This new charger lets all EVs plug in without an adapter

Gigaflop

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I don't understand why people are so against the bulk of the CCS plug. Sure the Tesla is sexier but it's not like I'm carrying the thing around with me all day-- it's attached to the charger.

The biggest thing that needs to happen is to have long enough cables to work for various charging port locations on cars. Charging my Rivian at a Tesla Supercharger requires taking 2 parking spots due to how short the cables are.
I think the concern is mostly about the weight's effect on the car port not the human carrying it. Over time, the weight + torque starts slightly deforming your car's charge port and starts causing loose/bad connections, so having a lighter charging cable isn't a bad idea.

Edit: Ninja'ed. somehow missed this:
One complaint regarding the CCS Combo 1 plug and socket was that the weight of the cable could cause poor connectivity with the control pins, resulting in various errors. Both the Tesla and CCS Combo 2 plugs and sockets use a better locking mechanism, so they have fewer connectivity problems.

Given how common Tesla chargers are in Canada, Mexico, and the US and how rare residential three-phase AC power is in much of North America, that was a big factor driving the change.
 
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Statistical

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Okay now THAT makes good sense.

So the adapter returns to "inside" the charging machine and it basically rotates or attaches the proper adapter already attached to a single cable.

Slightly simpler. There is only one adapter CCS1 -> NACS so nothing to rotate.

If you pick CCS1 then when you pull out the connector the adapter remains inside the charger so you have a CCS1 plug.

If you pick NACS then when you pull out the connector the adapter remains attached to the connector so you have a NACS plug.

In either case when done you simply put it back and it is ready for the next person regardless of if they are CCS or NACS.

Note this is how Tesla Magic Dock works except in reverse. Tesla SC are NACS with an optionally released as needed NACS -> CCS1 adapter.
 
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the cave troll

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Jokes don't work for you do they?

May want to take stuff a bit less seriously.

On the contrary: their joke making fun of you was hilarious!

(But in fairness, what would I know about what human beings consider to be good humor? I am just a troll, after all.)

Edit: Fixed grammar.
 
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Statistical

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Nope, I don’t think you are missing anything. The state of the EV ecosystem in America has been hamstrung by a weak federal government (by slave-state founder design!) Thanks to Musk and the Japanese refusing to adhere to the standard here the way they did in Europe we have a mishmash of crap payment systems and three charging plugs.

None of that is correct. NACS Tesla connector and Chademo predate CCS. Of the three connectors the latest to the party was CCS. Europe then just decided that is the only one allowed which is fine they have the right to do that but neither Tesla nor Japanese OEMs violated the standard THERE WAS NO FAST DC CHARGING STANDARD TO VIOLATE. I would add that in CCS negotiations the CCS committee decided to initially limit CCS charging to 150 kW which was more than any non-Tesla could use but less than what Tesla had already demonstrated so that was effectively a poison pill to slow down adoption of long range BEV. Would Tesla have adopted CCS globally? Probably not but who knows however they weren't going to adopt a standard which made charging worse and hurt only them and allowed slower charging competitors to close the gap not by being better but by Tesla self crippling itself. 350 kW CCS didn't come for years later after which both Tesla connector (now NACS) and Chademo were widely deployed.

On the AC side of things J1772 predate IEC 62196 Type 2 connector (Mennekes) used in Europe. So I guess you could say Europe violated the AC standard already in place with J1772. Now one can argue they had good reason (3 phase power) but once that happened there was NEVER going to be a single connector for the world either for AC or DC (unless DC was independent like Chademo). Before Fast DC even existed J17722 and IEC 62196 Type 2 were already widely deployed in the respective geographical areas.

So yeah the real history was complicated but CCS2 was never going to be used in the US. Was never in the card. If NACS or Chademo hadn't prevailed then CCS1 might have become the North American standard but if it had there would still not be a single global standard but rather 2 conveniently numbered in case you forget CCS1 & CCS2. That die was cast 8 years prior to CCS even being ratified when Europe decided to use an AC connector other than the already deployed J1772. Since CCS just adds DC pins to an existing AC connector the dream of a single global Fast DC standard died long before Fast DC charging even existed.

