Tesla, one of the tried and true dedicated electric vehicle manufacturers, has decided to keep their unorthodox mystique alive by introducing an all new, high-powered, electric vehicle charger that is not industry standard. The charger, like the Roadster that put Tesla Motors on the radar of vehicle enthusiasts worldwide, is sexy. The new charger, which can handle fast charging at 480 volts, is two-toned and smooth and will look as good on the wall of the garage as your Tesla EV does on the road — and that’s the point, noted Elon Musk, the Chairman of Tesla who unveiled the charger. Tesla decided that if the industry standard was going to be ugly and cumbersome, they would have to come up with another option that not only looked better, but worked better too.
Musk was pretty blatant about his thoughts on the SAE J1772 charger, which most companies have adopted as the standard for the EV industry. While unveiling Tesla’s new model he called the J1772, “absolutely terrible, extremely ugly and low power.” With cars as good looking and classy as the Model S, and the all-new Roadster expected in 2014, how could you expect people to charge them up with something that just didn’t measure up to the high tech specs and seamless design that Tesla strives for?
The new charger will be faster than the SAE J1772 when charging at home in the Tesla unit — just 4 hours for a complete charge and 62 miles of juice for every single hour charged. The charger will also come with two extra cables — one cable will be for at home charging in a traditional wall outlet, and another adapter will be included for public charging in traditional SAE J1772 charging stations.
Speaking about the industry charger Musk said, “It looks like it was designed by committee, and things designed by committee are not really great.” In describing Tesla’s new take he said he wanted people to see it as, “A beautiful advanced alien artifact that arrived in the middle of the night,” adding, “We want people to say, ‘Wow, I want that on my wall.’”
+ Head to the New York Times for exclusive photos of the new charger
Via Engadget
