When Tesla opened its U.S. Superchargers to non-Tesla autos in late February, electrical car house owners rushed to affix the community.
After downloading the Tesla smartphone app and registering a cost methodology, drivers of Volkswagen ID4s, Rivian pickups, Chevrolet Bolts and different nameplates gained entry to the Supercharger community, thought-about the gold normal for its dimension, ease of use and reliability.
They have been happy with the preliminary batch of 10 Supercharger stations open to all EVs in California and New York. Hundreds extra Tesla items throughout the U.S. will open to most people within the subsequent 20 months.
“Thanks Elon, please can now we have some extra,” stated one California consumer of Tesla CEO Elon Musk on the charger map web site PlugShare. “It is nice to make use of charging stations that really work,” wrote an ID4 proprietor in New York, taking a swipe at competing networks with reliability points.
Throughout greater than a decade, Tesla has rigorously constructed the worldwide Supercharger system alongside its car enterprise, giving prospects a principally hassle-free consumer expertise and liberating them from vary anxiousness throughout highway journeys and lengthy commutes.
The primary six stations opened in 2012, permitting long-distance journey for the newly launched Mannequin S sedan. Tesla now has about 17,000 quick charging plugs within the U.S., greater than all non-Tesla networks mixed, in response to a examine by iSeeCars.com. Whereas Tesla has a proprietary charging connector that is completely different from these on non-Tesla autos within the U.S., adapters principally remedy any compatibility points.
Simply as Tesla controls about 60 p.c of all quick charger items within the U.S., it additionally has about 60 p.c of the EV market, which isn’t a coincidence, consultants say. Tesla expects to greater than double gross sales in addition to Supercharger plugs within the subsequent two years.
“At Tesla Charging, now we have understood since day one which an ideal charging expertise is the linchpin to electrical car adoption,” Rebecca Tinucci, senior director of charging infrastructure, stated on the Tesla Investor Day occasion in March. “Getting right here has meant we have spent 10 years constructing charging infrastructure when principally nobody else within the business would do it.”
From 2010 to 2014, 63 p.c of all quick chargers within the U.S. have been added by Tesla, in response to the EVAdoption consultancy. From 2015 to 2018, that rose to over 75 p.c. From 2019 to 2022, Tesla was nonetheless constructing extra charging slots than all different networks mixed.
Within the first quarter of this 12 months, Tesla added 1,292 Superchargers in contrast with 250 for EVgo, which has partnered with Basic Motors, and 60 for Electrify America, which is owned by Volkswagen Group of America. Electrify America and EVgo stations are open to the general public.
Tesla’s world Supercharger community, with greater than 40,000 chargers, registers 1.5 million charging classes per week with 99.9 p.c web site reliability, in response to Tesla.
The EV maker has pledged to open at the least 3,500 U.S. Supercharger items to the general public by the top of 2024, vastly increasing choices for non-Tesla EV house owners.
Quick chargers use direct present and usually cost an EV to just about full in about half-hour to an hour, relying on a number of elements, together with car charging speeds, battery dimension and climate situations.
Musk has lengthy promised to open up the Supercharger community as a part of the corporate’s general aim of driving EV adoption. However there are advantages as properly for the automaker, which is predicted to be an enormous winner from U.S. authorities help for native battery manufacturing, charging infrastructure and EV gross sales by tax incentives.
By sharing the community with most people, Tesla can faucet right into a $7.5 billion federal fund to finance new charging stations. Tesla has developed a Magic Dock on its chargers that comes with an adapter for non-Tesla autos, which use a connector known as the Mixed Charging System that’s considerably completely different than the Tesla design.
In Europe, Tesla has opened up about half of its charging community to non-Teslas, Tinucci stated. EVs in Europe use a standard plug in accordance with European Union guidelines.
One key benefit of the Tesla Supercharger community over opponents is vertical integration. Tesla designs and manufactures its personal charging gear and operates the community.
One other differentiator is the Tesla software program ecosystem, which permits drivers to decide on a route and obtain real-time data on charger availability whereas touring. Tesla autos can precondition their batteries earlier than reaching a station, elevating the battery temperature to permit quicker charging on arrival.
“Tesla has a form of Apple-style method,” stated Alex Knizek, an engineer at Shopper Experiences. “As a result of they develop the automotive and the charger, they’ll function in a extra seamless method.”
Tesla’s early begin has additionally given it the choose of one of the best areas for its Supercharger stations, Knizek stated.
Shopper Experiences named the Tesla Mannequin 3 as one in every of its high 10 car picks for 2023. Entry to the Supercharger community was a major cause for the consideration, Knizek stated.
The downsides of the Tesla charging community are few. The EV maker units its personal costs, which will be larger than rival networks in some circumstances, reminiscent of when electrical energy charges fluctuate. Tesla additionally requires use of its smartphone app, which is free. Customers’ bank card data is saved within the app, so Tesla chargers do not have bank card readers as others do.
For non-Tesla house owners, the Supercharger community does supply some challenges.
The charging cables are solely lengthy sufficient to achieve the left rear part of the car, the place Tesla locations its charging port. Non-Teslas have ports elsewhere, which might require car positioning that blocks adjoining Superchargers.
And, Knizek stated, the Superchargers he examined with non-Tesla autos didn’t cost at notably excessive speeds. That could possibly be attributed to {hardware} and software program points between the charger and the car.
“Having an alternative choice for charging is nice. However I do not see it as the best choice to your non-Tesla in the intervening time,” Knizek stated.
Tesla has launched a brand new design for the fourth model of its charging items — known as V4 — that has longer charger cables. The V4 items are first being deployed in Europe, Tesla stated.
Tesla’s U.S. Supercharging community notably shines compared with its closest rivals.
In August, J.D. Energy ranked Tesla’s community first for quick charging, with a rating of 739, for general buyer satisfaction primarily based on a scale of 1,000 factors. ChargePoint was second, with 644, Electrify America was third, with 614, and EVgo was fourth, with 573. Damaged chargers and cost issues have been among the many complaints with non-Tesla networks.
“Basically, that is all about Tesla versus everyone else,” stated Loren McDonald, CEO of EVAdoption. “Tesla understood early on that you simply can’t separate the EV charging expertise from the EV itself. And no different automaker understood that. Most of them are nonetheless in denial.”
McDonald, who purchased his first Tesla in 2016, stated Supercharger items hardly ever fail to supply a cost and Tesla stations hardly ever require ready in line. However even the uncommon wait has been principally solved with larger stations — some now have as much as 80 charging bays.
Somewhat than sprinkle a number of charging items at purchasing facilities as rival networks do, Tesla’s method has been to go huge alongside key freeway routes. EVAdoption estimates Tesla has a 94 p.c share of websites with 10 or extra chargers.
Tesla’s method displays its general enterprise mannequin of creating EV possession simple.
“They used the information, they understood their prospects, they understood the place they drive,” McDonald stated. “After which they rolled out the Supercharger community strategically in each a part of the nation. They do it as a result of it makes the money register ring. Each Supercharger helps promote extra Teslas.”