Tesla has finally started opening select Supercharger stations to non-Tesla electric car owners in the US and explained how it works.
It took a while to come, but we also knew it would finally happen soon as we started scouting Tesla installs the “Magic Dock” in some Supercharger stations the last days.
While these stations were now equipped with the built-in CCS adapter to work with non-Tesla electric vehicles, the automaker had yet to officially open them through the app and begin integrating electric car owners into its charging network.
Today, Tesla has officially started doing this:
As we reported earlier, everything is handled through the app. Non-Tesla EV owners simply need to download the Tesla app, create an account, add a credit card for payment, and then they can drive to some of the few supercharger stations now equipped with a Magic Dock – mostly in New York for now.
In the app, electric car owners can see the station and select the place where they park. Afterwards, all they have to do is grab the handle where the Magic Dock’s CCS adapter will come out:
Tesla warns that charging can take up to two minutes, which is longer than with a Tesla vehicle – likely because the station has to talk to the car through the app rather than directly.
The automaker produced a quick video to show non-Tesla electric vehicle owners how to use the Supercharger network:
Currently, it appears that only half a dozen stations in New York State are available to non-Tesla EV owners, but that number is expected to increase rapidly as Tesla rolls out the Magic Dock in more stations and building new ones.
Electrek’s Grasp
It’s pretty impressive that Tesla has managed to create an experience for non-Tesla EV owners at Supercharger stations that’s almost as smooth as the experience for Tesla owners.
I would say the experience will be as good if not better than at third-party stations, which were supposed to be designed for non-Tesla EVs.
Hopefully, this will force charging network operators to improve their customer experience and network reliability, which the Supercharger network has dominated.
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