An owner of a Chevy Volt filmed his vehicle successfully pairing with a Tesla Supercharger in Brewster, New York.
Previously, only Tesla electric vehicles (EVs) were capable of connecting with these Superchargers, but after opening them up to other brands in Europe in 2021, the company is finally doing the same for Americans.
This is good news. As this technology becomes more accessible, more drivers may consider switching to an EV from a polluting gasoline vehicle.
Range anxiety (the concerns over how far an EV can travel before it needs a recharge) is consistently cited as the main reason for America's hesitation about trying out this greener tech. Increasing the number of available charging ports may help relieve some of that stress.
Though, there do appear to be some growing pains. Comments on the video, which was shared by EV news site Electrek, pointed out a few difficulties non-Tesla drivers would encounter while attempting to use a Supercharger.
"Too bad you had to take up two spots to make the cable reach," one Instagrammer notes regarding the length of the Supercharger's cable.
"Will be a problem when people start to take up two spots, I hope we can all keep cool when this happens," says another.
As Superchargers were previously only designed to power Tesla vehicles (in which case, the charging port is in the same location every time), this is a relatively new problem, which can be rectified in new Supercharger designs.
Still, this is a great step forward for EVs and may only prove to be a temporary hiccup until a new Supercharger version can replace the older ones.
If you own an EV that isn't a Tesla and want to try out a Supercharger, do try to be mindful of where your charging port is, and do what you can to minimize the space your vehicle may take up when you bring it over for a charge.
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