Tesla opened up its Supercharger network to Ford electric vehicle (EV) owners today, marking the first of many EV brands that will soon be plugging in at Superchargers across Canada and the US. While this is a great thing for EV adoption and will help accelerate the transition to sustainable energy, it will come with some growing pains for both Tesla and other EV owners alike.
When Tesla launched the non-Tesla Supercharger Pilot Program in 2021, one of the biggest difficulties that arose was the non-standardized placement of the charge port on other EVs. The relatively short charging cable at Supercharger pedestals led to some creative solutions to how to get the cord to reach, most of the time with it involving taking up multiple stalls.
Now with Tesla opening up access to Ford, and soon virtually all other EV brands in North America, the company has updated the mobile app to help non-Tesla owners know what the best way to plug in is.
According to assets discovered in the latest Tesla mobile app update, version 4.30.5, that rolled out earlier this week, non-Tesla owners will have to input their specific make and model of their EV before charging. Once this information is inputted, the app will then display the best configuration for your EV, which for now will only be Mach-E and Lightning.
Unfortunately, that could involve taking up multiple Supercharger spots, according to the images uncovered by Tesla App Updates (@Tesla_App_iOS). Two images were uncovered, one showing what not to do, parking sideways and taking up four spots, and the other showing the appropriate way, parking on the painted line and blocking access to the neighbouring Supercharger post.
Even in Tesla’s video today promoting the move to allow Ford EV owners access to the network, a Mach-E can be seen pulling up at a Supercharger. Although the Mach-E parks between the lines unlike the image above, the car is actually taking up 2 charging stalls due to the location of the charge port being on the left front of the Mach-E.
We're opening our Supercharger network to NACS-committed automakers starting today.
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) February 29, 2024
See supported vehicles → https://t.co/wATK8FdJKF pic.twitter.com/1iq4wFQY3a
This will undoubtedly create some confusion for owners of other EVs when the app is telling them to take up multiple stalls. It will likely also cause some anger and frustration among Tesla owners, especially at busy Supercharger locations when non-Tesla owners are taking up multiple stalls when none are available.
This of course won’t be a problem at V4 Superchargers, with their longer charging cables designed specifically to solve this issue, but those are few and far between in the US right now, and there are none yet in Canada.
We haven’t heard any news about Tesla retrofitting their V3 Supercharger posts with longer charging cables. With over 15,300 Superchargers now open to other EVs, we would be surprised if it happens, just due to the cost and effort it would take to complete such a retrofit.
