Tesla owners have told me for years that the Supercharger network was a huge selling point, and this trip proved that to be true.
Tesla owners are right, Superchargers make the task much easier — and much quicker.
Graham Rapier/Business Insider
Supercharging takes away most, if not all, of the hassles I encountered. (Charging overnight at home would have as well.)On the return trip, I simply plugged in a Supercharger along my route into the computer and headed down the road. About 15 minutes away from the charger, the truck notified me it was pre-conditioning the battery for a faster charge, which seemed to mean no more regenerative braking but no other major changes.I arrived at an empty — albeit stark — Supercharger in Johnson City, Texas, and plugged in with no issue. The truck immediately began charging at warp speed compared to my other two tries, adding 140 miles of range every hour. I was topped up in exactly 27 minutes to the limit pre-set by the owner.On a brief walk to the local ACE Hardware and a doughnut shop (no amenities at this charger), the truck let me know that charging was almost finished and warned me of idle fees if I remained plugged in more than 5 minutes after.The total came out to $17, my Turo host told me. Since it was a rental, I didn’t even have to think about it — and he didn’t request a reimbursement.I dropped off the truck with about 125 miles of range right next to a Supercharger.Was I truly stranded at any point? Not quite, but it was as close as I ever wanted to be. On my next road trip in an EV, I’ll double-check my adapters — and not count on random ones to get the job done.
