When navigating to or looking at a Supercharger in the Tesla app or in the vehicle, you can view how busy a Supercharger station is. However, viewing how busy a Supercharger is was limited to Tesla’s charging stations.
However, Tesla has now begun showing occupancy status at select third-party chargers in Europe. As part of the Qualified Third-Party Charger Program in Europe, Tesla began displaying third-party chargers on the vehicle’s maps.
Third-Party Occupancy
The third-party occupancy system appears when you tap a charger to navigate to. It provides the total number of stalls and the number of stalls currently occupied. In addition, it also provides the maximum charge speed of the stations located at the site. While not as seamless as Tesla’s prediction-based system used for Superchargers, which shows how many vehicles are actively driving to a particular Supercharger, it’s still a premium experience backed by Tesla’s high bar for its third-party program.
In addition, while you’re in map view, third-party charger sites show up as a grey bubble, with an indicator showing the number of free stalls currently available. That’s similar to how Superchargers are currently displayed on the map - though those are displayed in red. You can navigate to and precondition for these qualified third-party charging sites, which makes them an excellent option in areas where Supercharging isn’t available yet.
Qualified Third-Party Charger Program
Although Tesla’s third-party charging program is currently limited to the Chinese and European markets, it enables third-party charging providers to display their locations directly within Tesla’s navigation system. However, to participate, providers must meet certain criteria over a 60-day period:
At least one compatible charging connector
Frequent use by Tesla drivers, averaging at least one session every four days
An average charge success rate of 90% or higher
This criterion isn’t actually very strict, given that Tesla aims for and achieves much higher numbers with their own Supercharger program.
Third-party charging stations will be removed from Tesla’s navigation system if any of the following conditions are met over a 14-day period:
No charge sessions detected
Average charge success rate falls below 70%
Tesla has opened the Qualified Third-Party Charger program in North America, so we hope to see this functionality roll out in North America alongside third-party NACS stations.
Reliable charging stations help sell electric vehicles. In fact, Tesla Superchargers are loved by all EV owners, regardless of the brand they own. Tesla’s commitment to ease of use and reliability is unmatched in the EV charging space.
Thanks to Daniel Albrecht for letting us know of this new feature.