Honestly there isn't a huge need for a global standard on connectors although it would be nice. How many cars do people drive from Europe to North America? It is a hell of a lot more of a problem with boats which actually do cross oceans from time to time and yet we have survived.
 
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evan_s

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The "road trips suck" is FUD for vehicles like the Bolt. While I don't think you'd want to take it for a coast-to-coast trip, most trips aren't that. I took mine to see the eclipse and to a wedding. Both trips didn't involve that much charging time, outside not having a hotel with a L2 charger for the eclipse.

I know it adds about 20 minutes on a trip to my parents, where I start full, and end with 10% left. I have one charging stop in the middle, which replaced a refueling and bathroom stop. Sometimes more coming back, but that is because I only have L1 charging at my parents, so I can't always get a 100% charge on a weekend trip. So for something like this a Leaf I'm sure does fine.

Now, the lack of better thermal management is a problem for the Leaf. But if it is good enough for someone's long distance needs, then it is good enough for their long distance needs. Not everyone can afford multiple vehicles.

There is nothing else new right now in that price range, at least until the generation 2 Bolts come out.

Sounds like you parents house is ~300 miles or so miles from your house. Just close enough that one relatively quick partial charging stop gets you enough to get there. That isn't bad for a Bolt and probably works well enough for a Leaf, as long as there is a charger you can hit. Only needing a partial charge does give you a bit more flexibility in the charging stop. Add another 50 miles to the trip or your trip home where you aren't able to start out at 100% and it's not as nice. You now need a longer charging stop at the right spot to allow you to get more charge in that one stop or a second 20 minute stop in 5-6 hours of driving. Make that 500 miles or a round trip in the same day to your parents and the experience is going to be pretty unpleasant compared to an ICE or a better BEV. 300 miles to the parents house might not be local but one quick partial charging stop isn't really a road trip either.
 
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This article reminded me, GM was supposed to offer me a NACS adapter I thought as early as May. It's well in to August now. Not a shock, GM has had about as good a track record as Boeing in recent years, and breaking promises to Bolt owners just seems to be what their corporate team does to pass the time.
You can actually blame Tesla for that. Not like it's actually useful yet without access to the Supercharger network. Non-Tesla NACS chargers effectively don't exist yet in the real world.
 
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None of that is correct. NACS and Chademo predate CCS. Of the three connectors the latest to the party was CCS. Europe then just decided that is the only one allowed which is fine they have the right to do that but neither Tesla nor Japanese OEMs violated the standard THERE WAS NO FAST DC CHARGING STANDARD.

I would add that J1772 on the AC side of things predate IEC 62196 Type 2 connector (Mennekes) used in Europe. So I guess you could say Europe violated the AC standard already in place with J1772. Now one can argue they had good reason (3 phase power) but once that happened there was NEVER going to be a single connector for the world either for AC or DC (unless DC was independent like Chademo).

CCS2 was never going to be used in the US. Never. Was never in the card. CCS1 might have won but if it had there would still not be a single global standard but instead 2 conveniently numbered in case you forget CCS1 & CCS2.

Honestly there isn't a huge need for a global standard on connectors although it would be nice. How many cars do people drive from Europe to North America? It is a hell of a lot more of a problem with boats which actually do cross oceans from time to time and yet we have survived.
CCS predates NACS, because NACS is nothing more than a repinned CCS charger with a piece of plastic on the end that matches the Tesla proprietary charge port. Tesla proprietary charging is not the same as NACS, despite them sharing the same connector.
 
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sword_9mm

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On the contrary: their joke make fun of you was hilarious!

(But in fairness, what would I know about what human beings consider to be good humor? I am just a troll, after all.)

Heh.

There's no humor in these threads. People take them very seriously for some reason. I guess a lot of bored at work folks.
 
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Iconoclysm

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Am I missing something or is that monstrosity in the photo completely missing why we're moving to J3400?!? It's 90% of the bulk of a CCS plug!
I think you are completely missing why we're moving - it has nothing to do with a plug being better than another. Tesla's plug is more prolific than others, the end.
 
