Tesla installs first Canadian magic dock

EV firm Tesla has installed its first so-called ‘magic dock’ connectors to its superchargers in Canada, which will allow non-Tesla EVs to be charged on its network.

The expansion into Canada comes after limited numbers of magic docks have been installed in recent months in New York state and California. Magic docks are adaptors which Tesla is beginning to attach to its superchargers which allow them to charge CCS1-compatible EVs. All users of the magic docks will need the Tesla app to charge their vehicles.

Tesla has had plans in the works to allow other EVs to access its chargers since the launch of 2021’s non-Tesla supercharger pilot. But the iniative really began gathering momentum from May this year, when US OEM Ford signed a deal to access 12,000 Tesla superchargers, a move subsequently followed by peers GM, Rivian and Fisker, Germany’s Mercedes, Sweden’s Volvo and Polestar, and Japan’s Nissan.

Playing nice

Despite the competitive landscape among US charging providers, companies are framing moves to integrate other charging standards as altruistic efforts towards nationwide network expansion. “More customers using the supercharger network enables faster expansion. Our goal is to learn and iterate quickly, while continuing to aggressively expand the network, so we can eventually welcome both Tesla and non-Tesla drivers at every supercharger worldwide,” Tesla says.

Similarly, Electrify America, a VW-backed charging firm that is Tesla’s nearest US rival by size, announced in late June that it would add Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors to its network in the US and Canada “as part of the company’s commitment to broaden charging solutions for electric vehicle (EV) drivers today and in the future.”

But Tesla still retains the caveat around hopes that its 45,000 supercharger-strong worldwide network could be entirely open up for third-party access that “future sites will only be opened to non-Tesla vehicles if there is available capacity”.

The installation of the magic docks is the beginning of a collaboration between Tesla and the Canadian government announced in May, to make 750 highway-adjacent charging connectors available to non-Tesla drivers by 2025, of which at least 350 will be 250kW Superchargers, according to the Canadian Department of Energy.