Tesla lists all Superchargers with new dynamic pricing as GM is caught testing NACS ports

While Tesla keeps adding Superchargers to its sprawling EV charging network, the pace is often not enough to prevent queues and frustrating wait times at popular locations during peak hours.

Earlier this year, it introduced a virtual queuing system experiment that aimed to serve cars on a first-come-first-served basis, as it tried to minimize conflicts that sometimes arise when someone jumps the Supercharger queue.

Now, however, it is introducing a dynamic Supercharger pricing structure as an additional measure to manage the load during peak hours and encourage a more evenly distributed charging session time range throughout the day.

The so-called on-peak and off-peak prices don't rely on estimates, but on real-time feedback for the capacity utilization of each individual charging station. If, for example, a popular Supercharger location is uncharacteristically busy during off-peak hours, the system will raise its prices per kWh, thus discouraging more owners coming and charging if they can postpone it for a later time.

Alternatively, if a Supercharger location that is typically crowded in peak hours has many idle stalls at that particular moment, the system will lower its prices regardless of the fact that the charging session falls on a historically busy time slot. Tesla has now listed all Supercharger stations where it has introduced the new real-time off-peak pricing structure.

Tesla Supercharger stations with dynamic peak hour pricing

• Burney, CA
• Clovis, CA
• Concord, CA
• Diamond Blvd - Davis, CA
• Emeryville, CA
• Christie Ave - Lompoc, CA
• 3734 Constellation Road - Paso Robles, CA
• Golden Hill Road - Sacramento, CA
• Freeport Boulevard - Sacramento, CA
• J Street - Soledad, CA - Front Street

Tesla is starting the dynamic pricing test with ten Supercharger stations, all in California, and says that the average prices will stay roughly the same, just distributed more fairly throughout the day, depending on the load.

It also promises that it won't change the price in the middle of charging, and it will stay whatever is displayed at the beginning of the session, regardless of whether the station is getting crowded or not.

This is an important change, as Tesla's Superchargers are now the de facto charging standard, and nearly all major EV makers have adopted the company's open-sourced hardware. Hyundai and KIA vehicles got access earlier this year, and now GM has been caught testing built-in NACS ports to top off at Superchargers directly without the need of an adapter like the Lectron NACS to CCS kit.

The new Cadillac Optiq doesn't come with a port that allows it to plug into Superchargers directly, for instance, and GM is now retrofitting one on test vehicles to seemingly gather data on how the Tesla charging system will perform in real-life tests.

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