The Tesla connector was NOT openly available until late 2022, and wasn’t a fully published standard until 2024. They originally wanted a hefty licensing concession from other vendors. Specifically, they would only license it if they joined a patent pool.
In fact, the current NACS connector isn’t even electrically the same as the one Tesla used in 2021. Superchargers are backwards compatible, but they have to support multiple standards. It also means that older Teslas can’t use the growing network of NACS chargers without an upgrade.
You could put a price tag of eleventy billion dollars on something and say it isn’t unavailable. When you’re effectively handing over your business for it, it practically is.
The Tesla connector was NOT openly available until late 2022, and wasn’t a fully published standard until 2024. They originally wanted a hefty licensing concession from other vendors. Specifically, they would only license it if they joined a patent pool.
In fact, the current NACS connector isn’t even electrically the same as the one Tesla used in 2021. Superchargers are backwards compatible, but they have to support multiple standards. It also means that older Teslas can’t use the growing network of NACS chargers without an upgrade.
Other companies being unwilling to accept the licensing terms doesn’t mean the option was unavailable.
Either way though, none of that has anything to do with port placement, which is what the article is trying to claim is strange for whatever reason.
You could put a price tag of eleventy billion dollars on something and say it isn’t unavailable. When you’re effectively handing over your business for it, it practically is.