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OrvGull

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I think you are completely missing why we're moving - it has nothing to do with a plug being better than another. Tesla's plug is more prolific than others, the end.
Yup. No one in the history of EVs has ever said "I won't buy an EV because the plug is too big and ugly." But lots of people have said "I won't buy an EV because there aren't enough fast chargers on the routes I drive."
 
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Statistical

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I think you are completely missing why we're moving - it has nothing to do with a plug being better than another. Tesla's plug is more prolific than others, the end.

However if we are moving it would be nice benefit for consumers to have a better designed connector. This first gen adapter doesn't really achieve that.
 
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It's about as innovative as a pump with three hoses, for 95, 98 and Diesel.
i aint never seen no gas pump with those

i usually see pumps with 2 handles and 4 buttons big enough to smack with the tip of the gas handle 87 90 and 93 on one handle and either diesel or no ethanol unleaded on the other.
 
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Okay now THAT makes good sense.

So the adapter returns to "inside" the charging machine and it basically rotates or attaches the proper adapter already attached to a single cable.

i hope they pair it with some sort year make model wizard that selects the right adapter for your electric vehicle
they could also potentially offer integrated service per location some time in the future like charger also offering to sell you a car wash or sit it next to a car vacuum and pair it with that. or i dont know like some sort of movie or something.
 
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ranthog

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Sounds like you parents house is ~300 miles or so miles from your house. Just close enough that one relatively quick partial charging stop gets you enough to get there. That isn't bad for a Bolt and probably works well enough for a Leaf, as long as there is a charger you can hit. Only needing a partial charge does give you a bit more flexibility in the charging stop. Add another 50 miles to the trip or your trip home where you aren't able to start out at 100% and it's not as nice. You now need a longer charging stop at the right spot to allow you to get more charge in that one stop or a second 20 minute stop in 5-6 hours of driving. Make that 500 miles or a round trip int he same day to your parents and the experience is going to be pretty unpleasant compared to an ICE or a better BEV. 300 miles to the parents house might not be local but one quick partial charging stop isn't really a road trip either.
It is a bit more than ~300 miles, but it is a good length trip for a two day or three-day weekend. Realistically, a second stop during the day would not be overwhelming.

Keep in mind, I said an extra 20 minutes longer. Not that I took a 20-minute stop. My charging stop was around 30 minutes total, but usually I gave myself 10 minutes for a stop with my ICE vehicle, which is my baseline. I think I charge up about 45% to 50% depending on heating and cooling needs. (No idea yet on performance in extreme cold on a trip.)

I've done 500 miles, and it isn't miserable. However, what could make a trip miserable is having multiple long hops between charging stations, because the charging curve isn't nice when you have to charge that high.

Yeah, i don't think the Bolt is a great vehicle for a long road trip from coast to coast. But it is fine for a lot of the more common long distance trips. Especially the type of trip that makes for a good long weekend trip. These are pefectly fine length trips to justify someone wanting a chademo adaptor for a Leaf with one of the large battery packs.
 
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Maxer

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i hope they pair it with some sort year make model wizard that selects the right adapter for your electric vehicle
they could also potentially offer integrated service per location some time in the future like charger also offering to sell you a car wash or sit it next to a car vacuum and pair it with that. or i dont know like some sort of movie or something.
I checked their website and video. THEY DO A HORRIBLE JOB OF DEMONSTRATING HOW IT WORKS.

Anyway it looks like in the app you register your car so you click which vehicle you are driving and tap your phone to the machine and it sets up the plug.
 
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Statistical

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i hope they pair it with some sort year make model wizard that selects the right adapter for your electric vehicle
Pretty sure most people know if their car has a NACS or CCS1 plug. It isn't like air filters where there are for unknown reasons something like 300 choices. Thankfully unlike gasoline vs diesel if you pick the wrong option you won't be able to plug it in so you put it back and pick the other one.
 
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Starting to think Ars ambiguity is intentional to drive engagement.
it absolutely is im almost certain some writers might do anything from intentionally making article more controversial to ambiguous wording

i do know that they at a minimum change the headlines with each article in an a / b fashion different for each use until one wins out on engagement.
 
