Non Tesla Vehicles To Pay More To Use Its Superchargers Unless On A Subscription

Tesla has opened up its Supercharger network in the US to non-Tesla vehicles using CCS-to-NACS adapters. Basically, the entire industry in North America has announced a switch over to the Tesla-developed NACS connector over the past few months, and yesterday Ford was the first company to start shipping adapters for its existing models.

So now a lot of Ford owners can grab a free adapter and go to a Supercharger. But there’s a catch. Supercharging rates are about 30–35% higher for non-Tesla vehicles at Superchargers. Pricing is dynamic and varies based on location, time of day, and load, so we can’t give you exact numbers, but that’s the ballpark difference. There’s also a solution.

If you have a non-Tesla vehicle and want to get the exact same prices for supercharging that Tesla owners have, all you need to do is subscribe to the Supercharging Membership. This costs $12.99 per month. Given the price differential, it will pay for itself with less than 100 kWh of charging pretty much anywhere, which means it’s probably a must-have if you plan on using Tesla Superchargers more than a few times each month.

It’s an interesting strategy on Tesla’s part: charge people with non-Tesla vehicles more, but give them this subscription option too, one that undoubtedly can become more expensive in the future. Superchargers in North America are going to get a lot more crowded in the next few years because of all of this opening up to all other brands. We’ll have to wait and see how they manage to cope. Not to mention that, depending on where a vehicle’s charging port is, non-Tesla charging could actually take up two Supercharger ports.

• Also See: Tesla Working On Wireless Inductive Charging For Its Cars