Tesla making 'free for all' Supercharger ad to tout easy CCS access as it wins the government money race

Tesla is preparing to increase the interoperability and ease of access to its Supercharger network for other electric vehicles. Besides removing a step needed to charge non-Tesla vehicles at its CCS-equipped Magic Dock stalls, it is also filming an ad how brand-agnostic its Superchargers have become.

Bystanders have caught a Tesla agency film crew positioning several electric vehicles, from a Cybertruck to a Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hummer EV, and Mercedes EQS, at Supercharger stalls. The purpose is to presumably showcase how easy it is to top up a non-Tesla car with its North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector. Nearly every major EV brand has now adopted Tesla's open-source standard, though most of them will start placing NACS ports in their new vehicles next year.

In the meantime, Tesla is equipping its Supercharger piles with Magic Dock connectors that allow other EVs to charge without lugging CCS adapters with them as those are already present on the pile. It's precisely this interoperability that Tesla seemingly wants to advertise now, as it takes tangible steps to make charging other EVs easier.

A recent update to the charging section in the Tesla app, for instance, states that anyone approaching a Supercharger with Magic Dock installed would be able to plug and charge by simply pressing the handle button for two seconds.

Currently, the authentication has to go through the app and only then could the non-Tesla EV driver push in and release the CCS adapter to charge their vehicle. The reason that Tesla is making these changes and intends to advertise them now may have something to do with the billions in public funding available for the expansion of its Supercharger network.

Both in the US and in Europe, public money for EV charging infrastructure comes with strings attached. The requirements include both interoperability with non-Tesla cars, and payment method diversification guarantees. This is the reason why Tesla started installing Magic Dock CCS adapters, as well as bringing Apple Pay to its new V4 Superchargers.

After all, a recent study showed that Tesla has won more contracts from the government's nationwide EV charging infrastructure fund than anyone else. This is hardly surprising, considering that Tesla can build Superchargers way faster and, above all, up to 70% cheaper than others.

Get the 80A Tesla Gen 2 Wall Connector with 24' cable on Amazon