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ranthog

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Pretty sure most people know if their car has a NACS or CCS1 plug. It isn't like air filters where there are for unknown reasons something like 300 choices. Thankfully unlike gasoline vs diesel if you pick the wrong option you won't be able to plug it in so you put it back and pick the other one.
As long as you only have cars with one type of plug, one would have to imagine there will probably be an option in the app to either ask or always use a specific plug type.
 
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I checked their website and video. THEY DO A HORRIBLE JOB OF DEMONSTRATING HOW IT WORKS.

Anyway it looks like in the app you register your car so you click which vehicle you are driving and tap your phone to the machine and it sets up the plug.
thats good thats good, but the relying on nfc phone tap is not since not every phone has nfc
a better option would be either a number code or a qr code the machine scans.
 
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LDA 6502

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Honestly there isn't a huge need for a global standard on connectors although it would be nice. How many cars do people drive from Europe to North America? It is a hell of a lot more of a problem with boats which actually do cross oceans from time to time and yet we have survived.
There are actually a number of places in the world where both Type-I/J1772 and Type-II usage overlap: Central America, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Ukraine, and the Caribbean are the notable ones. So it is a bigger problem than you suggest. And GB/T is now common in Costa Rica, just to add another wrinkle.
 
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Pretty sure most people know if their car has a NACS or CCS1 plug. It isn't like air filters where there are for unknown reasons something like 300 choices. Thankfully unlike gasoline vs diesel if you pick the wrong option you won't be able to plug it in so you put it back and pick the other one.

oh you sweet summer child people manage to force diesel into a gasoline port, never underestimate human stupidity
 
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Statistical

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oh you sweet summer child people manage to force diesel into a gasoline port, never underestimate human stupidity


"Thankfully unlike gasoline vs diesel if you pick the wrong option you won't be able to plug it in so you put it back and pick the other one."

As in picking CCS1 when your car has NACS is not going to cause damage the way a gasoline vs diesel mixup would. It might just be annoying and make you look silly.

Speaking of that though I noticed a guy putting gasoline into his boat but it being a sailboat with an inboard motor gasoline is extreme rare (there were a few in the 80s and early 90s). So I said "how is that old gasoline inboard treating you" because most people hate them and they are routinely replaced over time with an iboard diesel so a gasoline inboard in 2020s is very rare. At that point both of us realized his error. Draining and cleaning the tank is no fun but it would have been a lot less fun if he had turned that starter.
 
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i hope they pair it with some sort year make model wizard that selects the right adapter for your electric vehicle
they could also potentially offer integrated service per location some time in the future like charger also offering to sell you a car wash or sit it next to a car vacuum and pair it with that. or i dont know like some sort of movie or something.
Tesla lets you register your vehicle's make and model inside the Tesla app. When you go to a Tesla Magic Dock Supercharger, you activate the charger from the app, and it releases the cable with the CCS adapter attached if necessary. V4 Magic Dock dispensers allow you to double-tap the button on the handle before undocking if you want the CCS adapter, so you don't even need the app.

ChargePoint's solution requires you to tap on the charger's screen to select if you want NACS or CCS, just like selecting what fuel grade you want at a gasoline pump.
 
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LDA 6502

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CCS predates NACS, because NACS is nothing more than a repinned CCS charger with a piece of plastic on the end that matches the Tesla proprietary charge port. Tesla proprietary charging is not the same as NACS, despite them sharing the same connector.
This. People forget that NACS/J3400 is not the same as the original Tesla spec, even though they both use the same physical connectors. The former uses IEC 61851 for communications, same as CCS, while the latter uses a Tesla proprietary CANBus protocol.
 
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3rd party adapters can be a hazard and some are even banned from certain charging networks. A solution where the station provides the adapter seems to be much safer. Let’s just hope they are built to hold up to some of the abuse. All-in-all, I like that ChargePoint is making efforts to make this transition safer and easier.
 
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ranthog

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Tesla lets you register your vehicle's make and model inside the Tesla app. When you go to a Tesla Magic Dock Supercharger, you activate the charger from the app, and it releases the cable with the CCS adapter attached if necessary. V4 Magic Dock dispensers allow you to double-tap the button on the handle before undocking if you want the CCS adapter, so you don't even need the app.

