In Europe Tesla has opened up several super charger locations to any brand of vehicle for a while now, since somewhere at the end of last year. For Belgium none of these locations were opened but we can still join in Germany, France and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands it’s even no longer limited to some pilot locations.
UPDATE: Now Tesla Super Chargers have been released in Belgium also!! It’s still in pilot phase but it’s a start. Also that renders the screenshot below outdated :D.
You can identify supercharger locations and versions using the details in the Tesla app. Just go to the site info and check the max speed. If that is listed up to 150 kW it’s a V2 supercharger with 2 leads that will work for your Energica. If it is listed as 250 kW it’s a V3 supercharger with a single lead that won’t work for now. The ones in the screenshot below for example are OK.
How to use them
You need the Tesla app to use these superchargers as a non Tesla owner. The first step is to register in that app and then add your payment details. You can choose for apple pay or credit card payments. Do this before you go to the site cause you might have to sign with your Banking tokens. This obviously only has to be done once. Oh and you can register as a business account so you get invoices.
Now you have to open their app on location and pick the top option “Charge your non Tesla” or “Uw niet Tesla opladen” in Dutch. Next you need to manually select the charge location on a map, it does however show the ones near by. When I arrived there I first physically plug in the charger cord into the bike with the key still on. That seems to work best for me. On location you also need to identify what charger you are charging with. For that you can press the button in app with the number that is listed on the charger.
Et voila, you should be all set. Remember that Tesla charges (a whopping 1 EUR/min) when you keep your connection after the charger has stopped. So stop your charge on time. Stopping on the bike and disconnecting the plug was sufficient in my case.
My Experience
I’ve used some of these in the Netherlands with our Mercedes EQV electric family VAN in the past without issues. I’ve since then also attempted with the Energica electric motorcycle but that one is a bit more picky it seems. It works but only on V2 superchargers. V3 superchargers clearly don’t work. All you get is an error in the app that the charge has stopped and that idle fee starts counting. And on the Energica display a yellow triangle shows.
Here is a picture of my bike charging in Valenciennes, France. These are V2 superchargers but even with those I’ve had moderate success. Often the charge doesn’t want to start. You can see how I have that cable wrapped around my bike. Could be that that puts just the right amount of pressure to the connector causing it to work in this instance.
The chargers are also placed in between spots with a very short cable. That works wel with Tesla cars, surprise, surprise :D. For cars with a very long nose like the Porsche Taycan it’s nearly impossible to use these. But then these also won’t deliver enough power anyway. For our EQV I just have to park nose first and that will work flawlessly. Also that car only goes up to 110 kW so even the V2 150 kW chargers provide enough power.
With my Energica it works best having it parked like the picture on top. In that position I don’t have to ride into the grass and I can keep it in one spot. Luckily these bikes have a reverse for this. Riding in front first is also possible but then I had to ride it onto the grass in between the sign and the charger. Sideways is impossible unless you’re OK with crossing the line.
I’ve noticed that these locations are often very busy. Also the price is OK but nothing competitive. With 0,69 EUR/kWh it’s literally the same price that Fastned and many Allego HPC chargers. There is also a separate price when you have a subsciption. Ionity is more expensive without subscription but cheaper with. And All those other locations aren’t nearly as crowded (for now).