[Tagging] charging stations

[Paul Allen]

On Tue, 16 Jun 2020 at 11:27, patata <patata at espiv.net> wrote:

>
> Either if the charging station has an attached cable or not, its
> connector is always female. The male is always on the car, or on the
> cable we carry with us. So tagging male/female wouldn't work.
>

For some definitions of "male" and "female."  By "male" do you mean it
has pin contacts?  Or do you mean it is free rather than fixed to
metalwork?  Or are you describing the connector housing?  If it has
pin contacts, are they shrouded so you cannot touch them (and if
so, does that then make them female)?

What you are confident is a male connector on the car is often referred
to as a jack, and the mating connector on the cable is a plug.  But
many people think of plugs as male, because for most connectors they
encounter that is the case.  On one side of the Atlantic plugs mate
with jacks, on the other side plugs mate with sockets.  Although
it is common for the "hot" connector to have female contacts for
safety, shrouded male contacts are also possible (and desirable
even on the car end to prevent accidental shorting).

The terminology is confusing and inconsistent.  It varies across
industries and it varies geographically.  It varies depending upon
the degree of technical knowledge of the person using it.  And it
also seems to be irrelevant.  If it's a fixed connector on a charging
station the sex is going to be standardized rather than drivers needing
two cables.  If it's a free connector on a charging station the sex is
going to be standardized rather than drivers needing sex-changing
adapter cables just in case the station they go to has the wrong sex
connector at the end of its cable.

About the only thing you need to know is if the charging station
connector is fixed (you need your own cable) or free (you do
not need your own cable).  And that only if there are any types
of charging station where some have fixed connectors and some have
free connectors of the same type but different sexes.  And then only if
drivers are stupid enough not to carry necessary cables and need to hunt
for a charging station within range that has a free connector rather than
a fixed one.

About the only thing we ought to do is change socket to connector in all
the tags.  Which won't happen because it's too widely deployed.

--
Paul
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