GM to use Tesla Supercharger Network?

JeffKeryk said:
Looks like GM is following Ford...
The Supercharger Network is turning out to be a stroke of genius; a cash cow for Tesla.

Perhaps this is another reason TSLA is on a run? The rollercoaster continues...
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Perhaps of even greater importance, this should accelerate the acceptance of EVs and might even foster prices dropping over time.
 
Dave Hess said:
Very difficult for both companies to ignore a high quality product and engineering.
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It's unfortunate though. While yes Tesla has a large charging network 800v three phase is what everyone should be pushing for. Porsche and others are going this route.
 
That will equal longer waits for Tesla owners at the Supercharger. Good for shareholders of TSLA, not so good for their car owners.
 
demarpaint said:
That will equal longer waits for Tesla owners at the Supercharger. Good for shareholders of TSLA, not so good for their car owners.
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Unless the network continues to grow to keep up with demand. You would expect the network to grow because it is a profit center. I have heard of wait lines at out of the way places, which would be horrible even if people only charged for 15 minutes. But the vast majority of charging is done at home. We will see what happens.

I have only been on a Supercharger twice; once to see how it worked for 5 minutes and once for 10 minutes to get enough juice to get home comfortably. Unless you are going over, say 250 miles (depending on several factors) you do not need to charge on the road.

I have never personally seen a full set of Superchargers. They are all over the place around here.
 
demarpaint said:
That will equal longer waits for Tesla owners at the Supercharger. Good for shareholders of TSLA, not so good for their car owners.
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You're talking as if the network would remain at least relatively stagnant. I'd expect it to grow as the demand grows.
 
Shel_B said:
You're talking as if the network would remain at least relatively stagnant. I'd expect it to grow as the demand grows.
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Time will tell. It will also tell us how well the grid is going to handle it too, as well as the supposed air quality improvement from getting all these ICE cars off the road.
 
demarpaint said:
Time will tell. It will also tell us how well the grid is going to handle it too, as well as the supposed air quality improvement from getting all these ICE cars off the road.
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Passenger vehicles produce such low pollution per mile. Something like .02 grams per mile. Heavy commercial vehicles are the largest polluters.
 
97prizm said:
Passenger vehicles produce such low pollution per mile. Something like .02 grams per mile. Heavy commercial vehicles are the largest polluters.
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Yep, but lets not forget unless they build a hell of a lot of wind farms, solar panels, and nuke power plants that electric has to come from somewhere. So we might find ourselves in worse shape from a pollution standpoint than we are now. Once again time will tell.
 
I wonder how much Ford and GM have to cough up to piggy back on Tesla's Superchargers?
They know they are so far behind the leader. They can't afford to keep losing so much money in their EV business.
 
Hummer / Silverado / Sierra EV drivers probably still going to have to rely on EA/EVGo/Chargepoint for a while I’d assume to get maximum charging speeds. At least until actual V4 Superchargers are common. V3 can’t do the 800v / 350kw charging that Ultium trucks can handle.

I wonder if GM will pay Tesla to start upgrading stations to V4 faster than planned, and reduce what they’re paying EA/EVgo/etc for their networks (??)

It turns out the early V4 stations in Europe were just V3 chargers with V4 dispenser installed. No faster than V3. Hopefully there is a V4…

Cybertruck is supposed to be 1,000v and coming soon, but currently ZERO Superchargers in the US to support it? Hmmm…
 
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JeffKeryk said:
I wonder how much Ford and GM have to cough up to piggy back on Tesla's Superchargers?
They know they are so far behind the leader. They can't afford to keep losing so much money in their EV business.
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I was under the impression that Tesla gave away its patents for free in an effort to promote standardization of one network and the proliferation of chargers. "A rising tide floats all boats" type of thing.
 
hemioiler said:
I was under the impression that Tesla gave away its patents for free in an effort to promote standardization of one network and the proliferation of chargers. "A rising tide floats all boats" type of thing.
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Yes and no; more no than yes.
Tesla has some open source software and design documentation, but the good stuff would have to be licensed. They aren't gonna give away their kingdom. That's my understanding.

Ford and GM know that if they want to compete in the EV space they need charging. Tesla holds all the cards. Musk has his detractors, but the man is a genius. The Technoking, as the employees call him, has the world eating out of his hand. Just Google recent Farley and Barra comments.
 
Remember the VHS and Beta max wars. one lost when it could have won. Elon is a brilliant man.
 
97prizm said:
Passenger vehicles produce such low pollution per mile. Something like .02 grams per mile. Heavy commercial vehicles are the largest polluters.
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In some parts of the country it still makes a difference.
 
wpod said:
Gm and Ford aren't the epitome of quality .
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Everyone, including me, gave Musk and Tesla a snowball's chance in heck to be around in 10 years. We were wrong. Now everyone is chasing him. And caving; they need his help.
 
JeffKeryk said:
Unless the network continues to grow to keep up with demand. You would expect the network to grow because it is a profit center.
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Agreed.

Increased demand may mean that we'll see more Superchargers, especially on less core routes. For example it's not possible to drive from Kamloops to Jasper (440 km) with my Model 3. That's the best route from Vancouver to Edmonton primarily because it's fairly direct but also because the traffic is light. Actually it might be possible but not while using only Superchargers. We need at least one Supercharger on that route. If GM and Ford having access means we'll have more locations and more stations at existing locations I'm okay with it.

For the record, Tesla is quite good at addressing demand. There used to be a problem at Hope BC. It's just the right distance from Vancouver and Victoria for EV owners heading into the interior. There was much merriment in the press a couple of years ago about Teslas lining up to charge there on a long weekend. But the last time we charged there, instead of 12 stations there were now 24.

The big draw of Superchargers is "they actually work". No fumbling with credit cards, complicated registrations, etc. You plug in and it charges - right now. And you get a bill at the end of the month.

And yes most of us do almost all of our charging at home.
 
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