- Extra automakers are having access to the Tesla Supercharging community
- Tesla house owners aren’t precisely thrilled, particularly when the house owners have to take up two charging spots to plug-in
- OEMs are engaged on fixing the issue
As you most likely know, Tesla Superchargers have began opening as much as non-Tesla EVs just like the Ford F-150 Lightning and Chevy Blazer EV. Because of this house owners of Ford, Rivian, and now Common Motors autos are lastly in a position to plug in (if they will get a NACS adapter, that’s) at most charging stalls throughout the U.S.
Sounds nice, proper? Properly, yeah. It’s. Tesla’s Supercharging community is essentially the most mature in the complete nation. Tesla house owners are accustomed to a seamless charging expertise—simply again in, plug in, and juice up. However non-Tesla EVs? It won’t be that easy. See, the cost ports on another EVs are in all places—entrance, again, proper, left—you title it. That is inflicting a significant headache as help for brand new producers comes on-line and new Supercharger customers attempt to determine methods to cope with Tesla’s brief Supercharger cables.
Tesla’s official answer is to simply to double-park, which, below regular circumstances, is not that massive of a deal. However when Superchargers are in busy places or as folks journey on holidays, the concept of 1 (or extra) chargers being unavailable could be a massive drawback.
[I]n some instances you might need to park over the road in an effort to cost comfortably. Keep away from parking diagonally to achieve the cable and attempt to hinder as few cost posts as doable. Cost port places range by EV mannequin, which requires cable sharing between adjoining stalls at many websites.
Regardless of Tesla having an official answer, house owners of non-Tesla EVs are sometimes uncertain of methods to truly park after they pull as much as a charger. One Blazer EV proprietor on Reddit complained concerning the charging cable being too brief. One other Cadillac Lyriq proprietor posted a photograph of an extraordinarily overstretched cable, albeit final yr at a Magic Dock location.
A separate Lyriq proprietor was noticed taking on three separate spots (as Tesla confirmed how not to do within the illustration above). It is not clear if this was because of the cable not reaching or as a result of the proprietor wasn’t certain methods to correctly park the automobile on the charger. Regardless, there’s clearly each an schooling challenge and an infrastructure challenge at play right here.
It is not honest to lump all non-Tesla Supercharger customers into the identical group. Many house owners are literally very respectful of how they park on the chargers. For instance, a few movies of Blazer EV drivers present the house owners utilizing the right-most stall to reduce their influence on different autos. Others have used pull-through stalls (like those demonstrated right here) to keep away from double-parking, however not all places have a majority of these placement.
So, what is the repair right here? For now, nothing.
Tesla engineers have straight up warned in opposition to utilizing NACS extension cables at Superchargers, so an instantaneous technical answer is out. Schooling? Properly, Tesla reveals people methods to park proper within the app wanted for charging, in order that’s not working both. It appears that evidently that is greater headache than what will be solved by EV house owners alone.
Fortunately, OEMs are addressing the issue. For instance, Rivian has voluntarily relocated the charging port on the upcoming Rivian R2 in order that it’s positioned in the identical location as Tesla’s autos. Tesla, because the proprietor of the Supercharging community, appears to be prioritizing the rollout of V4 Supercharger stalls with longer cables. It is not an instantaneous repair by any means, nor low cost, nevertheless it’s progress.
Meaning be ready to buddy up with some non-Teslas on the Supercharger for somewhat bit—as a result of there are extra automakers getting added to the Supercharger community subsequent yr. And possibly do not berate anyone simply because they’re taking on two stalls.
