
BMW Launches Its Answer to Tesla’s Supercharger Network - antr
http://www.wired.com/2014/08/bmw-i3-charger-network/
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yread
The standards war for car charging is going to be a big mess:

there is the standard which i3 is using
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772)
that in itself has (incompatible?) AC (2 levels) and DC (3 levels) variants

then there is this with a completely different plug
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHAdeMO](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHAdeMO)

and another standard [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDE-AR-E_2623-2-2#VDE-AR-
E_2623...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDE-AR-E_2623-2-2#VDE-AR-E_2623-2-2)

China will use yet another one [http://www.longtailpipe.com/2014/02/chinas-
electric-car-fast...](http://www.longtailpipe.com/2014/02/chinas-electric-car-
fast-charging-gbt.html)

Oh and then there's Tesla's supercharger network

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yalooze
Even when everyone's compatible, will you be able to charge on another
company's charger? Or will it be like the ATM issues of the past? "You can
only withdraw money from your own bank's ATMs"...

~~~
beedogs
Maybe they'll add premiums for non-partnered manufacturers, or secretly charge
them much more slowly, sort of like the Comcast and Verizon of the roads.

~~~
rlpb
Wouldn't charging more slowly risk creating a line behind the charger, causing
issues for drivers of the manufacturer's cars waiting in line?

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basicallydan
Does anybody have an account of how unleaded/diesel fuel cars came to have a
standard nozzle for filling up? It might give us an insight into how this
particular standards battle will go down.

~~~
qbrass
In the early 70's cars were being built with catalytic converters, which
necessitated the use of unleaded gasoline because leaded gas would coat the
catalytic material in the converter and ruin it.

Cars designed to use unleaded gas would have a fuel filler with a smaller hole
in it, and unleaded pumps would have a nozzle that fit in the hole, while
leaded and diesel nozzles wouldn't.

~~~
timthorn
Was it catalytic converters or government pressure due to health concerns that
forced the move? Certainly in the UK, cats came later.

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Shivetya
I do appreciate the fact they do not intend to limit which cars can use the
chargers, that is a great first step in adoption.

Their choice of providing for on board range extenders is a probably a good
bet as well. Myself, I could do fine with an i3 because when I need to take
those few really long trips each year I won't have to adjust my route to do
so.

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nextw33k
Of course these charge points should be created by the same people that run
car parks. Its an additional profit opportunity and a customer draw.

If I owned a EV I would be parking in a car park that was 50% more per hour if
I could also charge up. Or they just factor the cost of parking into the
electricity cost.

~~~
timthorn
Currently, the EV charging points in my area are all free to use, subject to a
£10 annual registration fee. Having taken delivery of a PHEV last month, I'm
very happy :)

The biggest problem is that many of the charging spots in car parks are often
taken by non-electric cars.

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lelf
> _The 24 kilowatt BMW i DC Fast Charger, developed with Bosch Automotive, can
> charge the i3’s battery up to 80 percent in 30 minutes._

It's more like ‘up to 60%’. i3’s battery is 18.8 kWh.

And Superchangers are 120kW. So they are just joking about that “the answer to
Tesla’s Supercharger Network” part I guess.

~~~
chiph
They talked about how small and light their charger is. If I were an owner,
I'd care less about that and more about getting more charge in less time.

~~~
nasmorn
It is probably meant for European cities where there is no endless supply of
parking lots to install if hardware.

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sabret00the
I guess they decided against doing a deal to license Tesla tech then:
[http://insideevs.com/behind-scenes-teslas-secret-meeting-
bmw...](http://insideevs.com/behind-scenes-teslas-secret-meeting-bmw/)

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reconbot
I'm fine with this. Happy even.

There is more than one way to build our charging infrastructure and we don't
yet know how it's going to work best. Tesla's require a lot of power, BMW's
doesn't. Our electric grid can support different amounts of power in different
locations. Our driving behaviors haven't yet dictated what's going to work
best. Etc etc.

I think the cost of adapting charges to work with multiple models of car is
low and the benefits of experimentation at this early stage is high.

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phkahler
"... the range-handicapped i3 ..."

I approve of this phrase. We usually see the term "range anxiety" which would
indicate some kind of emotional problem with the customer rather than a
problem with the product.

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yutah
Maybe Europe will pass a law like they did for cellphone charger plugs and
that will help standardize it internationally...

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spacefight
Well they standardized but the final connector on Apple hardware is still
different.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply#Re...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply#Reception)

~~~
yutah
I believe that there is only one bad apple among cellphone manufacturers that
didn't bring this change to the USA. But I guess that is to be expected with
Apple and they might have made millions inconveniencing their customers.

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higherpurpose
I think this is the wrong way to approach this. So every car manufacturer is
going to have its own charging network? Do they even realize how expensive
that's going to be? Not to mention something their customers will hate. They
all need to get together and create a standardized network that is both solar
powered and can charge the cars very fast.

~~~
rlpb
Did you read the article? BMW _is_ going to permit others to access its
network.

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vertex-four
Assuming that they license the tech from BMW to use it, and agree that BMW's
system is the best system. It's not a consortium approach.

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namlem
Woo! Who doesn't love fragmented standards?!

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johnward
Imagine if you could only fill up your current vehicle at certain gas
stations. If EVs don't come to a standard charger they will be severely
hindering that market. There are a ton of obstacles why not put one more out
there for arbitrary reasons.

