Photo: @TeslaOwnersUK, @nachogp16 via Twitter | collage
Tesla is deploying the V4 Superchargers in Europe, although only two stations have been fitted with the new hardware. Based on a Supercharger V4 stall on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, Tesla will soon integrate a credit card reader and a screen into the chargers. The measure will be of great help to non-Tesla owners, although it seems Tesla fans dislike it.
Tesla designed the Supercharger stalls as simple as possible, helping to scale up quickly. We can think of Tesla chargers as energy dispensers, considering the power electronics are in a separate cabinet. They don't have a screen to display the charging progress or tariffs and costs. Instead, everything is taken care of by the car communicating with the charger in the background. This was fine when the Superchargers were only used by Tesla owners, as they could check this information on the car's screens and in the Tesla app.
With opening up the Superchargers to non-Tesla vehicles, many new users considered Tesla's minimalist approach lacking. Imagine you drive a non-Tesla EV, arrive at a Supercharger with an empty battery, and don't know much about Tesla. Downloading the Tesla app (if you have an internet connection), creating an account, and typing in the credit card details is cumbersome for new customers. Having the option to pay with your credit card while seeing everything on the screen is invaluable.
This is why people asked for a universal paying method that doesn't require installing an app and creating an account. It might look straightforward enough if you only deal with one charging company, but non-Tesla owners can access many other networks. Installing an app and creating an account for every one of them is stupid, especially as you could still end up with an empty battery at a charging station whose app is not yet on your phone. That's why European Union thought paying directly by card was the best method.
For charging networks that want to access local subsidies in Europe, a POS to allow people to pay by card and a screen to display the price are now mandatory. That's why I'm not surprised the first Supercharger that can do that was unveiled in Europe. To be frank, I'm amazed to see it at all. Despite the obvious advantage of paying directly by card, looking at the forums and social media will show you that Tesla owners stubbornly insist that the POS idea is stupid.
The Supercharger V4 stall unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed features what appears to be a Payter Apollo Payment terminal. This includes a screen and a credit card reader under the charger dock. It's unclear whether this setup is reserved for the UK, where it was unveiled, or it will be retrofitted to the existing Supercharger V4 stations in the Netherlands and France.
With opening up the Superchargers to non-Tesla vehicles, many new users considered Tesla's minimalist approach lacking. Imagine you drive a non-Tesla EV, arrive at a Supercharger with an empty battery, and don't know much about Tesla. Downloading the Tesla app (if you have an internet connection), creating an account, and typing in the credit card details is cumbersome for new customers. Having the option to pay with your credit card while seeing everything on the screen is invaluable.
This is why people asked for a universal paying method that doesn't require installing an app and creating an account. It might look straightforward enough if you only deal with one charging company, but non-Tesla owners can access many other networks. Installing an app and creating an account for every one of them is stupid, especially as you could still end up with an empty battery at a charging station whose app is not yet on your phone. That's why European Union thought paying directly by card was the best method.
For charging networks that want to access local subsidies in Europe, a POS to allow people to pay by card and a screen to display the price are now mandatory. That's why I'm not surprised the first Supercharger that can do that was unveiled in Europe. To be frank, I'm amazed to see it at all. Despite the obvious advantage of paying directly by card, looking at the forums and social media will show you that Tesla owners stubbornly insist that the POS idea is stupid.
The Supercharger V4 stall unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed features what appears to be a Payter Apollo Payment terminal. This includes a screen and a credit card reader under the charger dock. It's unclear whether this setup is reserved for the UK, where it was unveiled, or it will be retrofitted to the existing Supercharger V4 stations in the Netherlands and France.
We have a few more photos to share.
— Tesla Owners UK ???????? (@TeslaOwnersUK) July 16, 2023
We estimate the cable length is around 2.5m! pic.twitter.com/eGaFx853xu
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