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by supergeek 1028 days ago
I think the bigger takeaway from this is that the US really fumbled our level 2 charging protocol by requiring the cable to be integrated into the charger.

In the UK the level 2 charger is just a plug and the user supplies their own cable. It cuts cost, cuts down on vandalism, and makes the car side port no longer as important.

Using NEMA plugs instead of smarter level 2 chargers has the big limitation that you need a ton of adapters to support every possible plug type. Tesla sells as set of 8 adapters and it still doesn't include two of the most common RV park plugs: https://shop.tesla.com/product/gen-2-nema-adapters
2 comments
vel0city 1028 days ago
The other challenge with using the NEMA plugs is I doubt many of them are rated for as many plug cycles as what a J1772 or Tesla connector is rated for. If that plug is going to get plugged and unplugged several times a day it'll wear out pretty quick.
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supergeek 1028 days ago
The plug can handle similar cycles under the spec, but a lot of residential plugs are not.

Those RV site plugs handle 1-2 cycles daily, but they're more robust, more expensive versions.

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vel0city 1028 days ago
They have 1-2 different RVs coming in daily, per site? Wouldn't they normally get a new customer come in, plug in (1/2 a cycle), stay for a day or two (or more!) and then leave (1/2 a cycle), then opening the spot for someone and assuming an instant turn around get another customer? That's then 1 cycle every 1-2 days or more.

I figure most would get like 4-5 cycles a week, not 7-14. That's a difference of like 460 cycles a year.

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seanmcdirmid 1028 days ago
> In the UK the level 2 charger is just a plug and the user supplies their own cable. It cuts cost, cuts down on vandalism, and makes the car side port no longer as important.

That sounds really inconvenient, actually. There I would have to carry around a charger while driving? I like just plugging in and not having anything in my trunk.

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supergeek 1028 days ago
Yeah, I think that consensus is part of the reason integrated cables took off in the USA. I think the biggest actual contributor was garage parking. Most drivers in the USA are parking somewhere secure where there's minimal risk of the cable being stolen. Whereas lots of EU drivers have uncovered parking or street parking where it's way easier to steal the cable.
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