What is a Tesla Supercharger?

Tesla's Supercharger network has earned a lot of headlines, but what exactly is it? Here's our guide to everything you need to know

The Tesla Supercharger might sound like a performance upgrade for one of its range of increasingly popular EVs, but it’s actually the name given to the brand’s public chargers. These rapid DC chargers are a huge part of Tesla’s appeal, forming part of a large network of rapid chargers that allow drivers to travel further and faster than almost any other EV.

Unlike other EV manufacturers Tesla has invested as heavily in the charging infrastructure as it has its cars, making the ownership proposition much more appealing for many, particularly those new to electric cars.Yet what are these Superchargers and how do they work? Readead our in-depth guide and all will be revealed.

*What is the Supercharger network? *

Perhaps more than its cars it’s Tesla’s Supercharger network that is the key to its incredible success over the last decade or so. While other automotive brands choose to simply build EVs and let others worry about the charging infrastructure, Tesla has taken a more joined-up, one-stop-shop approach by constructing its own network of chargers to service its customer’s cars.

Bosses knew that electric cars would struggle to catch on due to the inevitable ‘range anxiety’, that feeling of dread that you’re going to run out of charge on the road, so to ease people’s fears it started building numerous own-branded Supercharger sites with multiple chargers on major routes to allow people to top-up their car’s battery quickly and easily as well as undertake the sort of lengthy trips that until then were the preserve of ICE cars.

The first Superchargers appeared in the United States in 2012, when Tesla unveiled six sites across its native county of California. Since then the network has grown to more than 25,000 chargers globally, with nearly 20,000 in the US, 6000 in Europe and more than 600 in the UK. Each location has numerous chargers, which in Britain currently means anything between four and 12 units, each capable of charging two cars.

The popularity of the network has been further boosted by some venues having handy features such as free wi-fi, allowing drivers to stay connected and carry on with business when topping up cells. A few locations also have solar panels for lower emissions charging, complete with on-site batteries that store unused energy collected from the sun. Tesla plans to roll out more solar powered Superchargers over the coming years.

Currently, all Superchargers can only be used by Tesla vehicles, which for many owners of the cars is a huge part of their appeal. As one of the largest individual charging networks on the globe, it gives Tesla drivers almost unrivalled access to charging points, with more availability per car than any other network.

*What is a Supercharger? *

The individual Supercharger is what you plug your car into when you want to top up its cells. Each unit has two charging cables, which in the UK and Europe use either Type 2 (Model S and Tesla Model X) or Combined Charging System (CCS) (Tesla Model 3) plugs. Initially these were the V2 units that delivered 120kW charging, but these are being upgraded to 150kW. Increasingly common for the latest V3 versions that can provide up to 250kW and use the CCS system.

Unlike rival, third party public chargers all of Tesla’s Superchargers are capable of DC rapid charging. This is because the network has been envisaged to allow EVs to travel long distances with similar ease of refueling as an ICE car, meaning drivers only need to stop for a relatively short time before resuming their journey. For example, plug in a Model 3 using a V3 charger and you can add 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes, enough time to grab a drink and snack or nip to the toilet.

There is, however, a caveat to this because if two Tesla’s are plugged into one unit the charge has to be shared between the two of them, which means slightly slower charging time. That said, with at least four Superchargers (eight cables) at each site you’re unlikely to have to share, and at most sites there are at least double this amount of chargers.

Something else to bear in mind is that in the UK and Europe all the V3 Superchargers use the CCS plug rather than the earlier Type 2. Essentially this means they can only be accessed by the Model 3, plus any Model S and Model X built after May 2019, both of which get a special adapter. Early cars can be updated, however, with Tesla charging £280 to retrofit the necessary hardware and software.

*Where can you find a Supercharger? *

In the UK, most Supercharger sites are found at existing service stations, both on motorways and trunk roads. They tend to be placed at intervals that will allow you to cover most long distance trips around the country. These locations also give drivers access to useful amenities, such as toilets, cafes and shops.

Finding a Supercharger is straightforward as every location is programmed into a Tesla’s onboard sat-nav, while over-the-air updates mean that you never miss out on any new additions. On top of that, the company’s smartphone app provides route-finding details and information as to how many chargers at each site are currently in use.

*How do you use a Supercharger? *

Like most public charging points, using a Supercharger is pretty much simplicity itself. In fact, it’s arguably easier, because there’s no need to set-up and authorise a payment method like other pay-as-you-go units. Because these chargers are available exclusively to Tesla cars, you simply pull up and plug-in. Once your Tesla is tethered it’ll communicate briefly with the Supercharger and, if all is well, the light surrounding the car’s charging point will glow green indicating electricity is flowing.

