What's the point of the little flap that covers the lower part of the DC charging input?

Pozuelo

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Don’t forget to wet the fingers first, or maybe stick your tongue in, like when I was a kid and tested 9V batteries that way. :headbang:
 
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faroutinNM

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High voltage can spit an arc across an air gap and blow body parts off of you. EVs must incorporate some amazing failsafe systems to pass car safety regulations.
 

kort

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High voltage can spit an arc across an air gap and blow body parts off of you. EVs must incorporate some amazing failsafe systems to pass car safety regulations.
why don't other manufacturers have this cover?
 

Jhenson29

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High voltage can spit an arc across an air gap and blow body parts off of you. EVs must incorporate some amazing failsafe systems to pass car safety regulations.
I don’t think 800VDC really needs a very large air gap. Plus the pins are recessed in their own holes.

Don’t get me wrong, hazardous voltage is no joke. I regularly work in a Cat2 arc flash suit. I just don’t think the air gap is relevant to the flap.
 


daveo4EV

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in my opinion it’s there to piss me off…
 

faroutinNM

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I don’t think 800VDC really needs a very large air gap. Plus the pins are recessed in their own holes.

Don’t get me wrong, hazardous voltage is no joke. I regularly work in a Cat2 arc flash suit. I just don’t think the air gap is relevant to the flap.
Oh, I agree that the flap doesn't have anything to do with protecting your fingers from electrical arcs. It's just that people were joking about touching the electrodes, wetting your fingers, etc. If the voltage actually remained present at the electrodes when not connected, it would be hazardous. It's likely that before the charging port can release the charger, the vehicle's high voltage is disconnected from the electrodes. And yeah, I looked it up, and the arc gap for 800v is just a tiny fraction of a millimeter.
 

Kingske

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Don’t forget to wet the fingers first, or maybe stick your tongue in, like when I was a kid and tested 9V batteries that way. :headbang:
This is your opportunity to upgrade from a 9V battery to an 800V one in terms of tongue tingling sensation.
 


Pozuelo

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⚡Ouch… it would probably be akin to licking a thunderbolt ! ?
 

epirali

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IIRC It wasn't "Don't compete with Tesla" but rather "Don't use any patents against Tesla".
Not sure that makes it any more realistic / feasible, but the intent is clearly different (avoiding competition vs. trying to remove patents from the equation).

I can see both sides on that one: In Tesla's position, you don't want to give up your patents only for the competitor that's then using those patents to turn around and hassle you about a patent they hold (since among other things, cross-licensing seems to be a common way to settle patent disputes). In VW AG/other OEM's position, you can't reasonably say "I'll never go after you for a patent" either.

What isn't as clear: that was the public bid Tesla/Musk made - but were there any realistic options to negotiate something different based on that? (e.g., we'll use the Tesla connector, and we'll invest xxxM in the network, etc.)
from all the analysis I have seen it wasn’t just that, it was pretty much a planned poison pill. It was never a serious offer.
 

fullmetalbaal

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from all the analysis I have seen it wasn’t just that, it was pretty much a planned poison pill. It was never a serious offer.
"Never ascribe to malice what can be sufficiently explained by incompetence".

Key to staying calm/zen in today's world. (assuming incompetence is more tolerable than malice :) )
 

F16HTON

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why don't other manufacturers have this cover?

My eGolf had a cover for the DC charger and my eTron had one for the level 2 charger. Maybe it is a German thing?

Porsche Taycan What's the point of the little flap that covers the lower part of the DC charging input? maxresdefault


Porsche Taycan What's the point of the little flap that covers the lower part of the DC charging input? VW-e-Golf-charging-3cf98264
 

F16HTON

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Looks like the Nissan Leaf has charge covers too.

Porsche Taycan What's the point of the little flap that covers the lower part of the DC charging input? LEAF-CHAdeMO
 

TycanNewHampshire

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why don't other manufacturers have this cover?
I had a MachE pull up next to me the other day, it has the same flap.
Too me it seems logical to have the cap....with long term use, not all users have garages and they have to design to the lowest common denominator. To me, that is the ability to use only the circle plug on both sides, outside, in the rain, sleet and snow for overnight lv2 charging. That is many many hours for things to go bad and seems like a nice feature to have the flap and keep it dry...no?
 

kort

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I had a MachE pull up next to me the other day, it has the same flap.
Too me it seems logical to have the cap....with long term use, not all users have garages and they have to design to the lowest common denominator. To me, that is the ability to use only the circle plug on both sides, outside, in the rain, sleet and snow for overnight lv2 charging. That is many many hours for things to go bad and seems like a nice feature to have the flap and keep it dry...no?
I don't use that side for AC charging, I rarely do L2 charging outside and if I did I would try to use the AC side. the only time I access the DC side is for DC charging.
so for me what you've described has no relevance.
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