Tesla is working on a solution to extend the length of Supercharger cables so they can more easily reach the charge ports on non-Tesla electric vehicles (EVs).
Tesla opened up their Supercharger network to owners of other electric vehicles (EVs) in Norway in 2021, expanding the program to most of Europe since then. Last year the program also expanded to North America, with the addition of built-in CCS adapters, or Magic Docks, being added to numerous Supercharger stations in Canada and the US.
Since the Supercharger network was built out by Tesla and for Tesla, the cables were designed to be just the right length to reach the charge port on their vehicles, which are always located on the left rear of the car near the taillights.
This isn’t the case with non-Tesla EVs, as charge port locations are not standardized between automakers. They can be on the right rear of the car, the front fenders, or even on the front bumper. This means the Supercharger cable is too short in many cases, leading to owners of other EVs having to take up more than one stall in order to plug in.
While Tesla is addressing this issue with the rollout of their V4 Supercharger stations, which have longer cables, that doesn’t solve the problem at the thousands of other V3 stalls that still have shorter cables.
With Ford, and virtually all other automakers, gaining access to the Supercharger network over the next two years through their North American Charging Standard (NACS) agreements, Tesla is tackling the problem and developing an extension cable, according to an update to the automaker’s website.
Not much information is provided, but one of the FAQs on the ‘Supercharging Other EVs’ page, it says, “We are working on an NACS to NACS extension cable, which will be available for purchase in the future.”
As the website indicates, this looks like it won’t be a product that Tesla will install at their Supercharger stations. Instead, owners of non-Tesla EVs will have to purchase the NACS to NACS extension cable themselves, much like they will need to purchase a NACS adapter (or be supplied one free by their automaker).
This greatly reduces the complexity for Tesla as they will not have to retrofit all of their V3 Supercharger stalls with longer cables, something that Tesla and non-Tesla owners have been asking for.
