Tesla has confirmed that it is working on a NACS to NACS extension cable to fix the issues with Supercharging different electric vehicles with different charge port locations.
With Tesla opening Superchargers to non-Tesla EV owners, starting with Ford, it is creating a new problem at charging stations.
In North America, Superchargers were previously exclusively charging Tesla vehicles, which all have their charge ports at the same location: the back of the driver’s side.
The Supercharger stalls were designed for that.
But many other non-Tesla electric vehicles have different charge port locations, and it can be hard for Tesla’s Supercharger cable to reach them without parking the vehicle in a way that it is going to block other stalls.
Tesla’s new V4 Supercharger fixes that with a much longer cable, but most of Tesla’s existing Supercharger stations are V3, which are problematic.
With now Ford vehicles being accepted on the Supercharger network in North America, Tesla is literally recommending them to park halfway onto the next stall to plug in. The parking on the left is recommended, and the one on the right is discouraged:
Tesla writes about the issue on its website:
Most Supercharger cables at NACS Supercharger sites should be able to reach your EV charge port, however, in some cases you might have to park over the line in order to charge comfortably. Avoid parking diagonally to reach the cable and try to obstruct as few charge posts as possible. Charge port locations vary by EV model, which requires cable sharing between adjacent stalls at many sites. Tesla is rapidly deploying our latest V4 Supercharger post which reaches all EVs in the same Supercharger stall. Additionally, we encourage all vehicle manufacturers to standardize charge port locations to the rear driver side or front passenger side.
The idea of a Supercharger extension cable has been suggested as a potential solution.
Tesla has already developed such a technology for the Tesla Semi to charge at Supercharger stations.
Now, Tesla has confirmed on its Supercharger support site that it is working on a NACS-to-NACS extension cable:
We are working on an NACS to NACS extension cable, which will be available for purchase in the future.
It’s not clear when the new solution will be available.
Electrek’s Take
It sounds like a great idea. It could be a perfect solution until V4 Superchargers become the norm.
Although Tesla says it will be available for sale, this means EV owners with problematic charge port locations would have to buy it, and it probably won’t be cheap.
If it’s allowed, like it is right now, I can see some owners not buying it and blocking other stations instead.
A way to lock it at a Supercharger station with a way for EV owners to access it through the app could be a solution to that problem and make sure that non-Tesla EV owners use it.