22
Mercedes-Benz says “ja” to Tesla’s EV charging connector
(www.theverge.com)
A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
Standard business practice. Every company create their own proprietary stuff and try to make them the standard via lobbying etc, then earn money from other companies when their stuff becomes the standard.
TL;DR: If you want to use Tesla's charger patent, you're allowing Tesla to steal your patent and you can't sue Tesla for it, even if the patent is not related to charging technology.
Well yes, but to use it the company will have to give up a lot.
From https://www.makeuseof.com/why-manufacturers-dont-use-tesla-superchargers/:
As of last month, SAE is making NACS an open standard (properly open, not just in name). So if you want to make an NACS charger, you get permission from SAE, not Tesla.
https://www.sae.org/news/press-room/2023/06/sae-international-announces-standard-for-nacs-connector
I'm not a lawyer, and I don't know for sure that there isn't any patent-pledge sneakery involved here, but I would be a lot more comfortable using those designs myself if they were published by a standards body like ISO, IEC, or SAE.
Looking like the Tesla connector is well on its way to becoming the standard now. GM, Ford, Rivian, (I'm forgetting one), and now Mercedes all switching over. The Tesla Supercharger network in the US is fantastic, much better than the alternative. Hopefully that doesn't go downhill as more cars flood the network.