February 29, 2024 represented a significant leap forward for CCS EV owners in the US. It was the day that the Tesla Supercharger network opened at-large to non-Tesla EVs. It is the beginning of what sounds like a very long roll-out, so in reality it does not change much for most EV drivers (myself included). It remains to been seen how well it all goes, but it is very exciting, nonetheless.

Technically CCS cars have been able to charge on some Superchargers for about a year via the ‘magic dock’. Unfortunately, these are still few and far between and the roll-out seems to have slowed for unknown reasons, probably due to the switch to NACS. I mean, a year in and they are still mostly concentrated in two states; and Texas, home to a Tesla factory, only has one measly magic dock site. I was initially hopeful I would get some near me but I have all but given up hope.

So now I am looking toward the general opening of the network and gaining access via my own adapter. I have received no guidance from Mini on what I can expect in terms of timeline, availability, cost, etc. I am assuming I stand to gain access when BMW/Mini does, but I am a little concerned given that my Mini is really kind of a compliance EV that gets no OTA updates and generally feels like an afterthought relative to most EVs. Still, I’m hopeful. Ford is obviously first, but even for Ford owners it sounds like it could be months before they receive an adapter and the necessary update to use the Superchargers. It has been announced that Rivian, GM, Volvo, and Polestar are next, this Spring, and it is generally assumed that the order after that will follow the order in which each manufacturer adopted NACS. From the bit I’ve seen online it seems BMW/Mini is not expected to get access until 2025, but I’m hopeful that if things go smoothly that might get bumped up, so I am closely following the news on each new manufacturer gaining access.

There will certainly be some growing pains that I can foresee slowing things down for a bit. And there is the question of how many useful sites this will open up for me. Not all Superchargers will charge CCS/NACS vehicles and I understand there are even some capable ones that are being reserved just for Teslas right now. I’m not sure what the numbers are in terms of stations/sites, but I think it’s just over half that will be available in the near future. So it could be that the ones I’ve been eyeing around me still won’t be available. And of course they are charging a premium for non-Teslas without a membership, but I would gladly pay that or consider the membership if it opened up new places I could take the Mini, or just made life easier. So you can bet I’ll be following things closing and be first in line for an adapter if and when I can use the Superchargers around here!

Update: 9/24/24

The expansion of Supercharger access has been even slower than I expected when I first posted about this. We are now in fall of 2024 and GM finally announced it will start shipping adapters and gain access. I have not seen a detailed updated timeline for the remaining manufacturers, but it seems like the next wave won’t be until next year. Needless to say it was foolish of me to think I might get access this year.

However, in a surprising twist, several new magic dock sites have come online near me. I think there are now 10 or so in Texas. Most of them seem to have popped up in the last month or two and I just today noticed a new one in Austin. So far they have not been of use to me and I haven’t had the opportunity to try one out. But I’m pleased to see they seem to be recommitting to the magic dock, since I fear it is the only way I’ll get access to a Supercharger any time soon.