Tesla to actually open a portion of its US fast-charging network to other EVs

considering my neighbour alone seems to have twice the amount of public chargers than Tucson… yea it’s laughable. It’s fine to point out shortfalls in our grid but thinking it’s Texas or CA…

 

I went out to test out a supercharger equipped with a Magic Dock today. Process was fairly painless. Some notes:

• For iPhone users, Apple Pay doesn't seem to be available as an option for non-Teslas even though it's listed in the Tesla app's wallet, so definitely add a credit card beforehand to save a little time
• Even though you add a card beforehand, you'll need to add your billing address info before the very first charge. Oddly enough, it doesn't seem that you can do this before you get to the superchargers.
• The process of unlocking the Magic Dock was pretty straightforward; select the pedestal you're at, unlock the Magic Dock in the app, grab the handle and push in to release the adapter from the holster.
• You'll want the passenger side of the Mini to line up right in the middle of the pedestal in order for the cable to reach the charging port. With the arrangement of the pedestals at this location, I had to park across the line, covering two charging spots. Parking in the "wrong" spot won't work, as the cable was too short to reach; however, even if it did reach, you'd still be icing a spot since you can't use the charger intended for the spot you'd be in and you're using a charger intended for the next spot over (assuming a car w/ charging port on the rear driver's side). I really hope the longer cable on the v4 superchargers resolve this issue so all spots can be equally used by all.
• Charging speed was ok; I was getting around 35 kW, probably due to a cold battery. I didn't want to wait around for the battery to warm up as the locaiton was starting to fill up w/ Teslas. Either way I call this a success.
• I noticed that when I stopped the charge in the app, my Mini threw a charging error and the light at the charging port was blinking red. I've seen this happen before when stopping a charge on a Chargepoint CPE 250 charger, so it's nothing new for me. Next time I'll try stopping the charge from the car to see if I get a similar error.

 

Thanks for the informative post! A few questions - which app is this? Is this just the standard "Tesla" app that all Tesla owners have to control their car? And how much was the charging session? I've read elsewhere that it's more expensive, but it would be nice to know some numbers to get an idea.

 

https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/ccs-charging-at-supercharger.15590/#post-194421

 

You use the same Tesla app that Tesla owners use. The location for the "Charge Your Non-Tesla" option will depend on if your account also has a Tesla car associated w/ it or not. If you don't have a Tesla on the account, the option will be right at the top. If you do also have a Tesla associated w/ the account, you'll need to scroll all the way to the right to find the option.

I think Tesla charging prices vary by state, time of day, and by membership status. As a non-member in CA, I was charged $0.52/kWh. Non-Tesla owners are able to pay $12.99/mo for membership to get the same pricing that regular Tesla owners get (I think they're members by default). The member price would have been $0.42/kWh.

 

Actually, the cable is long enough to reach the SE's charging port if it's parked at the adjacent spot.

Yes you will be "EV-ing" the spot next to it if a Tesla or another EV that has its charging port at the rear driver side. But not the case for another EV like the SE that has its charging port at the rear passenger side, though that EV will be potentially "EV-ing" a Tesla that might pull up next to it.

But by parking in between two spots, you will for sure "EV-ing" the next spot including another EV like the SE.

 

I did try parking in the adjacent spot on the first attempt, and the cable wouldn't reach. It's likely because the concrete parking block (not shown) at this lot kept me from backing in closer to the curb. I'm sure the cable would reach if I could get the rear right up to the curb in an adjacent spot.

 

I’ve said for years that charging stations should be designed like gas stations with chargers located in islands where EV’s can easily access from either side.

The parking lot concept for EV charging is discouraging the conversion to EV’s in the eyes of dedicated ICE drivers.

Can you imagine what a mess gas stations would be if they had been designed like EV stations?


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

 

Buddy, you’re the one who went out of your way to dig something up about Quebec. All I did was chuckle at a zinger in the post above mine. Whatever.

 

Thank you for being considerate and avoiding any conflict. Unfortunately a lot of people will not be like you as the magic dock gets more widespread.

I hate to think that all EVs should have a common location for the charge port, but it's not a horrible idea either to have some standardization.

 

Other than filling up gas/diesel at Costco, there is no real need for a fuel filler on ICEVs to be in a specific location, and by extension the same goes for charging port locations, so standardization is kind of hard to push. If the DOT owned and operated all the charging stations in the country, they could probably mandate a standard. Now, is one location on a car more logical than another? Arguably yes. But as pertains to this particular situation, we are discussing the charging port locations of non-Teslas based on Tesla‘s decisions for their cars and their charging dispensers. I could see the government telling them to make the cables longer if they are going to continue receiving government money to open up the stations.

 

After someone builds a robotic charging station that enables drivers to stay in their car (especially drivers unable to exit and plug in an unwieldy charging cord), there will be a strong case for standardizing the location of (and type of) the charging port. You'll speak a phrase or push a button and the car will position itself within reach of the robotic charging station.

 

I thought Nissan’s idea for swappable battery packs was exactly that. Or maybe I’m just thinking of New Jersey and gas stations…

 

I'd hope that when Tesla installs more of these Magic Docks, they can make the power cord just a little bit longer. That would solve a fair number of issues and seems like the easiest fix.

 

Just have a charging tentacle come up from below no matter where parked.

 

Some are like that...

 

Some are also like that...

 

I wonder who will be first to market with an extension cord.

 

Nobody, because DC fast charge cables are liquid-cooled.