Featured on Tech Breakfast Podcast 284 | Tesla - Quantum Energy - AI | Aaron, Russ, Tyler, Paul

Posted by Paul Braren on Mar 1 2023 (updated on Mar 8 2023) in

This podcast was recorded on Thursday February 23 2023, using Telegram for Windows to join the TBP crew Show notes below.

This is my 11th appearance on this fun and informative podcast!

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Show Notes

On this episode, I was given an opportunity to talk about my recent visit to Brewster NY's special Tesla Supercharger location that is now opening to non-Tesla EVs. This is a big deal, and a harbinger of things to come as there will soon be thousands of Superchargers available to all.

It sure didn't take long for Tesla to deploy this Magic Dock retrofit solution after the Biden administration's recent announcement:

Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Standards and Major Progress for a Made-in-America National Network of Electric Vehicle Chargers
Feb 15 2023

Tesla, for the first time, will open a portion of its U.S. Supercharger and Destination Charger network to non-Tesla EVs, making at least 7,500 chargers available for all EVs by the end of 2024. The open chargers will be distributed across the United States. They will include at least 3,500 new and existing 250 kW Superchargers along highway corridors to expand freedom of travel for all EVs, and Level 2 Destination Charging at locations like hotels and restaurants in urban and rural locations. All EV drivers will be able to access these stations using the Tesla app or website. Additionally, Tesla will more than double its full nationwide network of Superchargers, manufactured in Buffalo, New York.

I drive from CT to NYC pretty frequently to visit family, and Brewster is a spot where I've been Supercharging anyway lately. It was pretty amazing luck that I happened to be driving by this past Saturday, soon after spotting a tweet that mentioned the Magic Dock had just been installed there.

There are also some very big challenges, as you'll see in this video that features EV charging expert Tom Moloughney who ran into MKBHD/Marques Brownlee, listed below.

Challenges include:

short cable length, a major headache for many EVs given charge port locations haven't been standardized
slow charge speeds for non-Tesla on V3 250kW Superchargers for a variety of technical reasons (battery pack voltage, etc.)
taking up two spots for EVs that have their CCS port on the left, which is doubly bad since it prevents a Tesla or any other EV with the charge port at back left from charging
your non-Tesla won't be preconditioning its battery for max charging speeds even in cold weather, at not until non-Tesla EVs add these Magic Dock locations in their navigation system
even worse, taking up two spots could lead a Tesla driver's Navigation to think a stall is available when it really isn't, guiding them to get off an exit that may not have any spots available

Gladly, it seems for now, Tesla chose some less busy V3 Supercharger sites to test, with just 8 in New York State and 2 in California. Hopefully this is just a stop-gap until

V4 Superchargers that will have longer cables
a queueing system for busy locations, and keeping Tesla and non-Teslas lined up in an orderly fashion on busy days, ideally also preventing line-hoppers from getting a charge
some sort of intelligence about which parking spots are actually occupied and virtually occupied, preventing anybody from charging there due to car parked there, or due to a charging cable being used by an adjacent EV

Ending on a brighter note, I just learned that Tesla has just begun deployment of V4 Superchargers in Europe, it will be interesting to hear how things go over there.

TinkerTry - Mar 04 2023 - R1T/ID.4/IONIQ 5/F-150 Lightning at V3 Supercharger Magic Dock in Brewster NY with Bollards Removed!

TinkerTry - Mar 02 2023 - First Magic Dock Tests – Charging an R1T & IONIQ 5 at a V3 Tesla Supercharger in Brewster NY

State Of Charge - Mar 01 2023 - Tesla "Magic Dock" Superchargers Can Now Charge Non-Tesla EVs!

Auto Focus {MKBHD} - Mar 01 2023 - Charging a non-Tesla at a Tesla Supercharger!

Out of Spec Reviews - Feb 28 2023 - Tesla Superchargers Open To The Public! Full Tour Of The Magic Dock Charging A CCS Car

Out of Spec Dave - Feb 27 2022 - Another New Tesla Magic Dock Install Turns Up The Heat On Electrify America In This Upstate NY Town!

1629666652903153665 — Paul Braren's tweet from Feb 25 2022, prior to the Tesla app update that enabled the release of the CCS connector.

Featured on Tech Breakfast Podcast 284 | Tesla - Quantum Energy - AI | Aaron, Russ, Tyler, Paul

Show Notes

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