ChargePoint's solution requires you to tap on the charger's screen to select if you want NACS or CCS, just like selecting what fuel grade you want at a gasoline pump.
I would actually expect ChargePoint will do this, since you generally do provide them your make and model of car, so they can show you the correct chargers and availability.
 
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mmiller7

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Wait, is this “new” new, or like its 2020 and America is kinda embracing chip and pin cards “new”?

Because we’ve had chargers with both connections and a pair of cables here just across the border in BC for years. Not every charger, but most that I’ve had to use are either the dual type, or Tesla superchargers.

So unless I’m missing something due to lack of caffeine this morning, I’m not seeing anything revolutionary here
AFAIK only the Tesla superchargers have had the Tesla plugs previously. Tesla owners would have to bring their own adapter everywhere to use anything but a Tesla charging station.
 
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timber

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Here in Europe where almost all cars are CCS2 we still have several chargers with Chademo (to serve 2 cars of which only one sold relevant numbers).

At least most are CCS2 or Chademo (in use) so you don't feel you are wasting a charger.

CCS2 is the "other CCS charging standard". Both CCS1 and CCS2 are 2 DC Fast charging pins added to the local fast AC charging standard. Europe's AC charging standard is different because 3 phase power is common and AC charging needed to support that which means more pins for AC charging.
3 phase charging is the way I do it most of the time. 11 kW from 16A.
 
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evan_s

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This. People forget that NACS/J3400 is not the same as the original Tesla spec, even though they both use the same physical connectors. The former uses IEC 61851 for communications, same as CCS, while the latter uses a Tesla proprietary CANBus protocol.

While you are correct that NACS is basically a Tesla connect using the CCS standard, which is why passive adapters are possible, it really isn't relevant to the Telsa should have used a standard discussion. Tesla's original fast charging standard was out before CCS and they increased the power quicker than other standards. Once CCS caught up they added the ability for their vehicles to speak CCS so Tesla owners could use the sort of cheap passive adapter that CCS vehicles are now able to use for NACS.
 
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EnPeaSea

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Heh.

There's no humor in these threads. People take them very seriously for some reason. I guess a lot of bored at work folks.
A laughing emoji or /s might have helped others correctly interpret your intent. Otherwise, don't be surprised when what you write is interpreted at face value. Without other indication of facetiousness, it is easy to consider someone who earnestly may say "I don't want an electric vehicle unless I can plug it into a common three-prong outlet."

But naw, it's all the other Ars-ians that are out of touch. /s

FWIW I did not downvote your comment, mostly because I appreciated the standardization comment you finished with.
 
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While you are correct that NACS is basically a Tesla connect using the CCS standard, which is why passive adapters are possible, it really isn't relevant to the Telsa should have used a standard discussion. Tesla's original fast charging standard was out before CCS and they increased the power quicker than other standards. Once CCS caught up they added the ability for their vehicles to speak CCS so Tesla owners could use the sort of cheap passive adapter that CCS vehicles are now able to use for NACS.
You don't seem to understand what a "standard" is. NACS is a standard, being taken over by a neutral 3rd party, and further refined. Tesla proprietary charging predates NACS by a decade, and CCS by about a year, but is not and never was a standard.
 
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Maxer

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thats good thats good, but the relying on nfc phone tap is not since not every phone has nfc
a better option would be either a number code or a qr code the machine scans.
They have a touchscreen on the machine so one hopes they have something setup there.

My understanding is you must have an account and smart phone to use these machines though??

Though I suppose even if you just swipe your credit card and say "guest no account" whatever. Can you put the wrong plug in? They look like they can't fit the wrong standard to the wrong socket?

Pull it out try, if not, put it back and try the next plug head?
 
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evan_s

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You don't seem to understand what a "standard" is. NACS is a standard, being taken over by a neutral 3rd party, and further refined. Tesla proprietary charging predates NACS by a decade, and CCS by about a year, but is not and never was a standard.

Something doesn't have to be open or managed by a neutral 3rd party to be a standard. IIRC Tesla did even offer up their old charging protocol for others to implement if they wanted to but the terms were not palatable for anyone. Again, nitpicking about if tesla's old charging protocol is a standard or not, has nothing to do with tesla should have used a standard that didn't exist when they first started building their vehicles and charging network.
 
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