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Tesla Supercharger flaw lets rival EVs top up for free in Europe

This appears to be unintentional.

REUTERS/Michele Tantussi

Tesla’s Supercharger stations normally aren’t very welcoming places to competing electric cars, but European chargers may be another story — for now. Electrek pointed to reports from Nextmove and others that Supercharger V3 stations in Europe are letting people with non-Tesla EVs (like the VW ID.3 and Hyundai Kona Electric) charge for free. V3 outlets in Europe use the CCS charging standard and are supposed to limit top-ups to Tesla cars through a software “handshake,” but that apparently isn’t happening.

As that handshake also links the charge to a driver’s Tesla account, these drivers aren’t paying for their top-ups. It’s not clear whether this affects all stations

We’ve asked Tesla for comment. It has previously welcomed the possibility of allowing Supercharger access to non-Tesla vehicles, but only if they can agree on costs. There’s no agreement so far.

As Electrek suggests, this could easily be a bug or some other flaw. Tesla only allows free Supercharger use as a perk for some of its customers, and it likely isn’t happy that someone with a competing car could not only recharge at its stations without permission, but avoid paying for it. Don’t be surprised if Tesla rushes to block freebies in the near future.