How Well Do Tesla Superchargers Work for Non-Tesla EVs?

Alex Knizek, an automotive engineer at Consumer Reports, tried out the Magic Dock Superchargers at two locations, first with a Lucid Air and then, later that week at a different station, with a Kia EV6. Jon Linkov, CR’s cars deputy editor, joined him at the second station with a Mercedes-Benz EQE.

To use a Supercharger, non-Tesla owners first need to download the Tesla App (version 4.18.0 or higher) for iOS or Android, create a profile, and add a payment method. The app enables you to locate a charger that is available with the Magic Dock CCS adapter. We already have an account set up to charge any Tesla in our test fleets.

Non-Tesla owners should remember that there aren’t many Superchargers equipped with the Magic Dock—at least not yet. We went to the two that were closest to our Auto Test Center in central Connecticut. The first one was in Ballston Spa, N.Y., about 170 miles away; the other was in Brewster, N.Y., roughly 80 miles from our track.

• We needed to drive well out of the way to use a Supercharger with a Magic Dock because so few have been rolled out. Both locations were near highways, and neither was close to capacity when we were there.
• Charging a non-Tesla with a Supercharger is currently one of the most expensive fast-charging options per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Of the currently available spots, they range from $0.48/kWh to $0.55. Most are $0.49/kWh, which is similar to Electrify America’s $0.48/kWh nonsubscription price. They drop to $0.39/kWh with a $12.99 per month membership. Idle fees, which are charged if the car is left alone at the charger after being fully charged, are $1 per minute.
• The combination of Tesla’s short charging cord and the nonstandardized placement of charge ports on different EVs can cause headaches for the person charging (and potentially for others who want to use the Superchargers).
• Sometimes the process works smoothly, and other times there are unexplained hiccups.
• While Tesla Superchargers are DC fast chargers, the non-Tesla EVs charged at a slower rate than they are claimed to be capable of charging on a DC fast charger.

Location: Stewart’s Gas Station, Ballston Spa, N.Y.
Distance from Auto Test Center: 170 miles
Charging fee: $0.49/kWh

Alex was the first CR staffer to try out the Magic Dock. He charged up our Lucid Air at a Supercharger located behind a Stewart’s Shops in Ballston Spa, N.Y., near Saratoga Springs. (Stewart’s Shops is a New York-based chain of convenience stores and gas stations that usually has food, outdoor seating, bathrooms, and other comforts.) “It isn’t really a terrible spot to wait, in my opinion,” he said.

Each charging station has a sign with a QR code on it, which takes users to a page that explains how to charge a non-Tesla. And each station had a Magic Dock, so EV drivers could charge at any location.

But the Supercharger’s short cord (shown below) and the location of the Lucid’s charge port (between the driver’s door and front wheel) presented some challenges.

Location: 1 Starr Ridge Road, Brewster, N.Y.
Distance from Auto Test Center: 79 miles
Charging fee: $0.49/kWh

Located near the junction of Interstates 84 and 684, this Supercharger sat behind a small shopping center with a Dunkin’ and a Sherwin-Williams paint store. There was only a gas station within walking distance, and drivers charging late at night could feel isolated, especially after the Dunkin’ closed. 

Our experience getting hooked up mirrored what Alex experienced with the Lucid Air. Both the EV6 and EQE have their charge ports on the passenger-side rear, and they’re fairly close to the back of the car. But because the Supercharger cables are oriented on the right side of the charger and too short to reach the ports on the left side of the car, we had to park in the next space over rather than the one that corresponded to the charger. For example, to use charging station 1A you have to park in the space for station 1B—to the right of 1A—in order for the cable to reach. This effectively blocks 1B from being used by any Tesla, though a non-Tesla can potentially use it . . . by parking in space 1C.

