This year, Tesla opened up its Supercharger network to other brands. This is great news for non-Tesla electric car owners, as public charging networks aren’t always the best. For Tesla owners? Things aren’t that sweet.
Tesla’s agreement to allow more automakers to use its Supercharger network is great in theory. Superchargers are the best public chargers, often located in ideal locations and with excellent uptime statistics. But Tesla designs stations just to serve Tesla, and that’s where the problems begin.
Tesla’s peculiarities have caused problems for non-Tesla owners as well, which in turn has led to problems with Tesla owners. Sometimes they have good reason to be upset, but it’s a bit hypocritical for some Tesla owners to complain when they’re the same owners who behaved badly with CCS chargers .
Supercharger cords are not designed for non-Tesla vehicles
Almost all Supercharger stations have relatively short charging cords, which are understandably designed for Tesla vehicles, where the charging ports are evenly distributed on the rear driver’s side of the car. . Other manufacturers do not necessarily follow the same pattern.
fucking people
byu/Time_Tomatillo1138 inTeslaLounge
As such, non-Teslas may need to be placed outside of the space required by Teslas to place charging ports within connectivity distance, resulting in inability to access adjacent Superchargers. Imagine the frustration when you start using chargers and discover that one or more of your available chargers has been blocked by someone.
That’s the reality countless Tesla owners are facing now that brands like General Motors, Rivian, and Ford have access to the Supercharger network.
Is it possible that other car brands’ Tesla #Superchargers don’t allow charging on the left side (non-Tesla)? One VW ID3 blocks two stations for 45 minutes during very busy hours I did. What do you think? @elonmusk and @Tesla pic.twitter.com/slR5l9JwcG
— Michelga1971 (@michelga1971) July 28, 2024
Recognizing the reality of the situation, one Tesla owner expressed his feelings this way. “Is it expected? Well, in some vehicles, it’s because of the location of the charging port. Isn’t it blocking other places? Yeah, and that’s infuriating.”
I saw a Ford Lightning parked a little behind me across from the Tesla Supercharger station spot and thought the guy was getting in the way and stealing two spots.
As you can see in this photo, the Supercharger’s cord is long enough for Tesla’s rear charging port, but Ford installed a charging port… pic.twitter.com/bdpT8l9iUH
— Selwyn’s Robot Pete! (@RobotPete) September 4, 2024
Of course, it wouldn’t be a big deal if the parking lot and a few charging stations were wide open, but some people have noticed that this isn’t the case. According to one F-150 Lightning owner, even though some charging stations were wide open, Tesla owners were left with a scary note.
Tesla owners are an angry bunch.
byu/pool money 1 inF150 Lightning
Here’s the craziest part. Double, or perhaps triple parking, is Tesla’s official solution for cars that don’t have ports where the car can only occupy one space.
Most Supercharger cables at NACS Supercharger sites should be able to reach the EV charging port, but in some cases you may need to park beyond the line to comfortably charge. Avoid parking at an angle to reach cables and try to minimize charging posts. Because charging port locations vary by EV model, many sites require cables to be shared between adjacent stalls. Tesla is rapidly rolling out its latest V4 Supercharger posts that reach all EVs in the same Supercharger stall. Additionally, we recommend that all vehicle manufacturers standardize the charging port location on the rear driver or passenger side.
The problem is not just about double parking. The location of the ports on some vehicles allows them to only occupy one spot on vehicles like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which ultimately prevents the use of a charger. For example, take a look at the photo below. The Mach-E is in one space, but the charger in front of it and to the right remains idle and out of reach of others.
First supercharger for some electrons
byu/datim2010 inMachE
In a rather cool twist, some of these EV owners are coming up with creative solutions to this problem. Jim Ogut, a real estate agent from the Northeast, drove over the landscape not only to access the Supercharger, but also to avoid bothering other drivers.
A Ford F-150 Lightning owner did something similar to prevent multiple stalls. In this case, we pulled up directly to the curb itself, so the cable was able to reach the truck without any problems.
Tesla Supercharger – Cheaper and Better
byu/elgato123 inF150 Lightning
Somewhat interestingly, this problem isn’t just caused by non-Tesla drivers. Sometimes, they do it to themselves, said at least one person on Reddit.
I just got a new 4th gen supercharger locally so I went with maybe 5 spots open. When we arrived, it was a full supercharger as a handicap driver had double parked across two charging spots. Neither of them were dedicated handicap charging spots that no one but them could use, so they occupied 3 spots and then another genius decided. Instead of blocking another two cables on your own, try a longer cable by using the cables in the following locations:
Two Teslas blocked 5 of 8 spots and no trailers. It must be a new record.
This is a Cybertruck with a trailer (we hear the gasp) that blocks at least three different superchargers.
It seems that the charging approach of “superchargers other than Tesla” is becoming widespread…
byu/roccthecasbah inChargerDrama
Tesla owners do this at non-Supercharger stations
Long before non-Tesla owners could access Tesla stations, Tesla owners could essentially access non-Tesla Superchargers using adapters. The adapter is now connected to the other cord.
Understandably, Tesla owners sometimes block or use chargers that are not Superchargers. This is an example of a Tesla owner and a Volvo owner parking in front of an Electrify America charger without charging at all. Again, imagine my frustration when I expected to pull up a working charger before finding this out.
Tesla owners are just as bad as BMW owners
byu/Bobbyj59 inVWiD4Owners
Here’s another Tesla owner who parked in an EV charging space for no apparent reason because the charging cord wouldn’t reach the back of the car.
It’s always Tesla
byu/therealtoddkraines inChargerDrama
Add this to the fact that not one, but several Tesla owners are blocking charging spaces in apartment complexes, yet almost comically no one is plugging in and charging spaces are blocked. Because it’s not used.
I just moved into a new apartment. typical
byu/kevinxb inChargerDrama
This is especially jarring because for a long time, non-Tesla owners could only charge at CCS stations, while Tesla owners had their own dedicated charger network.
Could this hurt Tesla?
Finally, there’s another interesting twist to all of this. This situation could lead some buyers to leave Tesla and join other brands. The Supercharger network is one of Tesla’s key selling points. It has much better features than most public charging infrastructure. Until recently, the only way to benefit from it was to buy a Tesla. That’s not the case now, and some owners are reporting that they may be forced to part with their Teslas because of it.
The supercharger situation is the only reason I’m considering selling my MYLR after only owning it for a year. I like it, but I don’t see the charging situation getting any better. There’s nothing stopping people from doing garbage like this. But even worse is the lawlessness of chargers with wires. In my experience, it’s eat-or-be-eaten, apocalyptic guerrilla mayhem. It wasn’t like this a year ago.
“I’m planning a long trip around Thanksgiving and I’m a little worried about how many other companies are opening up their Superchargers,” complained another. That sentiment could certainly drive buyers away from Tesla in the coming months and years.
For now, the automaker appears to recognize the need for such a move, as it currently dedicates some of its Supercharger stations to Tesla owners. Additionally, the switch to NACS charging could eventually lead automakers to move charging components to more universal locations.
What about extension cords like this one sold on Amazon? As well as paying a small fee for easy access when other cars are there, it’s a good way to avoid conflicts with other electric car owners. However, the big caveat here is that most of these codes only support Level 1/Level 2 charging, so they may work at certain Tesla destination stations, but not at Supercharger stations. It’s not a great solution if you have to stop at
(Full disclosure: Extension cords contain Amazon affiliate links and I may earn a commission if you make a purchase.)