EV plug wars as Tesla and Polestar 2 owners dispute right to access fast chargers

EV owners have gone head to head over whether or not it’s ok for Tesla drivers to use a third-party EV fast-charger if there is a Tesla Supercharger in the same town.

John Daly, who was charging at Goulburn on Monday, says he was approached by the owner of a Polestar 2, the only other electric-only brand currently operating in Australia.

“Has anyone gotten grief from a non Tesla EV owner for using non Tesla chargers?” the Tesla Model 3 owner posted in a private Facebook group.

“Earlier this evening I was charging at ChargeFox Goulburn when a Polestar pulled into the charger next to me,” he said.

“After plugging in the driver came over and waved in my window. I had pretty much finished charging at this point so instead of just opening the window I got out and said Hi,” he said.

But rather than a friendly greeting return, he was met with a challenge about whether he should be charging at the Chargefox charger.

“I was greeted with ‘You know there’s 8 Tesla chargers in town right?’ I replied with ‘Yeah, but these are faster and cheaper. He came back with non Teslas can’t use the Tesla chargers,” said Daly.

“Not wanting to start an argument I just said I’ve finished charging anyway, went and unplugged my car and left.”

As Daly notes, the Tesla Supercharger in Goulburn charges at a rate of 130kW, and costs 60 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The Chargefox chargers cost the same, but NRMA members get a 20% discount and can charge at a maximum rate of 350kW. Daly says he peaked at 188kW on this particular day, meaning a quicker charge.

“I guess he was implying I was preventing someone from charging,” says Daly, who says it is his preferred charging location as he travels often between Sydney and Canberra.

But, as he pointed out, the site wasn’t even in full use at the time he was approached.

“The entire time I was there he was the only other EV I saw. There was no one there when I arrived and there was no one waiting to charge when I left.”

“I’m wondering if I’ll see him again. I’m going to be making weekly trips between Canberra and home (Illawarra) and plan on using the ChargeFox chargers as much as possible,” he added.

Tesla owners were quick to respond, with varying points of view and levels of humour.

“So Polster (sic) drivers are the new BMW drivers (except with lower quality cars). Got it,” said one member of the Tesla group.

“Sounds upset he didn’t buy a Tesla,” said another.

A third however admitted they had considered they should be using the Tesla charger instead, even though the Chargefox site was empty at the time.

“I had an element of guilt charging at that Goulburn Chargefox charger last week,” he said.

“I was the only one there and it was 20% cheaper than supercharger and 50% faster. But definite element of guilt. Didn’t stop me for the 10 min I needed.”

The post was shared in a Polestar owners group also, which also met with varying responses and a dash of humour.

“What annoys me is when Tesla owners use the slower chargers when there’s heaps of Tesla superchargers around. Happens so much at Broadway and Macquarie Park,” said one Polestar owner.

“Should Tesla users be able to use Chargefox/Evie chargers? Absolutely,” said another. “Should they move on when I pull in with 18% SoC on a cold Thursday night at 10pm, and Chargefox Goulburn is the only place for me to rapid charge? Absolutely.”

“Is this for real? If this driver is in this group, just relax. It’s fine,” one member of the Polestar group said.

“Interesting I wonder if it’s real or just a jealous Tesla owner wishing he had a Polestar 2,” said a fourth.

The sudden spike in EVs on Australian roads – which has still not even broken through the 50,000 mark and is small by international standards – combined with a shortage of working fast-chargers because of supply chain issues means there is increasing demand for publicly accessible chargers.

We’ve also experienced it as EV drivers personally, and have documented it in this article here and here.