - notyofriend 3y ago
      Tesla locked in most teslas into their own network for one. Its theoretically possible to use another one but it would be difficult and cumbersome
      - bhpm 3y ago
        The J1772 Adapter is included with every Tesla vehicle delivery. It’s not just theoretically possible to use another one, it’s literally enabled by the manufacturer themselves. The adapter locks into place on the vehicle. You could leave it there permanently if you wanted to.
clouddrover 3y ago
> There are other chargers out there but all the others work poorly No. The best chargers are manufactured by Alpitronic and Kempower. If you want to see EV infrastructure done right you need to look at Europe. North America's EV infrastructure is a basket case in comparison. Alpitronic 400 kW charger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4ZWN_-a2j4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4ZWN_-a2j4 Alpitronic 300 kW chargers two years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TVohXHjLro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TVohXHjLro Kempower 400 kW charger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR2M5W6saAk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR2M5W6saAk Europe's plan to further improve EV charging: https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/new-energies/europe/article/fast-chargers-every-60-km-key-eu-motorways?a=FJA05&t%5B0%5D=Charging&curl=1 https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/new-energies/europe/article/f...

euroderf 3y ago

So what is the key to Tesla's competence in maintenance, that the rest of the chargers (and most of the American economy) cannot seem to fathom ?

supportengineer 3y ago
From a leadership point of view all it takes is someone at the top saying this will be done. Making Supercharger monitoring and maintenance a priority. As opposed to MBAs seeing it as a cost center to cut against.
- bdcravens 3y ago
  Only one data point, but when I did a long road trip, I encountered a tech at an Electrify America station. He told me they tend to only make servicing a station a top priority when none of the stalls are working. Otherwise, broken stalls are put into a queue for service.
  - notyofriend 3y ago
    They Usally only have 2-4 stalls so it can happen pretty quickly

bdcravens 3y ago

Is this based on anecdotal evidence or personal experience? There are charging stations that work poorly, but many of them work well. Bigger issue is cars/charger among non-Teslas.

bhpm 3y ago

“Monopoly” is a bit strong. They’re the market leader because they’ve excelled at it. What anti-competitive tactics have they used?

mensetmanusman 3y ago
They are a natural monopoly; nothing wrong with dominating and providing the best value, but we note when monopolies occur because bureaucracies tend to naturally exploit them.
- bhpm 3y ago
  Monopoly by what metric? What’s the difference between being a market leader and a monopoly? Investopedia defines a natural monopoly like this: “A natural monopoly is a type of monopoly in an industry or sector with high barriers to entry and start-up costs that prevent any rivals from competing.” But there are many rivals to Tesla in this space. ChargePoint, ElectrifyAmerica, and even a start-up called Volta that does free ad-supported EV charging. Shell bought them earlier this year. KBB lists a ton more, including regional ones: https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/ev-charging-networks-list/ https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/ev-charging-networks-list/
  - notyofriend 3y ago
    Tesla locked in most teslas into their own network for one. Its theoretically possible to use another one but it would be difficult and cumbersome
    - bhpm 3y ago
      The J1772 Adapter is included with every Tesla vehicle delivery. It’s not just theoretically possible to use another one, it’s literally enabled by the manufacturer themselves. The adapter locks into place on the vehicle. You could leave it there permanently if you wanted to.

clouddrover 3y ago

> There are other chargers out there but all the others work poorly No. The best chargers are manufactured by Alpitronic and Kempower. If you want to see EV infrastructure done right you need to look at Europe. North America's EV infrastructure is a basket case in comparison. Alpitronic 400 kW charger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4ZWN_-a2j4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4ZWN_-a2j4 Alpitronic 300 kW chargers two years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TVohXHjLro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TVohXHjLro Kempower 400 kW charger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR2M5W6saAk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR2M5W6saAk Europe's plan to further improve EV charging: https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/new-energies/europe/article/fast-chargers-every-60-km-key-eu-motorways?a=FJA05&t%5B0%5D=Charging&curl=1 https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/new-energies/europe/article/f...