Tesla Supercharging FAQ

Last updated 16-Feb-2024

History of supercharging.

Supercharging, free supercharging, unlimited free supercharging, transferable free supercharging, lifetime unlimited free supercharging are all terms that get used in this area so we'll quickly walk through the history.

If you're a little confused and bemused by all this then you are not the only ones. A relatively simple thing has become very complex with multiple permutations and with changing dates, but it boils down to some quite simple basics on a given car, indicated by the option code:

So which option does my car have?

There are a number of ways to tell what your car has:

Does the car I want to buy have free supercharging?

Because supercharging is not transferable except for a given set of conditions, to work out if a car will have transferable supercharging it is a little easier, which you do depends on where you are buying from.

If the car is being sold by Tesla then the Tesla listing will tell you. We go one step further and break down all the option codes on our inventory listing site so it may be worth finding the car on our site to find out whether the charging is transferable or not.

If you are looking at a car privately or froma dealer and do not have easy access to the option codes you can determine if the car has transferable charging by looking at the charging screen and follow the steps below:

If buying from a dealer, we would always recommend you agree a condition of sale that the supercharging is transferable if the dealer is claiming it has. This is to cover the situation where they have bought the car from Tesla, Tesla have stripped supercharging but the car is still yet to be supercharged which would result in the "No recent supercharging" being displayed. Asking the dealer how they acquired the car is also worth doing. Cars bought directly from Tesla or via auction may have had supercharging stripped. A dealer will know how they acquired the car and should be willing to tell you.

If buying privately, we would suggest asking the seller to meet you at a supercharger if one is nearby and actually charging the car. This will also help confirm the no cost aspect and will also allow you to see how fast the car is charging.

How much does it cost to supercharge?

The cost to charge at a supercharger in nearly all countries is based on the amount of electricity put into the car, measured in kwh. The price per kwh varies from charger to charger and in some locations can also vary by the time of the day. To see the price, locate the supercharger on the map in the car and look at the more information details. This also shows how many chargers are at the location, whether version 2 or version 3, and how many are free.

Free supercharging v supercharging credits

Tesla are currently running a referral scheme where an existing Tesla owner is rewarded with credits if they a prospective buyer goes for a test drive or buys a new Tesla. The rules for receiving the credits vary by country and whether the buyer has previously owned a Tesla and this article is not going to look at the earning of the credits, only how they can be spent.

The credits, typically around 7,500 for a car sale, can be used to purchase blocks of free supercharging. Tesla quote it as either 3000 miles/5000 km, or a smaller allocation of 300 mile/500km for a smaller amount of credits. In practice these translate to a number of kwh of supercharging and so efficient cars such as a RWD M3 will get more than the allocation and less efficient cars like a MX Plaid may get a little less. Once redeemed the owner has 6 months to use the allocation. A further exchange will increase the total and extend the time to use them up to a maximum of 3 years.

In the car, the use of referral credits can look exactly the same as the non transferable free sueprcharging option. While the two are different, when it comes to buying a car the effect is the same, after the transfer the car will not have free sueprcharging unless the new owner is entitled somehow.

Transfering free supercharging to a new car.

In exceptinal circumstances and usually only during promotions to boost sales, Tesla may allow owners of cars with free supercharging, and including both SC01 and SC05 types, to transfer free supercharging to a new car purchase. If this is done, the recipient car will only get SC05 and free supercharging will again lapse once that car is further sold on.

Overstay and Congestion charges

For many years Tesla have charged owners overstay fees should the car be left plugged in to a supercharger where half or more of the available chargers at a location are in use, and charging has completed. There is a small grace period but this is designed to encourage owners to move their cars quickly after charging has completed. These charges are payable even of the car has free supercharging or charging credits.

At selected locations Tesla are now also introducing congestion charges. This is a further time based premium once the car has reached a given state of charge. Typically this is $1 per min once the car has reached 90%, even if the car is still charging. Again this is payable irrespective of free supercharging. The car will display the notification to warn the driver.

What is the difference between Version 2, 3 and 4 superchargers?

The original superchargers were installed in pairs, sharing between 125 and 150kw. The implications were when 2 cars were plugged in, each car might only have 75kw available to them resulting in slower charging speeds. For this reason, many suggest using alternate chargers.

The v3 chargers share capacity across the site or block of chargers, and have a maximum charging speed of 250kw. As a result, the newer cars such as the Model 3, can charge significantly faster on a v3 charger. Older cars which are limited to about 120kw, the faster charger makes no difference other than avoiding the issue with sharing a 150kw capacity. While technically there is sill the possibility of some load balancing and reduced charg speeds, the greater number of chargers sharing the capacity and the fact the higher rates are not sustained for that long mean it is rarely seen.

One final difference, in some countries including the whole of Europe, the v2 chargers have 2 cables. One supports the older DC charging over type 2, and the other is a CCS connector. The v3 chargers are all CCS and the Model S and Model X that do not have a CCS socket in these countries need to have an adapter and the appropriate communications board fitted to the car which can be retrofit buy Tesla.

V4 superchargers are also starting to appear. Generally these have a new cabinet design and and a long charge cable. These are in response to the opening up of the charging network to other makes of car and allow contact less payment and more flexibility for the charge port on other makes or car. They are also believed to be able to support charge speeds of up to 350kw whould the car be able to accept such a high speed.

Why do I not get the charging rate I expect?

The cars charging is dictated by a number of factors and is limited by the slowest of them all. This may be:

• A cold battery reduces the maximum charge rate. Even temperatures below 20C can cause slower charge rates, the colder the battery, the more it is decreased.
• Sharing a v2 supercharger with another car
• Model S and Model X, especially in europe are limited to 150kw irrespecitve of the supercharger (although release 2022.24 onwards appears to have improved the speed on V3 superchargers.
• The state of charge reduces the charge speed, so as the car fills up, the rate will decrease

How do I make it supercharge at its fastest?

If you want to maximise the supercharging speed, we recommend the following:

• Set the supercharger location as the destination, the car will try and preheat the battery to its optimal state for charging.
• Supercharge from 10% to 60%. Anything above 60% will result in falling supercharger speeds.
• Avoid sharing a v2 supercharger

What are overstay charges?

Once you complete charging you should unplug and vacate the space. If you do not, and half or more of the bays are occupied Tesla will after a short grace period start to charge an overstay fee. This is charged even if you have free supercharging. This can also be more expensive than the charging actually cost.

I can not charge, it says payment issue?

You need to have a valid charge card on your Tesla account and all outstanding payments have been approved for payment. To do this you need to log into the web based Tesla account and check your charging history. This will also show any referral miles being used against charging sessions.

I don't own a Tesla, can I still supercharge?

In Europe, Tesla have opened up a mumber of supercharger locations to non Tesla cars with the CCS charge port. At these site, you can charge other makes of electric car, although you need to initiate the charge through the Tesla app. See our guide to supercharging a non Tesla for more information.

What is a V4 Supercharger?

Details of the next generation supercharger are starting to appear. These are physically larger, and are believed to be rated up to 325kw. The main difference however, is thought to be greater alignment to the CCS standard, although interestingly the 350kw rating of these is achieved by having 800V battery packs, twice that of the Tesla.