Tell us your Tesla Supercharger experience

[DerekS]

I find that EA is much more reliable now in 2025 than it was a year ago... They've really upped their game.

Bit of a mixed bag here in CA, mostly due to contention though.

I have a couple of really good stations that deliver top speeds consistently. The closest one to me is consistently poor speeds.

All suffer from lines.

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[gtm]

I find that EA is much more reliable now in 2025 than it was a year ago... They've really upped their game. I can't fool around with the slow-for-our-Taycans Tesla-"Supercharger" speeds when I can access an EA charger nearby that charges so much faster, has longer cables for easier port access, requires no adapter, and is so much easier to initiate charging at via plug-and-charge (i.e., no need to use a phone at all)... I've had no problems charging at any EA station from Minnesota to Maine to North Carolina in the past year (and have found fewer occasions with a wait to charge than I've found at Tesla Superchargers this year).

EA has improved. No argument there. But they suck just often enough. On my recent road trip I tried EA twice. Both times plug and charge failed. One time both the Porsche app and the EA app failed to initiate a charge. An extra 10 minutes or so with customer service to get the session started. The other time Porsche app failed but the EA app worked. Because of how a charge was initiated (i.e. no P&C and not via the Porsche app) I was paying for the charge both times. A local EA station is almost new and I used it once seamlessly. P&C worked just how it should have. Lately P&C fails every time. Oh and 165kW on a 350kW tower when at 15% SoC and with a warm battery is barely better than the Tesla rate, and farting around with apps that don't start a charge negates any advantage from the higher charging rate. I've had perfect sessions at some EA stations and some sessions where there is some kind of problem (50/50?). Why bother with EA when Tesla is totally reliable. Mercedes, Rivian, Pilot/Flying J, Circle K, FPL (local to FL) have been great so far. EA not so much.

 

[catpupu]

I thought I'd post an update on my efforts to charge my Taycan at our local Tesla SCs. From what I can tell most everyone is being successful using Tesla SC with the occasional exception that some SC stations aren't currently accepting non-Teslas. All the SCs I've tried locally do accept non-Teslas and, apparently, other Taycans (according to my Porsche dealer) ... just not my car.

To recap, I'm signed up with Tesla and have successfully charged another EV at the same Tesla SCs. I have the Porsche-labeled adapter and that adapter has worked fine with my other EV.

As to charging the Taycan, I've tried two SC3 and two SC4s in my area. In every case either an "unexpected error" is reported by the Tesla App or "unauthorized vehicle" from the Tesla App.

The Taycan always recognizes that a charge is being initiated but not current ever passes into the car.

I've asked my local Porsche dealership for help in figuring out where the problem is. I'm still waiting to hear what they suggest. While my car is still under warranty, I'm not sure such warranty actually covers being able to charge at Tesla through an adapter.

No idea whether my experience is totally unique or represent some sort of repairable condition in the Tesla (that's why I was hoping to do a poll of Tesla SC users).

Coincidentally I just sent my car to the dealer regarding the same problem after I discovered an error code with the build-in code scanner in tCan-Pro MapEV software:

After seeing my error code screenshot the dealer was able to find the problem and is currently replacing the high voltage distributor (booster). This booster is supposed to step up 400V coming from a tesla charger to 800V that our cars can accept.

I strongly suggest anyone having problems with SCs to run a diagnosis to confirm it's not your car.
I will take my taycan to a SC once I have it back and report here.

----
Just FYI everything is covered under warranty. They initially suspected my adapter being the problem, but after a successful charge with the adapter on a macan EV loaner they confirmed it was my car

 

[slothinker]

Catpupu, Thanks very much!! I've sent this info to my dealer and they have set up a service appointment to see where the problem lies (me or the car).


[/QUOTE]

 

[catpupu]

Catpupu, Thanks very much!! I've sent this info to my dealer and they have set up a service appointment to see where the problem lies (me or the car).

[/QUOTE]

Hopefully they could find the issue for you. I think the high voltage booster issue also explains why EA / EVgo charges fine while some other chargers (ie EVCS and tesla) doesnt work on my car, likely because they aren't running on 800V.

 

[PSUEric]

A couple pictures from a 16 stall V3 Tesla Supercharger in Quakertown, Pa. I charged there twice while visiting family and friends. On the first time I lifted the front to clear the curb to be able to connect. The second I was able to pull between 2 stalls and then the one side stall opened up and I moved to that location. Bottom line is I was able to connect at each location and charging started within a minute. Rate was $0.55/kWh.

 

[SoccerMan94043]

A couple pictures from a 16 stall V3 Tesla Supercharger in Quakertown, Pa. I charged there twice while visiting family and friends. On the first time I lifted the front to clear the curb to be able to connect. The second I was able to pull between 2 stalls and then the one side stall opened up and I moved to that location. Bottom line is I was able to connect at each location and charging started within a minute. Rate was $0.55/kWh.

that makes me queasy! How did you know the highest lift point would be enough?

 

[PSUEric]

that makes me queasy! How did you know the highest lift point would be enough?

My daughter was looking from the side of the car and giving directions.

 

[slothinker]

Catpupu, Thanks very much!! I've sent this info to my dealer and they have set up a service appointment to see where the problem lies (me or the car).

[/QUOTE]
Update:

Local Porsche dealer took a look at my 21 RWD Taycan regarding the Tesla charging issue. They also could not get the vehicle to charge at a Tesla charging station. I'm not sure how much they know about this ... they don't have their own Porsche adapter so they couldn't test my car with that. They also had no luck using my Porsche adapter on their Taycan although I've used it successfully with an Ioniq6 several times.

So they gave me the car and said they'd revisit in a month in hopes that some update from Porsche comes along.

 

[Gadzoo]

I have the same problem with my 2020 Turbo. I think we need a software update from Tesla for their super chargers. I can start the charge using the Porsche app and it always looks like it will work. But then it errors out after a few seconds. I wish we knew why it works for some Taycans but not for others. That might give us a clue as to how to fix it.

 

[Surlymcm]

It’s been a game changer for us. After some bad EA experiences we seldom took the Taycan out of town. Got our adapter a couple of weeks ago and did a test charge earlier this week at a supercharger about 30 minutes away. Everything worked as expected. Did a 250 mile each way road trip requiring two supercharger visits this past weekend. Saw a low of 105 kWh and a high of 140. We are in SC and there are very few non Tesla DC chargers in our area but plenty of superchargers so we are thrilled.

 

[slothinker]

I have the same problem with my 2020 Turbo. I think we need a software update from Tesla for their super chargers. I can start the charge using the Porsche app and it always looks like it will work. But then it errors out after a few seconds. I wish we knew why it works for some Taycans but not for others. That might give us a clue as to how to fix it.

To my count, Godzoo is the third member of this forum whose reported that their Taycan is unable to use the Porsche adapter with Tesla Superchargers.

I'd guess that this is a problem with specific, probably older Taycans rather than some Tesla app/charger issue. On SC4 chargers, the screen indicates that my Taycan is an "unauthorized vehicle" even though the multiple Tesla SCs I tried locally were authorized to charge Porsche EVs.

Perhaps the handshake data provided by my Taycan is somehow corrupted or aberant? If so, that would seem to be a Porsche issue.

 

[gamueller]

Worked fine on my 21 RWD. Saw around 100kWh.

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