Drivers of Ford electric cars have now gained access to Tesla’s supercharger network, using an adapter provided free by Ford. Soon Rivians and most other EVs will also be able to charge there. But because most superchargers are designed with very short charging cords that barely reach a Tesla parked just right, many of these cars can only plug in if the car parks so as to take up two, or even three charging stalls. Tesla’s new FAQ tells drivers that’s OK, but asks them not to park diagonally.
That’s likely to cause some contention and resentment from Tesla drivers, particularly if stations are full or have a wait. That doesn’t have to be, if Tesla put a bit more planning into how cars park at these stations. It also won’t last forever, since newer supercharger stations, known as version 4, will have longer cords to better handle non-Tesla cars.
Ford drivers have been very eager for this change. Tesla’s network is not just a little bit better than the CCS charging networks they’ve had to rely on before. It often means the difference between a pleasant and low-hassle road trip and a nightmare. It’s not a big surprise that all major automakers have decided to switch to using the Tesla (now NACS) charging plug, and done deals to get access to that network.
Tesla cars all have their charge port on the rear driver’s side of the car. Teslas must back into stalls and back in all the way to get the cord to reach. A car with the port on the front passenger side could also use such a stall. Most cars place their port in other locations. Fords use the front driver’s side, but not right at the corner, which can be problematic. At the very least, they have to park in the “wrong” stall (to the right of the charger, rather than to the left, as Teslas do) and they may need to park across two stalls to get the cord to reach. Some cars may have to park crossways, taking 3 spaces, which will surely generate some ire. Tesla shows this in the diagram above, found on their web site.
On the wrong side
For cars that simply use the other side of the charger, there is a fairly straightforward solution, though drivers would need to be trained. Drivers who need to park on the other side, using the charger to their left, should park on the right side of a charger bank. Other cars like them should park at the rightmost available spot. Teslas, and other cars which use the charger to their right (facing the charger) should try to use the left side of a bank of stalls. If drivers do this, then all chargers can be used, with a blank space between the two sets. (This does require an empty parking space on the right side of the bank.)
Can drivers be relied upon to follow such a system? If they don’t, as banks fill up, it could mean some chargers will not be accessible and drivers would have to needlessly wait. A good solution to this, however, is for Tesla to change how people pick their charging stall.
Allocation Of Stall By App
Today, drivers just take any available stall when they arrive, which is of course simple. And it can remain that way when a station is not close to full, which is how most stations are most of the time.
To improve the situation, Tesla should pick the right stall for each arriving driver and tell them which it is, on the screen of their car, or in the app used by non-Tesla drivers to set up charging. For Tesla drivers, this means they must use the “Navigate to Supercharger” option which they should already be using, since it speeds up charging. Non-Tesla drivers should do something similar, but either way, they have to invoke the app when they arrive even if they don’t. Thus Tesla will know all cars that are coming to the station, what type of car they are, how much power they need, and in most cases, when they will arrive. This also lets them predict load at stations and wait times, as they know who is waiting.
For the Tesla driver, their car will be guiding them to the charging station and saying, “Please charge in stall 4B.” The stall would be picked both to make sure the cars make best use of the station without wasted stalls, and at the older version 2 superchargers, where stalls are paired, it would allocate a driver to the stall that will give them the fastest charge, something they can’t easily figure out on their own.
In fact, the system could insist, when a station is near full, that they charge only in their assigned stall. Other stalls would not activate. If a stall is broken (and Tesla doesn’t already know about it) the driver would just click to indicate that, and be assigned a different one. They could even ask for a different one due to personal taste, as long as it won’t make a stall blocked.
Those who need to take 2 or even 3 stalls might face more discipline when a station is full. If taking up 2 stalls at a full station, drivers should perhaps expect to be told to only charge to the level needed to make the next station. If you’re taking 2 stalls, and you have enough power, and 2 people are waiting, you should move your car. Indeed, it’s arguable you should move your car even if you don’t have enough, and go back into the line, to take two stalls later, but that can be debated. It could even make sense to require people to move their cars to park next to a similar car, so that the number of wasted stalls is reduced. (For example, if a car has to park on the line, then another car can park next to it, also on the line, and use up only one extra space.)
To assure people move their car when needed, they might be charged double idle fees if they are taking up two spots. Taking up three spots should be strongly discouraged, and be limited to using the stalls at the end of a bank to at least use only two.
Non Tesla drivers pay a higher price at superchargers, unless they pay a monthly fee to get the same rate as Tesla drivers. I expect most of them will pay that fee, at least in months where they are taking a road trip, or if they don’t have charging at home.
Virtual Line
Ideally there are not lines for charging. Because Tesla builds big stations with many stalls, lines are not that common, and they move quickly, compared to smaller stations that are common for CCS cars. A system where drivers are told what stall to use also enables the idea of a virtual line—in fact it inherently creates it as they can’t allocate a stall for you if none are available. Virtual lines have many virtues, if you have to have lines:
- Drivers can go do other things while waiting, like eat and shop, as long as they can see with some warning that they will get to the head of the line and be assigned a stall.
- You can even be “in line” while on the way to the station, though your place in line might depend on when you will get there and not when you asked to join, to duplicate the physical line experience. If the line is very long, you can stop on the way or take alternate routes. Physical lines require you to stand by your car, sometimes moving it every few minutes.
- Because Tesla knows all the cars in line and how much power they need (at least if they are Teslas) it can give you a fairly accurate picture of how long your wait will be, adjusting it in real time.
- If you go to eat while in virtual line, your phone knows how far a walk or drive it is back to the station, to make sure you will be there the moment your stall opens up.
