Flaw In Tesla Superchargers In Europe Allows Competing Brands To Charge For Free

Tesla has a problem with its new V3 Superchargers in Europe that use the common CCS standard. Owners of non-Tesla electric cars can charge at no cost using these charger systems. Tesla went to the CCS standard in Europe with the launch of the Model 3 and Supercharger V3 in Europe.

With the move to CCS standard, most electric cars now use the same standard and connector. However, since Tesla wants it's charging network to be for its vehicles only, it wasn't supposed to mean that other EV's can use the Tesla supercharger network. The charging system is supposed to perform a software handshake between the vehicle and the Supercharger before charging.

That handshake allows Tesla to charge the vehicle owner for the cost of the electricity. Multiple reports have come out of Europe, noting that almost any other electric vehicle with CCS can use the new Supercharger network. An electric car rental company from Europe called Nextmove took multiple electric vehicles to the new charging stations to see which were able to charge on Tesla's dime.

Eight different electric vehicles could use the Supercharger network, including the Porsche Taycan and BMW i3. It's not believed Tesla has decided to allow other EV's discharge using its network because there's currently no way to link the power consumed by charging electric vehicles with an account, making this a bug, not a new feature.

Some are hoping this is a new feature because Tesla has indicated in the past that it was open to sharing the Supercharged network with other automakers. The sticking point was coming up with a way to share the cost of charging with these other automakers.