Once the car is charging you can monitor progress using Tesla's smartphone app. When the battery is full, or you’ve met your pre-programmed limit (80% is normally recommended for speed of charging and for the health of the cells), then you’ll be sent a notification. You can also use the app to precondition the car for your return, cooling or heating the cabin depending on the weather conditions.

A further neat feature of the app is that it will alert you when you’ve got enough charge to complete your journey. So if you plot your route into the sat-nav it will calculate the amount of energy required to get to your destination and let you know when you have enough, minimising the time you have to charge when you’re in a hurry.

*How much does it cost to use a Supercharger? *

Now this is where it becomes a little bit trickier. When the Supercharger network was first rolled out one of its biggest selling points, convenience aside, was the fact it was free to use. Simply buy the car and you would have access to the brand’s charging stations at no extra cost. There was no limit on kilowatts used or frequency of visits, just plug in and pay nothing. Simple.

However, as Tesla’s cars became more popular and the investment in its Supercharger network became greater the costs started to mount up for the firm, so in 2017 it pulled the plug on free charging. Essentially, cars registered after April 2017 currently pay 28p per kWh to use a Supercharger, while vehicles bought before this date continue to benefit from free charging, even after an ownership change. That’s fairly cut and dry then. Well, not quite.

Many owners weren’t happy at the change, and so to placate them Tesla offered a referral scheme, which encouraged existing drivers to recommend one of the firm’s cars to a friend. When a prospective buyer made a purchase they handed over a code that entitled both them and the person that’d referred them to free Supercharging for life.

Yet such was the success of this scheme that Tesla reduced the offer to 1,000 free miles a year (represented as cash credits on their Tesla account), which works out at about 400kWh. And while those pre-2017 cars can transfer their free charging rights to future owners, any cars registered after this date only have the referral credits available to the first owner.

Confused? Yes, so are we. But that’s not all, because even those cars with free Supercharging for life can’t access this benefit if they’re being used as business vehicles, which often clock up larger mileages - a private hire firm in Gatwick racked up over 900,000 miles over three years with its trio of Model S cabs.

That said, billing is straightforward once you’ve set up your account on the Tesla app, with no need to register a payment card every time you roll up to a new charger. Simply plug in and the software does the rest, automatically billing you when you’ve finished using the charger.

That said, a further cost to be aware of are the idle fees, which kick in when a car has reached its maximum charge but remains parked in a Supercharger bay. You’ll get a five minute grace period and an alert will be sent to your phone to tell you your charging time is up, but ignore both of these and you’ll be charged 50p a minute to park there. If the charging hub is busier (anything over 50% occupancy) then this figure jumps to £1.00 a minute.

*Who can use a Supercharger? *

At the moment the Supercharger network is only available to those who own or drive a Tesla. However, eccentric company founder Elon Musk has recently suggested that owners of other EVs could soon be able to access the network, although nothing concrete has been decided. Obviously, if you have a Tesla you can use other charging stations if you wish, such as Ionity and BP Pulse, as they all use the same CCS plug.

*What is a Destination Charger? *

As the name suggests, Destination Chargers are found at locations that tend to be at your journey's end and are used for either for a few hours or overnight. Typically installed at hotels, restaurants and shopping centres they allow for charging to take place while the owner of the car is off doing something else.

Unlike the Superchargers they tend to be free to use for all Tesla models, but they add electricity at a much slower rate, usually between 7kW and 22kW. Essentially the same as domestic wallboxes, they are better suited to longer charging periods of at least a few hours. And while the chargers themselves cost nothing to use, you will have to be a customer of the business it’s installed at to gain access.

All these Destination Chargers use a Type 2 cable, meaning all Tesla models are compatible with the units. At most locations the company has also installed at least one charger that can be used by other EV brands. Marked with an ‘electric vehicles’ sign rather than a Tesla logo it does without the software that usually restricts the flow of electricity if it detects a non-Tesla vehicle.

*Can I have a Supercharger at home? *

While the idea of your own Supercharger looks great on paper, you’re not likely to be able to have one anytime soon. Even if Tesla was willing to sell you a unit, you’d be looking at a price of around £50,000, and that’s before you’ve factored in installation costs. What’s more, Superchargers rely on high power, 480 volt DC wiring, far in excess of the single phase 230 volt UK domestic supply. Then there’s the fact that frequent rapid charging is bad for the lithium ion cells, degrading their efficiency at a much faster rate than slow or rapid charging.

For home use there’s the Tesla Wall Connector, which like other wallbox chargers runs at around 7kW. That means that a full charge of a Model 3 will take around 12 hours, meaning it's perfect for plugging in overnight for a full battery the following morning. Better still, the Wall Connector is configured to run on three-phase electrics too, meaning it can run up 22kW if you uprate your home’s electrical circuits, reducing charging time to about six hours.