@movernie
Did you know…that in recent years, you can charge your new non-Tesla EVs at selective Tesla supercharging stations near you? When I test drive the all-new 2026 Kia EV4, the media team informed me this INFO and I think it’s super helpful knowing I have more options and locations to charge the EV4.
I did some research. Apparently, in the past, Tesla only purposely built these charging stations mainly for its own Tesla vehicles. That’s coz they want to monopolize and entice buyers to purchase Tesla products only as Tesla will offer more charging stations for Tesla products. Anyone who wants to buy a non-Tesla EVs will have a harder time to find the nearest charging station.
But recently, Tesla has opened up the ability for non-Tesla EVs to charge an selective supercharging station and Kia EV4 is one of them. I think one major reason is that…most Tesla owners charge their own Tesla at home, unless they are really low and needs charging, there are many public Tesla charging stations under utilize. So in order to maximize their investments in these charging infrastructures, I guess Tesla figures they can make some money by letting non-Tesla EVs to charge at some of their Tesla charging stations. Besides, it’s a lot more expensive to charge at these public Tesla supercharging stations than charging at home.
Before you are narrowing to buying a non-Tesla EV, perhaps you want to do more research on where you can charge your non-Tesla EV. You can surely charge at the comfort of your own home if you plan and should install a charging port at your home. But perhaps you want to charge at a public charging station. If you think being able for your non-Tesla EV to be able to be charged at a selective Tesla supercharging station is important to you, then you should make sure the EV you are planning to purchase is indeed compatible to charge at a Tesla station. Or you may want to purchase adapters that will fit the ports to fit your EV.
How to Charge Non-Tesla EVs at a Selective Tesla Supercharging Station:
Follow the steps below and in this case, I am using Kia EV4 as an example.
– Go to your app store and download the Tesla app.
– Create a new account. Create your own profile. Fill in all the fields the form requires you to do.
– In particular, there is a section that asks you which brand and which model you are trying to charge at the Tesla super charging station. In this case, I chose Kia, EV4 and 2026 as the model year (yes, they do ask you the year of your model).
– They also ask for your credit card INFO so they have it in the app to charge you when you are ready to charge your EV4.
– Once you have successfully created a Tesla account, go to the map and type in your address, selective charging station locations will popup and you can see which one is nearest you and which one you prefer to drive your Kia EV4 to charge up.
MoVernie TIP: When you get a hang of the Tesla app, you can filter your search by choosing which one offers Super charging, DC charging or Level 2 charging (slowest of the 3). Of course, the faster the charging option, the quicker it charges your EV4, that also means it’s more pricey to charge. Thus, some opt for slower Level 2 charging, go to a mall for a few hours of shopping, so it’s cheaper but takes longer time. Some don’t mind slower charging coz they are going to spend at the mall for a few hours anyways. It all depends on your lifestyle whether they want it quick or take your time.
NOTE: Make sure you choose the right charging location. For example, I made a rookie mistake when I search for the nearest Tesla super charging station near me. I pulled up, found a port, select the port, plug in the charger, but my app indicated that it’s not charging. The lighting symbol on my EV4 port is showing white instead of green light. So, how come the plug fits but no juice is flowing into my EV4? Well….coz it’s a Tesla station doesn’t mean it opens up for non-Tesla. I stupidly drove to the nearest Tesla station thinking it has ports to charge non-Tesla EVs, but turns out certain Tesla stations are still dedicated to Tesla vehicles only. So…I went to another location, turns out it was the right super charging station and I was able to charge my Kia EV4.
MoVernie TIP: If you like the app to notify you when a charging port becomes available, you can opt to receive notifications. Coz as you can imagine, some charging stations are super busy, and since each car takes 30 minutes or 60 minutes, there is no point for you to wait around for an open port. Thus, it’s nice to know when a charging port is available and you try to the location to start charging.
Now, my 2026 Kia EV4 has a built-in NAC port which fits the Tesla charging station coz I presume Tesla vehicles also use NAC port (North American Charging) ports. Now, what happens if you go to a Non-Tesla charging station?
Well….out of curiosity, I also went to a Kia dealership and see how their charging station works. Apparently, it’s a DC charging port. So…what happens when this 2026 Kia EV4 has a built-in NAC port and not a DC compatible? The media fleet team provided my EV4 with a DC adapter and a Level 2 adapter. To charge my EV4 at a DC charging port, I just simply have to put the DC adapter into the charging port so it will fit into my EV4.
At the DC charging station, simply scan the QR code, it leads me to a link, create a profile, fill in my name, etc. and add in the credit card INFO. Plug in the DC adapter into the charging port, plug into my Kia EV4 and the charging begins.
Quite honestly, the nice part is that…many of these apps or charging ports are easily to setup and create a profile to charge. The unfortunate part is…the number of apps I have to download that does pretty much the same thing. I just wish all brands or all companies just implement one single universal app that applies to all machines so I don’t have to download so many apps and having to create so many new accounts and spending time to figure things out at the stations before I can charge the EVs.
I hope you found these steps helpful in your quest to charge up your Kia EV4.
Let me know your tricks or suggestions on how to charge EV4 or other non-Tesla EVs easier when it comes to charging at a public charging station.