Proposal:Deprecate socket:tesla supercharger and socket:tesla destination

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Deprecate socket:tesla supercharger and socket:tesla destination
Proposal status: Proposed (under way)
Proposed by: RobJN
Draft started: 2025-03-10
RFC start: 2025-03-10

Proposal

Rationale

Context

EV charging has evolved as EVs have become more of a mature and widely adopted technology. As such there are some things about the way we tag them in OpenStreetMap that seem wrong now. This proposal resolves an oddity in Tesla charger tags.

Unlike for everything else in the socket key, the socket:tesla_supercharger=* tag and socket:tesla_destination=* tag can mean 3 different physical socket/connector designs depending on where in the world you are. This is because the socket / cable used to charge Tesla cars is not consistent around the world. There are 3 systems:

  1. NACS (North America, Japan and Korea; NACS is a new name since Tesla pushed for it to be adopted as standard)
  2. GB/T (China)
  3. CCS2 (Rest of world)

North American Charging System (NACS)

Developed by Tesla and initially for Tesla vehicles only. Opened up for other manufacturers to use in 2022. Now widely adopted for EV sales of various brands in the USA. The physical plug is still the same but the signalling/comms was changed from CAN bus to CCS protocol.

Tesla vehicles built prior to 2021 are incompatible with the CCS protocol and require a retrofit to become compatible with CCS. However, the Tesla Supercharger network remains backward compatible with the prior proprietary CAN bus standard (i.e. Tesla chargers can use both the CAN bus and CCS protocol depending on what vehicle is connected).

NACS can support both AC charging and DC fast charging.

An adapter (called the “Magic Dock”) is available at (some?) V3 and (all?) V4 Tesla Superchargers so that (non-tesla) cars with a CCS1 socket can be plugged in. Given the adoption of NACS by all major car manufacturers in the region, this might fall away in time, leaving it to the customer to carry around the adapter if they need it. You can also get a NACS to Type 1 adapter if you only need AC charging.

China (GB/T)

Two different connectors: GB/T 20234.2 for AC charging and GB/T 20234.3 for DC fast charging. Tesla vehicles have both connectors.

Note that the GB/T AC socket looks similar to the Type 2 socket used in Europe, and while their male and female connectors are physically the same, they are not overall identical as they have different configurations and signalling. While the European implementation of Type 2 (IEC 62196-2 Type 2) uses a female connector and male vehicle inlet, GB/T 20234.2 specifies a male connector and female vehicle inlet. Furthermore the signalling differs.

Rest of world

Here type2 is used for AC charging, and type2 combo (also known as CCS2) is used for DC fast charging.

Note that you can also do “DC low” and “DC mid” charging just with the type2 connector; the Combo 2 extension adds two extra high-current DC pins underneath (making type2 combo) to allow “DC High” (DC fast) charging. Tesla made use of this with vehicles sold before May 2019 only having the type2 connector but allowing for DC charging at the Tesla Superchargers (tesla call this “DC Type 2”). Vehicles built from May 2019 have the full type2 combo socket.

All Tesla V2 superchargers in Europe feature dual-cable posts to accommodate for DC type 2 and type 2 combo charge ports. V3 superchargers just have the type 2 combo cable and older vehicles wanting to use these need to get a hardware upgrade.

Access to other brands

Some Tesla chargers can only be used by Tesla vehicles. Others have been opened up so vehicles from other manufacturers can use them. Today, the right way to tag this is via some form of access restriction tag rather than a Tesla specific socket tag.

Conclusion

It is no longer right to have the socket:tesla_supercharger=* tag and the socket:tesla_destination=* tag. This is because:

  1. They do not represent 1 thing, rather they represent different things in different parts of the world.
  2. They are no longer specific to Tesla since the introduction of NACS and the move to Type2 Combo in Europe/Rest of World.

Re-mapping

Key information can be retained as the socket is re-tagged.

  • brand=Tesla Supercharger should be added to the Supercharger sites (in line with the guidance on the socket:tesla_supercharger=* tag page and as per real-world use as seen on TagInfo stats)
  • brand=Tesla Destination Charging should be added to the Destination charger sites
  • access=customers Add when the supercharger is only available for Teslas (in line with the guidance on the socket:tesla_supercharger=* tag page)

External discussions

This topic was first posted on the community forum: https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/rfc-deprecate-socket-tesla-supercharger-and-socket-tesla-destination-tags/126491/1

Comments

Please comment on the discussion page.

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