How Tesla Will Fix Public Charging

If you own or have ever owned a Tesla you know that the Supercharger network makes road trips easy in an Electric Vehicle.  When Tesla began designing its EVs, it was clear that the charging experience would make or break the success of their product.  So, Tesla designed its supercharger network of public fast chargers to allow its vehicles to take long road trips with minimal (if any) range anxiety.  Tesla also integrated charging stops into its navigation making it super simple to jump in the car, type in your destination, and take a road trip similar to what you would do a an ICE vehicle.  With the Tesla navigation software telling you where and for how long to stop and charge.

If you own an EV that is not made by Tesla, and you have taken a few road trips, you know just how much the charging experience can affect the Overall EV ownership experience.  The other charging network operators, for one reason or another, have not been able to match the reliability and availability of Tesla's supercharger network.  Other charging operators typically have slow or inoperable chargers.  To further complicate matters, some of them offered free charging through OEM partnerships which encourage public charging vs charging at your home or office.  Further, they encourage folks to charge 100% as well.  This is a huge problem as the combination of these factors causes lines at these chargers or the inability to use them at all.  It makes for a frustrating and anxiety filled road tripping experience.

Rivian R1T Charging at a v4 Tesla Supercharger in Yonkers, NY

It shouldn't be this way!  There are many changes these other charging station operators could make to improve the experience at their chargers.  To date however, they simply haven't been able to do so.  

Here are the list of things I think would help other charging station operators improve the user experience:

• Limit free charging offerings! OEMs could offer a free membership instead!  The membership would offer reduced rate charging and other perks while not encouraging over use of public charging stations when level 2 home or office charging is available.
• Make reporting charger problems easy.  User reporting, telemetry data from the chargers themselves, etc.
• Timely repair of broken or slow charging equipment.
• Preventative maintenance schedules to ensure charger reliability and uptime.
• high idle fees to discourage folks from leaving their cars parked there while not charging.  $1 per minute for the first 15 minutes and then much higher fees after.
• Limit charging to 80% for congested chargers and/or charge an extra fee for charging above 80% at busy chargers to encourage users to stop at the next charger instead.
• For slow charging EVs, implement per minute charging or limit them to only 1 or 2 stations to prevent charger congestion.  Could implement this only when chargers are busy too.
• At very busy charging locations, charge an extra fee for vehicles who remain for more than 30 minutes to encourage them to stop at the next charger instead.

These are just some of the ideas I came up with and I am sure the community of EV owners will come up with more.

Rivian R1T Plugged in at a Tesla Supercharger in Yonkers, NY

Now, how is Tesla going to fix this you ask?  In a couple of ways!

For one, opening up the supercharger network to other electric vehicles gives EV owners more options.  Some routes, especially in the southeast US had very few charging options for non-Tesla EVs.  It also allows consumers to avoid stations that are frequently slow or out of order.

Second, it will force the other charging operators to improve their offerings.  They will be forced to improve the experience at their chargers and offer competitive pricing.  If they don't then owners will avoid their chargers and they will eventually be out of business.

Yes, Tesla does need to redesign many of its chargers to accommodate other EVs.  Currently most Tesla chargers are configured for Tesla vehicles which all have their charge ports on the driver side rear of the vehicle.  Other EVs have different locations for their charging ports and in many cases they need to take up two spots at a Tesla charger to get a charge.  Tesla's new V4 Superchargers solve this issue by offering longer cables and better placement.

Rivian R1T Plugged in using the Lectron Vortex Tesla to CCS1 Adatper

Currently Tesla superchargers are only open to Ford and Rivian.  They also require an adapter which has been very slow to ship out to Ford and Rivian owners.  The A2Z & Lectron supercharger adapters are available as well though Rivian and Ford advise against using 3rd party adapters.  Both the A2Z Typhoon and the Lectron Vortex adapters are built to comply with the upcoming UL2252 standard which which provide a standard for EV charging adapters moving forward.  Having this standard will allow consumers to purchase 3rd party adapters with confidence that they meet the highest possible standards for safety and quality.

What we are seeing now is the start of a transition to a more pleasurable public charging experience down the road!

Are you using the Tesla Supercharger network with your Non Tesla EV?  Let us know about your experience by leaving a comment below.

Affiliate Disclosure:  When you use our links to purchase products we receive a small commission which supports our website & YouTube Channel.  We sincerely appreciate your support.