This year, Tesla opened up its Supercharger network to other brands. That’s awesome news for non-Tesla electric vehicle owners since the public charging network isn’t always the greatest. For Tesla owners? Things aren’t so peachy.
Tesla’s agreement to allow more carmakers to use the Supercharger network is great in theory. Superchargers are the best public chargers, often located in ideal places, and have strong uptime stats. But Tesla designed the stations to serve Teslas and nothing else, which is where the problems begin.
Tesla specificity is creating issues for non-Tesla owners and that, in turn, is leading to issues with Tesla owners. While they sometimes have good reason to be upset, it’s a little hypocritical for some Tesla owners to be complaining if they’re the same owners who have been behaving badly at CCS chargers.
Supercharger Cords Are Not Designed For Non-Teslas
Supercharger stations almost all have a relatively short charging cord which, unsurprisingly, was designed for Tesla vehicles where the charging port is uniformly placed at the rear driver’s side of the car. Other manufacturers don’t necessarily follow that same pattern.
And so, in order to get its charging port within plugging distance, a non-Tesla may need to be positioned outside the space a Tesla requires, thus preventing an adjacent Supercharger from being accessed. Imagine the frustration of rolling up and realizing that one or more otherwise available chargers are blocked by someone.
That’s the reality that countless Tesla owners are facing right now as brands like General Motors, Rivian, and Ford gain access to the Supercharger network.
Is there a possibilty not to allow other car brands for Tesla #Supercharger when their charging is on the left side (other than Tesla)? One VW ID3 blocked 2 Stations for 45 minutes on a very busy time! What do you think? @elonmusk and @Tesla pic.twitter.com/slR5l9JwcG
— Michelga1971 (@michelga1971) July 28, 2024
One Tesla owner who recognized the reality of the situation expressed their feelings this way. “Is it expected? Yeah, kinda, on some vehicles, due to the charging port location. Is it blocking other spots? YEAH, AND IT’S INFURIATING.”
I saw a Ford Lightening parked across the spots at a Tesla supercharger station a bit back and thought the guy was being a knob and taking 2 spots.
As it shows in this picture the Super Charger cords are long enough for Tesla's rear charge port, but Ford put the charging port… pic.twitter.com/bdpT8l9iUH
— RobotPete of Selwyn! (@RobotPete) September 4, 2024
Of course, when the parking lot and several charging stations are wide open, it shouldn’t be a big deal but that’s not what some have found. According to one F-150 Lightning owner, a Tesla owner left them a horrific note despite several charging stations being wide open.
Tesla owners are an angry bunch
byu/poolmoney1 inF150Lightning
Here’s the craziest part, double or even perhaps triple parking is Tesla’s official solution for cars that don’t have a port in a location that enables the car to take up only one space.
Most Supercharger cables at NACS Supercharger sites should be able to reach your EV charge port, however, in some cases you might have to park over the line in order to charge comfortably. Avoid parking diagonally to reach the cable and try to obstruct as few charge posts as possible. Charge port locations vary by EV model, which requires cable sharing between adjacent stalls at many sites. Tesla is rapidly deploying our latest V4 Supercharger post which reaches all EVs in the same Supercharger stall. Additionally, we encourage all vehicle manufacturers to standardize charge port locations to the rear driver side or front passenger side.
The issue isn’t one that only includes double parking either. Due to the port location on some vehicles, a car like a Ford Mustang Mach-E can take up only one spot but ultimately block the use of a charger. Take for example the one in the photo below. The Mach-E is in a single space but the charger ahead of it and to the right is left idle and out of reach for anyone else.
First time a supercharger for some electrons
byu/datim2010 inMachE
In a somewhat cool turn of events, some of these EV owners are coming up with creative solutions to the issue. Jim Augat, a realtor in the North East simply drove over some landscaping to not only access the Supercharger but to ensure he didn’t inconvenience other drivers.
A Ford F-150 Lightning owner did something similar to avoid blocking more than a single stall. In this case they pulled up directly onto the curb itself which allowed the cable to reach the truck without issue.
Tesla Supercharger – Cheaper and better
byu/elgato123 inF150Lightning
Somewhat hilariously, this problem isn’t one only created by non-Tesla drivers. Sometimes, they do it to themselves says at least one person on Reddit.
We just got a new gen 4 super charger locally so I went over with 5 spots supposedly open. Got there, it was a full super charger because a handicap driver was double parked across two charging spots, neither of which was the dedicated handicap charger spot that nobody else but them could use, so the took up 3 spots and then another genius decided to try out the longer cables by using the cable from the next spot over instead of their own blocking of another 2.
