CHARGED Electric Vehicles Magazine – July-August 2019

(Michael S) #1

68


THE INFRASTRUCTURE


Image courtesy of Alliance Ventures

Alliance Ventures, the venture capital arm of Re-
nault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, has invested an undisclosed
amount in The Mobility House, a technology company
that provides a platform for integrating vehicle batteries
into power grids using intelligent charging and energy
storage.
Several Alliance member companies have worked pre-
viously with The Mobility House. Renault is partnering
with the company on a stationary energy storage system
made with EV batteries in the European market.
“Alliance Ventures aims to provide the right ecosys-
tem of open innovation to ensure Alliance member
companies deliver mobility for tomorrow,” said Alliance
VP François Dossa. “The Mobility House’s expertise in
e-mobility and energy transition will contribute to the
Alliance commitment to zero-emission vehicles and
to the achievement of our vision: shaping the future of
mobility.”

Tesla owners are fortunate
to have their own network
of DC fast chargers – the
Superchargers – which are
sufficient for many drivers’
long-distance travel needs.
However, more charging
choices are always better, so
several years ago, Tesla in-
troduced an adapter to allow
Model S and X drivers to use
CHAdeMO fast charging
stations.
Since the latest vehicle software update, the CHAde-
MO adapter will now work with Model 3. As CleanTech-
nica reports, the adapter itself has not changed. The
software update means that existing Tesla-to-CHAdeMO
charging adapters sold for Models S and X will now work
with Model 3. The adapter, which sells for $450, allows
CHAdeMO charging at power levels of up to 50 kW. It’s
designed to work only with North American Teslas.
Many owners may balk at buying this at such a steep
price, as 50 kW is lower than the power levels available
on Tesla’s Supercharger network (which range from 72
kW to 250 kW). However, there are currently over 3,200
CHAdeMO charging points in North America, and the
Electrify America network plans to add many more, so
for some drivers, the additional charging options may be
worth it.
What about a CCS adapter? Well, it’s complicated.
There is a CCS adapter for Models S and X, but as Elec-
trek reports, only the newest vehicles have the necessary
hardware – others will have to be retrofitted – and it
doesn’t seem to be on sale in the US yet.

Alliance Ventures invests


in The Mobility House to


integrate vehicle batteries into


power grids


Tesla releases CHAdeMO


adapter for Model 3


Image courtesy of Tesla
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