Tesla Superchargers in Taiwan with Tesla and CCS connectors
@hsumacher/Twitter
The CCS (Combined Charging System) has become the standard for electric vehicle charging over the last few
years.
When Tesla first debuted the 2012 Model S, the CCS charging connector didn't exist. In fact Tesla developed
its proprietary Tesla connector because there wasn't anything capable of fast DC charging.
Today, the CCS connector supports charging speeds up to 350kW.
Tesla already offers Superchargers with CCS connectors in several regions, but they will now begin adding CCS
connectors to Superchargers in the United States.
Tesla will add the CCS connector in addition to Tesla's own connector. This will give non-Tesla owners access
the extensive charging network, Elon Musk said.
Non-Tesla electric cars have been allowed to charge at select Tesla Supercharger locations in France, the
Netherlands, and Norway since November.
Allowing Superchargers - which account for more than half of all fast chargers in the United States to charge
all electric vehicles would be easier and less expensive for everyone involved, and it would substantially
improve the landscape of the current fast-charging infrastructure.
CCS is the obvious charging standard to go with, given that Tesla, like many other manufacturers, has already
accepted CCS standards in Europe and its Supercharger stations are already equipped with CCS connectors.
Tesla's cars and Supercharger stations in North America use its own proprietary connector, which has rendered
Non-Tesla owners unable to use Tesla's fast-charging infrastructure.
It also prevents Tesla owners from charging at other DC charging stations, unless they spend a considerable
amount of money purchasing a CHAdeMO or CCS adapter.
Speaking at the Financial Times Future of the Car summit, Musk said they will add the connectors even if it
lessens their competitive advantage over other automakers.
“It's a little trickier in the US because we have a different connector than the rest of the industry, but we
will be adding the rest of the industry connectors as an option to Superchargers in the US. We are trying as
best as possible to do the right thing for the advancement of electrification, even if that diminishes our
competitive advantage,” Musk said.
This is comparable to Tesla's approach in Europe when the Model 3 was originally introduced with the CCS
standard. Both Tesla and CCS connectors were installed at new Supercharger stations, and the carmaker also
began retrofitting some existing stations.
Last year, the Taiwan EV Charger Equipment Supplier and Manufacturer Advancement Alliance declared that CCS
should be the country's charging standard, forcing Tesla to retrofit CCS connectors to all
Superchargers.
Tesla upgraded Superchargers with CCS connectors in addition to their proprietary connectors a few months
after the decision.
Tesla's CEO gave no indication of when the company planned to begin installing CCS connectors at stations in
the United States.
Is Your Vehicle Compatible?
The connector the US is using differs slightly from the CCS connector in Europe. In the US it's known as CCS combo 1, or CCS1 for short. This is the connector that Tesla will support in the US and it is not interchangeable with CCS2 that is used in Europe.
Tesla is already selling an adapter to go from CCS1 to Tesla's plug, but it is currently only available in South Korea. Tesla is likely to make this adapter available for sale in the US in the future.
However, your Tesla will need to specifically support the CCS adapter. If your Tesla was built after May 2019, then it likely supports the CCS adapter. If it was before then, then it will need to be retrofitted if you plan to charge using the CCS 1 adapter.
You can check whether your car supports the CCS adapter by going to Controls > Software and tapping Additional Vehicle Information.
You can also find more information about how to check whether your car is supported, the cost of a retrofit, and the cost of the adapter in our CCS adapter article.
Tesla's first electric semi-truck will have a range of 500 miles and begin shipping this year, according to a tweet from Elon Musk, founder and CEO. Musk previously said that the model would be on roads in 2023, as well as Tesla's pickup truck, dubbed the Cybertruck. The projected arrival date for the Cybertruck has not changed.
The Tesla Semi Truck, which was unveiled in November 2017, is designed for long-haul trucking. It can go from 0 to 60 mph in 20 seconds when hauling a full load, which is faster than most diesel trucks.
The Tesla Semi Truck's range of 500 miles on a single charge constitutes more than double the range of the current longest-range electric truck on the market, the Daimler eCascadia, which has a range of 230 miles.
Tesla to release the first Tesla Semis this year
Tesla
The Tesla Semi Truck is also significantly cheaper to operate than a diesel truck, Tesla has said. The company estimates that it will cost $1.26 per mile to operate the Tesla Semi, compared to $1.51 per mile for a diesel truck.
Since the company started taking orders for the truck in 2017 some of the most sizable orders have come from the likes of UPS, Walmart, and PepsiCo. The original deposit required with an order was $5,000, which was increased to $20,000 after the event in November 2017.
