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[Electrek] Tesla walks away from public funding for Superchargers because of payment system integration

jjswan33

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I'd support Tesla by buying a CCS adapter for my vehicle even though I would be unlikely to ever use it. Especially if it was tied to my Tesla account and could make the thing function like plug & charge.
 

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https://electrek.co/2023/03/14/tesl...ing-superchargers-payment-system-integration/

My take is this probably means a slower roll out of open Tesla Superchargers. Integrating a payment system would likely be a big hassle.
Its only $6m and is not worth the hassle of having to integrate the payment system as you noted, and CA wants 50% of the stations to be CCS.

Federal funding is significantly larger and do not expect any delay or impact as the result of walking away from the state funded program.
 

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Well there goes any chance of CCS at more Supercharger locations. Wouldn't be surprised to see the ones in NY and CA removed.
…did you read the article? California’s $6M incentive requirements do not dictate the federal government’s $7B infrastructure requirements. Frankly, with how unreliable and awful card terminals have been at EA and EVgo stations I’ve visited, I don’t blame Tesla for leaving the $6M on the table. They can do their build-out the way they want with the (what are likely to be) much looser federal requirements.
 

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jjswan33

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…did you read the article? California’s $6M incentive requirements do not dictate the federal government’s $7B infrastructure requirements. Frankly, with how unreliable and awful card terminals have been at EA and EVgo stations I’ve visited, I don’t blame Tesla for leaving the $6M on the table. They can do their build-out the way they want with the (what are likely to be) much looser federal requirements.
I know @Autolycus has studied this in more detail but I thought the federal funding had similar requirements.

Discussed in more detail here.

This is the passage that was quoted:


(f) Payment Methods. Unless charging is permanently provided free of charge to customers, charging stations must:
(1) Provide for secure payment methods, accessible to persons with disabilities, which at a minimum shall include a contactless payment method that accepts major debit and credit cards, and either an automated toll-free phone number or a short message/messaging system (SMS) that provides the EV charging customer with the option to initiate a charging session and submit payment;
(2) Not require a membership for use;
(3) Not delay, limit, or curtail power flow to vehicles on the basis of payment method or membership; and
(4) Provide access for users that are limited English proficient and accessibility for people with disabilities. Automated toll-free phone numbers and SMS payment options must clearly identify payment access for these populations.
 

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ICE only :(
I know @Autolycus has studied this in more detail but I thought the federal funding had similar requirements.

Discussed in more detail here.

This is the passage that was quoted:


(f) Payment Methods. Unless charging is permanently provided free of charge to customers, charging stations must:
(1) Provide for secure payment methods, accessible to persons with disabilities, which at a minimum shall include a contactless payment method that accepts major debit and credit cards, and either an automated toll-free phone number or a short message/messaging system (SMS) that provides the EV charging customer with the option to initiate a charging session and submit payment;
(2) Not require a membership for use;
(3) Not delay, limit, or curtail power flow to vehicles on the basis of payment method or membership; and
(4) Provide access for users that are limited English proficient and accessibility for people with disabilities. Automated toll-free phone numbers and SMS payment options must clearly identify payment access for these populations.
An important piece of context: The "federal requirements" are basically minimum requirements for the state programs that will actually distribute the funds. The federal government itself is not distributing any funds directly to charging networks. Funds go from US to state to charger provider.

The states can set their own requirements for the distribution of funds within their states as long as those requirements do not contradict the federal requirements. For example, Nebraska can't distribute the funds for 50kW chargers on random people's gated property far away from a major US highway or interstate, but California can require a display and CC payment method on each charging pedestal. Most states will, of course, pretty much just adopt the federal requirements for their own programs because it's less work.

Now as for payment: I think, but am not 100% sure, that Tesla's app theoretically is a sufficient contactless payment method. However, they would also at a minimum need to offer the toll-free phone number and SMS payment options. They will also have to implement plug and charge for people who do not have a Tesla account. I believe they will also have to eventually somehow coordinate with all other networks to allow payment through any network's app, using an account on any of the networks. In other words, they've eventually have to play very nice with everyone else on account and payment verification.
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