Apparently, EU made CCS compulsory for the Electric vehicle charging network since 2014[0]. It's not really a happy accident but a regulation that went well.
And this article is exactly why it shows that it made so much sense. With one software update, so many more chargers came online for all EVs in Europe, that could not happen in the US where Teslas use a special plug.
Tesla created the same problem for themselves in Europe. Instead of being CCS Type 2 Combo from the beginning, Tesla initially went with their own different special plug. It was a modified Type 2 which also supported DC fast charging.
A few years ago Tesla retrofitted all chargers in Europe to have two plugs - their modified type 2 and CCS. The Model 3 launched with a CCS inlet in Europe and older Model Ss and Xs needed a hardware change and an adapter to use CCS:
These days Tesla's newer chargers just have CCS plugs.
Tesla could do a similar retrofit in North America as part of the transition to CCS. It's a bigger problem because there are more chargers to do, but it's still only 12,653 ports:
Tesla didn’t create the problem for themselves purposely. CCS Type 2 was not in production when Tesla began building Superchargers a decade ago (and didn’t want their progress impeded by typical “death by committee” of legacy automakers, as a functioning fast DC charging network is a moat and an asset for an EV manufacturer), and while Europe forced them to adopt CCS in that market, I believe Tesla’s plug will remain the standard in the US for the foreseeable future (as they sell the majority of EVs in America, have the largest charging network, and the US government doesn’t have the political will to mandate CCS). Tesla has committed to tripling the size of the US Supercharger network in the next two years while Electrify America is desperate for investment it can’t get (because, no surprise, you can’t make a profit with fast DC charging stations between demand charges and price sensitive drivers [1]; it’s a cost center you want to break even on to sell high margin cars, not a revenue driver as a distinct business).
> "you can’t make a profit with fast DC charging stations between demand charges and price sensitive drivers"
Fast charging will be perfectly profitable in the longer term. There just isn't a large enough established base of EVs to create enough demand yet. But once there is, there will be plenty of customers willing to pay a premium for the fastest, best-located chargers with the best amenities and services on site.
Fast charger operators can make significantly higher margins on reselling electricity than anyone is making on gasoline.
Demand charges are an issue when demand is limited and spiky, but this will be alleviated through increased scale. More customers charging results in a smoother, more predictable demand curve. On-site battery storage is another solution.
I am aware of your disdain for Tesla, but they are the only volume EV manufacturer in North America and the largest fast DC charging network currently. Therefore, they are the current standard, not one set by a group of low volume runner ups. Same reason Hertz is ordering 100k+ Teslas for their fleet (their CEO specially said they’re the only automaker building EVs in volume [1]). Europe is of course a different market with more regulation, where government set the fast DC charging standard by edict.
“How do we democratize access to electric vehicles? That’s a very important part of our strategy,” Mark Fields, who joined Hertz as interim chief executive officer earlier this month, said in an interview. “Tesla is the only manufacturer that can produce EVs at scale.”
A standard that no one else uses is not much of a standard. All other manufacturers have switched to CCS Type 1 Combo. Eventually Tesla will switch too.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Charging_System