Tesla to release the first Tesla Semis this year
Tesla
The company has not said how many trucks it plans to produce but based on past statements from Tesla we can expect the price of regular production versions for the 300-mile (480 km) and 500-mile (800 km) range versions to be $150,000 and $180,000 USD respectively.
Tesla's Semi Truck is part of the company's push to electrify the transportation sector, which is responsible for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions. Tesla also makes electric cars and SUVs, and it plans to start producing its electric truck next year. Tesla's ultimate goal is to transition the world to sustainable energy.
Tesla to release the first Tesla Semis this year
Tesla
Tesla Semi Event
Tesla unveiled the Tesla Semi and the Tesla Roadster in late 2017. The entire event is below:
Tesla may be building out a feature for vehicle-to-vehicle communication
Ian Maddox
Tesla recently wrapped up its 2022 annual shareholders meeting, and CEO Elon Musk hinted at a potentially exciting feature coming to the fleet: vehicle-to-vehicle communication.
Towards the end of the shareholders’ meeting, a gentleman in the audience mentioned how aircrafts use a system called Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS). He elaborated on how ACAS relays an aircraft’s telemetry to prevent a collision.
“Sometimes too much telemetry,” Musk adds and laughs, assumingly referencing the Twitter account that tracks his private jet.
“Do you see Teslas communicating with one another and Dojo turning into some kind of air traffic control for Tesla supply chains and Robotaxi?” adds the gentleman.
Musk answered by saying he hasn’t thought about that before, which is interesting. He added that the goal with Dojo is to be the de facto computer for training the neural net with videos.
“Oh. That’s an interesting idea. I haven’t thought about that,” Musk responds. “Right now our goal with Dojo is to be really good at video training. We have probably the fourth or approaching the third, most powerful computing center in the world for AI training. Our first goal with Dojo is to make it competitive and be more effective at neural net training than a whole bunch of GPUs. We might get there… soonish.”
Musk also added that Dojo is built “from the ground up” to train AI using videos, and building such a computer has never been done before.
This question got Musk’s mind going. He paused for a moment and said there may be some difficulties in getting Teslas to communicate with one another - and it won’t be needed with Full Self-Driving.
“There will be some merits for Teslas to communicate [with] each other, but that won’t be needed for Full Self-Driving at all,” Musk responds. “But for a long time the vast majority of cars will be manually driven, so the value of Tesla-to-Tesla communication is not that high, except for, perhaps, communicating traffic issues, accidents, potholes, and road closures. A Tesla ahead of you has seen a road closure and you get that real-time update to your car so you don’t get stuck in the road closure situation. That’s the stuff that we are working on right now.”
Elon Musk's Answer
In January of 2022, Twitter user and Tesla enthusiast @BLKMDL3 tweeted at Musk asking about this type of feature. “Hey @elonmusk, can we get the air suspension in Model S/X to automatically raise quickly if the car detects a dip in the road ahead and then remember the location for next time?” BLKMDL3 writes. “Would be an awesome feature to have!”
Musk responded with, “Yeah.”
Hey @elonmusk, can we get the air suspension in Model S/X to automatically raise quickly if the car detects a dip in the road ahead and then remember the location for next time? Would be an awesome feature to have!
BLKMDL3’s tweet received quite a bit of attention.
Tesla has recently rolled out updates to improve a vehicle’s ability to raise and lower its suspension when arriving at a specific location. This is so the vehicle doesn’t scuff the pavement and cause damage to its underbody.
Since Musk stated that he hasn’t thought about vehicle-to-vehicle communication or how it would be done, we don’t anticipate this feature rolling out anytime soon. However, we can hope that it gets added to the pipeline of upcoming features due to its seemingly positive reception and want for it. This could also increase the safety of Tesla’s vehicles, even though they’re already the safest cars on the road.
It would be nice for vehicles within a 5-10 mile radius to notify one another of a construction zone, or accident, similar to Waze. This would allow the vehicle to reroute to a more efficient route or handle the situation accordingly. Going a step further, it would be exceptionally cool to see snapshots or videos of the upcoming situation by seeing a “hotspot” in maps, similar to how Snapchat shows hotspots, that are recorded via the vehicle’s cameras to more accurately prepare for it. But this may open a can of worms in regards to privacy.
Turning Tesla’s fleet into a mobile social network may go against Musk’s vision. He’s stated before that any user input in the vehicle should be considered an error, so having an interactive feature such as this may not be in Tesla’s deck of cards.
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