Yesterday evening, it was made known that Tesla Malaysia had started opening up its Superchargers to EVs from other brands. This is a big deal, given that they are some of the most reliable DC fast chargers around; the move also represents the Silicon Valley carmaker’s fulfilment of its long-overdue obligation to open at least 30% of its chargers to other vehicles, as part of the BEV Global Leaders programme.
We wanted to try out these chargers for ourselves, and fortunately I had just the car for the job – my trusty Hyundai Ioniq 6. With its 800-volt architecture enabling DC charging at up to 235 kW, it was the perfect vehicle to stretch the chargers’ legs, what with their claimed output of 250 kW. Or at least, so I thought.
First, some housekeeping. Superchargers carry preferential pricing for Tesla owners starting from only 93 sen per kWh, but non-Tesla EVs get slapped with a fee of RM1.80 per kWh. There’s also an “congestion fee” (i.e. an idle fee) of RM2.00 per minute if the chargers are busy, applied once the state of charge exceeds 80%.
Signs warding off non-Tesla cars remain (left), a nearby 60 kW Shell Recharge DC charger
That’s not cheap by any means, given that there are plenty of other high-powered DC chargers – including the 350 kW Xpeng-branded Charge+ chargers at KL Eco City – that cost as low as RM1.50 per kWh. When you consider that battery capacities can exceed 100 kWh these days, this 30 sen difference can lead to a significant extra outlay.
Tesla currently operates Superchargers at 17 locations in Malaysia, but only four of these are open to other brands. These are the V3 stations at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and Gamuda Cove, as well as the V4 stations at i-City Finance Avenue in Shah Alam and IOI City Mall in Putrajaya.
The V3 charger’s short cable meant I had to park rather inconsiderately
It seems that Tesla has been rather strategic with its choices – the locations within the core Central area had other chargers that were either much slower (Pavilion) or much more expensive (i-City). The other two were far away enough from civilisation that the presence of cheaper high-powered DC chargers nearby would not hurt it. Naturally, as I live in KL, I chose Pavilion as it was by far and away the closest one (by the way, the stations still carried a sign saying that non-Tesla vehicles hogging the chargers would be clamped).
Parking up, I realised the error of my ways. The V3 chargers there had very short cables that were specifically designed for Teslas – their charging ports are located on the left rear side. As mine was on the opposite side, I could not plug up until I repositioned my car to take up about a third of the next bay.
Not as seamless as with a Tesla, but still straightforward
Yes, for a short period of time I was one of those people, but thankfully there was no one else there. No doubt that a V4 charger – which has a much longer cable to better fit a wider variety of EVs – would’ve made for a better (and less embarrassing) experience.
Opening the Tesla app, I was prompted to input my billing particulars and, oddly enough, my IC number. Since the Supercharger had no way of talking to the car, I could not use the brilliant auto charge feature – another area where using a Tesla would still be superior. Still, starting the charging process was simple enough – just select the charger and tap on “Start Charging.”
Charging initiated, I looked at my phone and…what? Only 97 kW?
That’s right – despite my car’s fancy 800-volt system, I was pulling less wattage than a lowly Proton eMas 7. Granted, I did start at 50% charge, but I knew the Ioniq 6 was still capable of much more than that. It was then that I realised the problem with using a charger uniquely configured to maximise Tesla’s low-voltage, high-amperage charging strategy.
You see, Tesla vehicles charge at 400 volts, so to pull the full 250 kW requires them to accept well north of 600 amps. The Hyundai is capable of just over 300 amps, so even in an ideal world the maximum it could’ve accepted is 120 kW. That’s even before you take into account the fact that the Ioniq 6’s built-in DC-DC converter limits 400-volt charging to a measly 100 kW or so, and it’s been reported that many other 800-volt vehicles also suffer from the same limitation.
As such, you will rarely be able to hit the high charging speeds a Supercharger is capable of, unless you have a 400-volt vehicle capable of that high an amperage (such as the BMW i5, which can accept up to 205 kW). We should also point out that 800-volt EVs without a built-in DC-DC converter – most notably, the new Mercedes-Benz CLA – would likely not be able to charge at all.
For the small but growing group of 800-volt EV owners, using a non-Tesla DC fast charger – the vast majority of 100 kW-plus chargers in Malaysia are 800-volt capable – is a far better solution. To illustrate that point, I later plugged into the aforementioned KL Eco City chargers, which had longer (and far less awkward to use) cables and almost immediately provided my car with a solid 155 kW of power, despite my car being at a higher state of charge by then.
For 800-volt vehicles, using a non-Tesla DC fast charger is simply a better solution
All in all, I spent six minutes and 30 seconds at the Pavilion Supercharger to charge from 50 to 61%, netting me 9.81 kWh and costing RM17.65 in the process. At the 97 kW that I managed to hit, it would’ve taken me about 15 minutes to charge to 80%; as a comparison, it would take me 18 minutes to charge my car’s 77.4 kWh battery from 10 to 80% at the KL Eco City chargers.
So, until Tesla Malaysia either upgrades all its chargers to V4 and offer full 800-volt charging, or drastically reduce its per-kWh prices to mitigate the various inconveniences, I’m afraid the move to open up Superchargers to other brands is not the game changer that we all hoped it would be.
