Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging • Hacker News Board

Re: Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging

#101

Post by burfog » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 6:54 AM UTC

caf wrote: post #69

burfog wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At 250 volts, it is only 1000 Amps. Normal houses come with 200 Amp service. Older ones may be 100 Amp, and larger modern ones are 400 Amp. So that is about 5 houses. You could buy that service. I hope Tesla would sell you the supercharger for it.

250KVA is a common rating for a moderately sized distribution substation. The utility certainly doesn't put only 5 houses on one - more like 50.

Ah, just like internet service: it is oversubscribed. The utility can not deliver what has been promised for all customers at the same time.

Re: Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging

#102

Post by matahwoosh » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 6:55 AM UTC

colmmacc wrote: post #17

Tesla Model S owner here. By choosing spots and times strategically I've gotten nearly 400MPH charging at the existing stations and the difference it makes to convenience is amazing. Super looking forward to 1000MPH! At that rate I can likely make it to Squamish BC, from Seattle, and back, with only one ~20 minute charge in between. That's still about 4x or 5x for the time I would spend filling an ICE car, but gettin…

Tesla Semi has multiple packs that can be charged in parallel. The Megacharger will (likely) be 4 Superchargers combined. 1MW should be enough ;)

re: announcement, I'm surprised not much has been said about the flagship cars (S/X). With their current battery architecture (using 18650 batteries), they're not capable of 250kW charge rates. I wonder if they have recently updated them to new 2170 battery packs or if they're going to do that soon.

Re: Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging

#103

Post by adrianN » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 6:57 AM UTC

lgregg wrote: post #94

colmmacc wrote: post #17

Tesla Model S owner here. By choosing spots and times strategically I've gotten nearly 400MPH charging at the existing stations and the difference it makes to convenience is amazing. Super looking forward to 1000MPH! At that rate I can likely make it to Squamish BC, from Seattle, and back, with only one ~20 minute charge in between. That's still about 4x or 5x for the time I would spend filling an ICE car, but gettin…

I wonder if one day highways will have wireless power transfer that can meter you as you go.

With the added bonus of being ice free in winter due to the losses?

Re: Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging

#104

Post by adrianN » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 6:59 AM UTC

simonjgreen wrote: post #99

Fantastic tech. However, why do they insist on doing it in a closed proprietary way? Teslas growth is coupled to general EV growth. They can't possibly be arrogant enough to believe they will be the sole supplier of EVs if they win can they? Charging is the number 1 thing holding back adoption right now.

They can be arrogant enough to think that other manufacturers will license their stuff.

Re: Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging

#105

Post by bonzini » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 7:00 AM UTC

dreamcompiler wrote: post #72

burfog wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At 250 volts, it is only 1000 Amps. Normal houses come with 200 Amp service. Older ones may be 100 Amp, and larger modern ones are 400 Amp. So that is about 5 houses. You could buy that service. I hope Tesla would sell you the supercharger for it.

My house has 200 Amp service. But I never use that much at once. The average US home uses an average of about 1.2KW at any given time [0]. So I was wrong above. It's more like 200 houses. [0] https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=97&t=3

Isn't that a waste of copper? My house has about 20 Amps (3.3 kW at 230 V).

Re: Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging

#106

Post by Reason077 » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 7:01 AM UTC

andrewmunsell wrote: post #21

yalogin wrote: post #19

The main info is missing in this PR release though. Is this a hardware upgrade or a software update? Looks like a hw upgrade, if so are they upgrading all their charging stations? Or did they already do it? How long is the upgrade going to take and how much will it cost?

It's a completely new hardware design with the power cabinets now using industrial inverters. The old v2 cabinet used a bunch of Model S inverters. The power posts (the white things with the cables on them) are the same as v2 externally, but not internally. They're not retrofitting stations, but all new stations (other than Urban Superchargers, which they will still install in urban locations) will be v3 hardware. Fo…

> “The old v2 cabinet used a bunch of Model S inverters.“

They used a stack of Model S chargers, not inverters! An inverter converts DC to AC. Chargers, of course, go the other way.

Re: Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging

#107

Post by bonzini » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 7:01 AM UTC

burfog wrote: post #101

caf wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

250KVA is a common rating for a moderately sized distribution substation. The utility certainly doesn't put only 5 houses on one - more like 50.

Ah, just like internet service: it is oversubscribed. The utility can not deliver what has been promised for all customers at the same time.

Which would be a problem when everyone gets an electric car and every night the owners will request 20 kW for up to 8 hours (hence sustained, not peak). For a condo that could easily be half a megawatt.

Re: Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging

#108

Post by greglindahl » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 7:04 AM UTC

simonjgreen wrote: post #99

Fantastic tech. However, why do they insist on doing it in a closed proprietary way? Teslas growth is coupled to general EV growth. They can't possibly be arrogant enough to believe they will be the sole supplier of EVs if they win can they? Charging is the number 1 thing holding back adoption right now.

Welcome to the world of standards, where the standards committee isn't interested in adopting the most common existing technology, despite the technology being offered for free.

Re: Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging

#109

Post by greglindahl » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 7:05 AM UTC

adrianN wrote: post #104

simonjgreen wrote: post #99

Fantastic tech. However, why do they insist on doing it in a closed proprietary way? Teslas growth is coupled to general EV growth. They can't possibly be arrogant enough to believe they will be the sole supplier of EVs if they win can they? Charging is the number 1 thing holding back adoption right now.

They can be arrogant enough to think that other manufacturers will license their stuff.

I think you missed the part where Tesla offered a free license in exchange for a patent truce... in 2014.

Re: Tesla – Introducing V3 Supercharging

#110

Post by kjksf » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 7:08 AM UTC

simonjgreen wrote: post #99

Fantastic tech. However, why do they insist on doing it in a closed proprietary way? Teslas growth is coupled to general EV growth. They can't possibly be arrogant enough to believe they will be the sole supplier of EVs if they win can they? Charging is the number 1 thing holding back adoption right now.

Business-wise it's clearly a big advantage for Tesla. A superior supercharging network can very well be the thing that makes someone buy Tesla over a competing electric car.

That being said, Tesla has said from the beginning that they are open to sharing the supercharging network with other car makers as long as they share the cost of building it.

No car company took them up on that offer but it's hardly Tesla's fault.