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BMW Launches Its Answer to Tesla’s Supercharger Network

41 points| antr | 11 years ago |wired.com | reply

44 comments

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[+] yread|11 years ago|reply
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 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

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

China will use yet another one http://www.longtailpipe.com/2014/02/chinas-electric-car-fast...

Oh and then there's Tesla's supercharger network

[+] kkmickos|11 years ago|reply
I have faith in EU to set some kind of standard for at least Europe.
[+] kmfrk|11 years ago|reply
It's only a matter of time before we all have to get our own stupid Belkin adapters for our electric cars. :)
[+] dm2|11 years ago|reply
Aren't there ways to use adapters for increased compatibility?

I don't see why companies wouldn't want to partner with Tesla, especially now that they have a significant number of charging stations and I don't think they charge a licensing fee for companies using their plug design.

[+] yalooze|11 years ago|reply
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"...
[+] pwelch|11 years ago|reply
I can't agree more. It seems like this is going to slow down the progress until they all give in and choose a standard.

Or every car comes with 12 or more converters stored in the trunk...

[+] TeMPOraL|11 years ago|reply
Let's hope someone will quickly start manufacturing adapters bridging different standards.
[+] basicallydan|11 years ago|reply
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.
[+] _delirium|11 years ago|reply
I don't know the whole story, but there is (or was?) an organization called the Gasoline Pump Manufacturers Association that dates back to at least the 1930s, which seems to have some role in it. Also quite a bit of government involvement, since the measuring parts of the pump fall in the category of "weights and measures", which have been regulated since quite early in U.S. history as an anti-fraud measure (e.g. butchers were traditionally required to use an officially certified scale).
[+] qbrass|11 years ago|reply
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.

[+] dubcanada|11 years ago|reply
I mean it's a hole and a spout. I don't really see any other easy way to pour something into a container that has a small opening.
[+] StavrosK|11 years ago|reply
If I had to guess, it was done easily because car manufacturers didn't own gas stations.
[+] cpwright|11 years ago|reply
To be honest, the standard for a gasoline nozzle is pretty easy. The hole needs to be bigger than the hose, that's it. There are a lot more variables with an electric plug.

The standard for the actual fuel composition must certainly be the harder part when considering a classic ICE.

[+] Shivetya|11 years ago|reply
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.

[+] nextw33k|11 years ago|reply
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|11 years ago|reply
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.

[+] lelf|11 years ago|reply
> 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.

[+] gutnor|11 years ago|reply
That's Wired editing. They wanted a BMW vs Tesla ( see "Range-Handicapped i3", "Epic Road Trip" ) while in reality, BMW just came up with a small charger to improve the current non-Tesla grid.

The rest of the article is more factual. Except for Tesla, most electric car are meant for city use, small range. In Europe it is quite common to live in a flat with no charging facility at night, so there is needs for a proximity type network. ( For example, I spend 90% of my time in London with the car on the street, buying a Tesla is not possible first because it is a huge car, secondly because I would need to take a trip to the one station 20 min from home on a regular basis )

[+] chiph|11 years ago|reply
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.
[+] reconbot|11 years ago|reply
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.

[+] phkahler|11 years ago|reply
"... 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.

[+] higherpurpose|11 years ago|reply
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|11 years ago|reply
Did you read the article? BMW is going to permit others to access its network.
[+] namlem|11 years ago|reply
Woo! Who doesn't love fragmented standards?!
[+] johnward|11 years ago|reply
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.