VW Group EVs to Get Tesla Supercharger Access in June 2025

[hifi239]

Just reporting what I read.

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[Tooney]

Article title now says June.

 

[hifi239]

Article title now says June.

March June. They changed the article. It initially said that access would be March, but that VW won't have approved adapters available until June, and that they did not recommend aftermarket adapters, but implied they couldn't prevent someone from using them. Now that part has changed.

 

[whitex]

Hmm.... My car is currently awaiting a new onboard charger (hopefully whenever Germany comes back to work after the holidays, no ETA as of today). Perhaps I'll get one with firmware ready to supercharge? Oh, the tiny glimpses of hope we make up and latch on to...

 

[hifi239]

Hmm.... My car is currently awaiting a new onboard charger (hopefully whenever Germany comes back to work after the holidays, no ETA as of today). Perhaps I'll get one with firmware ready to supercharge? Oh, the tiny glimpses of hope we make up and latch on to...

All Taycans already have the needed firmware. Superchargers use the CCS protocol. You can charge now at a Tesla Magic Dock, for example. The only thing needed is for Tesla to add authorization for the charging session on their non-magic stations when they see a VW group car ID.

 

[Flying ace]

Meh, most J1.1 were not built with the 400v booster. I refuse to charge at 50kw if I can avoid it.

I maintain the biggest impact of this is to shift the load of the 400v cars over to Tesla which will bring net positive effects to EA. Hyundai and Kia are set to migrate to Tesla by mid-January, the impact may be large enough despite the cars not charging at their top speeds. Many VW cars (and BMW) are 400v, so by summer, it'll be better.

Thus far, I've had positive experiences with charge speeds at EA. The only issue is crowding, so the more Tesla can shift the demand away from EA, even slightly, the better the EA product.

 

[hifi239]

Meh, most J1.1 were not built with the 400v booster. I refuse to charge at 50kw if I can avoid it.

I maintain the biggest impact of this is to shift the load of the 400v cars over to Tesla which will bring net positive effects to EA. Hyundai and Kia are set to migrate to Tesla by mid-January, the impact may be large enough despite the cars not charging at their top speeds. Many VW cars (and BMW) are 400v, so by summer, it'll be better.

Thus far, I've had positive experiences with charge speeds at EA. The only issue is crowding, so the more Tesla can shift the demand away from EA, even slightly, the better the EA product.

I like that “free up EA” effect, but also for me, I have the rare 150W option that was thought to be a waste of money in 2022. I have a place in central NH I’d like to drive to on weekends. NH white mountains and anywhere north of Concord is a CCS desert. There are superchargers I’d use up there for sure.

 

[Flying ace]

I like that “free up EA” effect, but also for me, I have the rare 150W option that was thought to be a waste of money in 2022. I have a place in central NH I’d like to drive to on weekends. NH white mountains and anywhere north of Concord is a CCS desert. There are superchargers I’d use up there for sure.

I'm certain that there are many J1.1 400v optioned and J1.2 owners who will take full advantage. Heck even here in CA, I can take advantage as on I-5 SF to LA corridor the EA stations are jammed with a Supercharger location less than a mile away (though I also heard they are jammed too).

I'm actually looking forward to Rivian's network opening up. It appears their equipment is 800v capable, though much is to be seen whether they have the cabinets to support this. Rivian has zero plans for a 800v vehicle.

 

[whitex]

All Taycans already have the needed firmware. Superchargers use the CCS protocol. You can charge now at a Tesla Magic Dock, for example. The only thing needed is for Tesla to add authorization for the charging session on their non-magic stations when they see a VW group car ID.

I don't think this is true. For example, 2020 Taycans happily use CCS protocol, however they do not support plug-and-charge (a system which authorizes charging without having to use the DC charger interface, or app). The only way to get plug-and-charge enabled on 2020 Taycans is to buy a newer onboard charger and have it installed (Porsche officially offers this service, not cheap, mostly labor costs). This means that if Taycans need a new way enabled to authorize with Tesla (similar to plug-and-charge), they might need new firmware in the onboard charger, but the 2020 plug-and-play experience tells us Porsche cannot just update the firmware on those chargers.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

I don't think this is true. For example, 2020 Taycans happily use CCS protocol, however they do not support plug-and-charge (a system which authorizes charging without having to use the DC charger interface, or app). The only way to get plug-and-charge enabled on 2020 Taycans is to buy a newer onboard charger and have it installed (Porsche officially offers this service, not cheap, mostly labor costs). This means that if Taycans need a new way enabled to authorize with Tesla (similar to plug-and-charge), they might need new firmware in the onboard charger, but the 2020 plug-and-play experience tells us Porsche cannot just update the firmware on those chargers.