The EV6 Alex drove would not charge on the first station he hooked up to. There were no issues accessing the charge plug and connecting to the car. We heard a series of clicks and other noises as the charging station and the car’s onboard charger communicated. The EV6 even made its standard “charging started” announcement. But within about 30 seconds a fault would appear on the app, and charging would stop. 

This happened a few times, so we moved the car to a different charging station, which worked flawlessly. The Mercedes-Benz that Jon was driving also connected without any problem and began charging on the first attempt.

We brought the EV6 because, like the Lucid, it uses a higher voltage electrical architecture that enables some of the fastest charging speeds available when connected to a 350-kW charger (like those from Electrify America). But we saw a max of 40 kW when connected to the Supercharger. The EQE, which charges at a similar voltage to a Tesla, reached a rate of 76 kW. 

These chargers are capable of charging a Tesla at a rate of up to 250 kW, which the automaker claims can add 75 miles of charge in 5 minutes and charge at rates of up to 1,000 miles per hour. This would equate to giving our EQE about 16 miles of range for every 5 minutes of charging time, or just over 190 miles in an hour.

Up until now, Tesla owners in the U.S. and Canada had access to a proprietary charging infrastructure that was sleek and seamless. Owners can locate and drive to a Supercharger using the in-car navigation system. Upon arrival and plugging in, the Tesla charging station communicates with the car and, if applicable, charges the owner’s account for the session. It is truly a plug-and-play system for Tesla owners.

But now, the doors to this private club have been flung open.

Scotty Olson, an EV enthusiast from New Jersey, drove more than 180 miles round-trip with his wife to try out the Magic Dock in Brewster, the closest to their home. As the owner of both a Tesla Model 3 and a Volkswagen ID.4, he says he can see both advantages and disadvantages to the rollout of the Magic Docks.

“As an ID.4 owner, the Magic Dock makes the charging experience so much better,” Olson says. “It’s a great way to drive EV adoption. The No. 1 thing I hear from people considering an EV is worrying about where they are going to charge. It’s exciting that the biggest maker of chargers is opening up their chargers, and that excuse goes out the window.”

Even though it took him two attempts to get a charging station to connect to his ID.4, Scotty said that his experience with Superchargers overall has been very good. “If I pull up to an Electrify America station and they’re all working, I’m surprised,” he says. “It seems as if one is always down. It’s pretty rare to find even one Tesla Supercharger that isn’t working even in a location with 12 stalls. I would choose a Magic Dock charger over Electrify America, EVgo, ChargePoint, and others because of the reliability factor.”

He was slightly less enthusiastic when wearing his Tesla-owner hat: “I’m not looking forward to non-Tesla owners taking up two spaces when they are trying to charge,” he said.

As already noted, the Magic Dock charging speeds we experienced were not particularly fast; the short charging cables are an inconvenience, and, for now, at least, the nearest Magic Dock-equipped Supercharger may be more than a full charge away.

However, if you need a charge and your route takes you past one of the Magic Docks, it’s now another option—one that’s well-maintained and in working order: According to a 2022 survey conducted by J.D. Power, both Tesla Destination chargers and Superchargers rank highest in terms of customer satisfaction.

The same can’t always be said for other public charging options. In the J.D. Power survey, of the respondents who didn’t charge their vehicle during a visit to a public charging station, 72 percent indicated it was because the station was out of service or it malfunctioned. And anecdotal evidence from CR staff members’ experiences using public chargers confirms this. 

“Almost every time at least one stall is broken or malfunctioning,” Alex says. “Or the charger handles are broken. It once took me 30 minutes in the back of a dark, snowy parking lot in Albany to get an EVgo charger to work.”

CR auto technician Michael Crossen says he has had many similar experiences. “I was in Auburn, Mass., at an Electrify America station, and it was 12° F out and snowing,” he says. “One charger was dark and not operational when I got there. I had to try three different chargers before one would connect to our ID.4.”

And at a local EVgo charger, he was never able to get more than 30 kW in a charging session with our Polestar 2, even though it was supposedly a 50-kW charger.