2 teslas blocked 5 of 8 spots with no trailers. Must be a new record.
Here’s a Cybertruck with a trailer (audible gasp) blocking at least three different Superchargers.
Looks like the “Non-Teslas at Superchargers“ charging approach is catching on…
byu/roccthecasbah inChargerDrama
Tesla Owners Do This At Non-Supercharger Stations
Long before non-Tesla owners got access to Tesla stations, Tesla owners could access basically any non-Tesla supercharger with an adapter. Now the adapter is on the other cord.
Unsurprisingly, Tesla owners sometimes block or take up chargers that aren’t Superchargers. Here’s an example of a Tesla owner and a Volvo owner both parked in front of Electrify America chargers while not charging at all. Again, imagine the frustration of expecting to pull up to open functional chargers before finding this.
Tesla owners are as bad as BMW owners
byu/Bobbyj59 inVWiD4Owners
Here’s another Tesla owner just parked in an EV charging space for no apparent reason since the charging cord certainly won’t reach all the way to the back of the car.
I’ll add this one because it’s not one but several Tesla owners blocking charging spaces at an apartment complex while almost comically, none of them are plugged in and using the charging spaces.
Just moved into a new apartment. Typical
byu/kevinxb inChargerDrama
This is especially galling because, for a long time, non-Tesla owners could only charge at CCS stations whereas Tesla owners had their own dedicated charger network.
Could This Hurt Tesla?
Finally, there is one more interesting turn in all of this. The situation could lead some buyers away from Tesla and into the arms of other brands. The Supercharger network is one of Tesla’s key selling points. It works so much better than most of the public charging infrastructure. Until recently, the only way to benefit from it was to buy a Tesla. Now, that’s not the case, and some owners report that they might ditch their Tesla over it.
The supercharger situation is the solitary reason I’m considering selling my MYLR, having had it for only a year. I love this thing, but the charging situation has no indication of getting any better. Nothing stopping people from doing this garbage. But worse yet is the lawlessness of a charger with a line. In my experience, It’s dog-eat-dog, apocalyptic guerrilla mayhem. A year ago it wasn’t like this.
Another person complained, “I’m about to make a longer trip around Thanksgiving, and I’m a bit concerned about how many other companies they’ve opened up superchargers to.” That kind of sentiment could indeed lead buyers away from Tesla in the coming months and years.
For now, the automaker currently keeps some of its Supercharger stations exclusive to Tesla owners so it appears as though it recognizes the need for such a move. Additionally, the switch to NACS charging might eventually lead automakers to move charging parts to a more universal location.
What about an extension cord like this one from Amazon? Not only is it a small price a pay to get easy access when other cars are there, it’s a nice way to avoid conflict with your fellow electric car owners. However, the major caveat here is that most cords like these only support Level 1/Level 2 charging and so it’s not a great solution if you pull up to a Supercharger station, though they may work at certain Tesla Destination stations.
[Full disclosure: We put an Amazon affiliate link on that extension cord and might make a commission if you buy one.]
Whilst I hope there’s a valid engineering reason for placing the charging port on the front fender, I think all car companies would do well to put the charging ports of their EVs on the rear fenders (rear bumper would be even better but I doubt that’ll become widespread), where the fuel fillers of almost every gas car are located. A little consistency would be nice and would also lessen these types of charger-blocking instances if everyone backs into the spot.
But if the charge port is at the back, you can’t be funky and weird like so many EVs want to be. You’re being way too logical for marketing
idiotsprofessionals.I’m fine with car companies being funky and weird with their styling, but yes, there should still be some logic applied to the important parts.
Again, too logical for marketing. The decisions on where stuff is located on the outside of the vehicle is mostly decided long before any engineer starts placing parts.
George Costanza is getting upset!
“We’re living in a society!”
I’m glad I’m not dealing w/ this hellscape…fuck the dipshits not being considerate of other people.
I don’t know why I care because fuck Tesla, Melon Husk and all ugly EV trash on fire…gasoline forever!
Speaking from years of personal experience (as an owner of a Tesla and a non-Tesla EV), most Tesla owners don’t actually complain like that. Online rants seldom represent a real cross-section of society — you get a minority of angry/irrational people being loud and seeming like a majority. As for parking in EV spots while not charging — that’s only “typical” in that most EVs are Teslas. Non-Tesla drivers do the very same thing. But articles like this one reinforce the untrue idea (even in this article’s title) that these are how most Tesla owners behave and act.
If only there was somewhere else we could draw inspiration from to fix this issue. Perhaps some other type of limited length flexible connector that cars use to refill their energy storage. Where would such a device be placed so anyone can use it no matter the type of vehicle or if they are towing a trailer?