The point still stands - any PnC capable EV would just need Tesla’s authorization to charge. The car is a client, doesn’t really know who it’s talking to. (I guess, in principle, the car could validate the station’s cert against a list of well-known authorities, which would require a firmware update, but as i recall the PnC is a 3-way handshake so the respective remote authorities can establish trust without depending on “client state”.)

 

[whitex]

The point still stands - any PnC capable EV would just need Tesla’s authorization to charge. The car is a client, doesn’t really know who it’s talking to. (I guess, in principle, the car could validate the station’s cert against a list of well-known authorities, which would require a firmware update, but as i recall the PnC is a 3-way handshake so the respective remote authorities can establish trust without depending on “client state”.)

Given known past security issues around PnC chain of trust (e.g. here), I wouldn't be at all surprised if Tesla (Elon) is not going to trust it. An even bigger indicator for me is that every non-Tesla car enabled on SC network had required firmware upgrades in order to be enabled, even ones which already also had PnC enabled. I don't know exactly what the firmware upgrade did, perhaps it just added Tesla to the chain of trust (or Tesla signed certs to car client), but again, not sure that can be easily updated on J1 Taycans.

 

[daveo4EV]

Given known past security issues around PnC chain of trust (e.g. here), I wouldn't be at all surprised if Tesla (Elon) is not going to trust it. An even bigger indicator for me is that every non-Tesla car enabled on SC network had required firmware upgrades in order to be enabled, even ones which already also had PnC enabled. I don't know exactly what the firmware upgrade did, perhaps it just added Tesla to the chain of trust (or Tesla signed certs to car client), but again, not sure that can be easily updated on J1 Taycans.

do we know that non-Tesla's support supercharger plug&Charge

I'm guessing the firmware updates were mostly changes to "identify" the vendor/vehicle to Tesla's satisfaction - there are at least 2 levels of 'firmware' change:

1. minimal changes to simply identify the vendor/vehicle as approved for supercharger access
2. any potential support for actual plug&charge support if such a thing is possible

MagicDock requires neither 1 or 2…

I'd love to know what the actual changes are.

 

[Scandinavian]

I don't think this is true. For example, 2020 Taycans happily use CCS protocol, however they do not support plug-and-charge (a system which authorizes charging without having to use the DC charger interface, or app). The only way to get plug-and-charge enabled on 2020 Taycans is to buy a newer onboard charger and have it installed (Porsche officially offers this service, not cheap, mostly labor costs). This means that if Taycans need a new way enabled to authorize with Tesla (similar to plug-and-charge), they might need new firmware in the onboard charger, but the 2020 plug-and-play experience tells us Porsche cannot just update the firmware on those chargers.

Unless it is implemented like here in Europe. We can not use PnC as such, but need the Tesla app to start and pay for the charge. No complications at all and much faster than the set up time on Ionity.

Interesting to see now how all the ones that did not see the value of the 150 kW option are reacting now?

 

[Tooney]

Unless it is implemented like here in Europe. We can not use PnC as such, but need the Tesla app to start and pay for the charge. No complications at all and much faster than the set up time on Ionity.

Interesting to see now how all the ones that did not see the value of the 150 kW option are reacting now?

When I started looking at Taycans in 2021, I didn't understand the 150 kw option, and neither did the dealer. Getting the info on that option before I finalized my Taycan order was one of the many benefits of joining this forum.

Have you made much use of Tesla charging in Europe?

 

[whitex]

do we know that non-Tesla's support supercharger plug&Charge

I'm guessing the firmware updates were mostly changes to "identify" the vendor/vehicle to Tesla's satisfaction - there are at least 2 levels of 'firmware' change:

1. minimal changes to simply identify the vendor/vehicle as approved for supercharger access
2. any potential support for actual plug&charge support if such a thing is possible

MagicDock requires neither 1 or 2…

I'd love to know what the actual changes are.

Ford has been supporting PnC at EA, as has Mercedes. Rivian still doesn't (but it does support Tesla). I have no idea what the firmware changes actually involved, but IIRC a VIN is included in the PnC (ISO15118), so the manufacturer can be reliably inferred (all VIN's are unique to manufacturers, so if you can authenticate vehicle's VIN, you know the vehicle's manufacturer).

MagicDock does not require any car identification, it will charge anonymous cars because you're doing the billing via the app, which is slower and more error prone than authenticating via the plug. Slower and more error prone reduces charger efficiency.

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