Image: Bridie Schmidt
Last week, marked the Goodwood festival of speed in the UK and as it turns out, there were plenty of EVs and charging equipment on show. Tesla’s showcase included a V4 supercharger stall which appeared to have a credit card reader attached to it.
The credit card reader and the area where a payment screen may be mounted was picked up by the Tesla Owners UK club, which shared their findings on Twitter. The credit card reader and the screen housing were spotted under the CCS2 holder on the V4 supercharger stall.
If this really is a credit card reader on the upcoming V4 Tesla superchargers design then it opens the door for Tesla to be eligible for millions of dollars in EV charging grants globally.
That’s because many government-run grant programs are starting to include credit card payment capabilities as one of the key eligibility requirements.
The availability and acceptance of credit cards at superchargers will help with increasing the usage of the charger, particularly by non-Tesla EVs.
As of today, Tesla only allows charging via their app for Tesla owners and in parts of the world where non-Tesla EVs can charge, the driver will need to activate the Tesla supercharger stall via the Tesla app.
Allowing credit card payments is a new territory for Tesla and current V2 and V3 supercharger stalls aren’t equipped with any credit card readers.
It must also be noted that the majority of the DC fast chargers in Australia today require an app to activate and pay for charging. Some sites have credit-card readers on newer charging stations but most of those also require an app for them to be operated.
Showcasing a V4 supercharger with a design of one is a positive step to see Tesla incorporate the universal payment method in their latest charging hardware.
The V4 superchargers already are designed to be easier for non-Tesla to charge at these stalls. The new design features a longer cable, making it easier for non-Tesla vehicles to charge at these sites since many have charging ports in various locations.
These new chargers are also designed to have a peak charging rate of 350 kW, although this is yet to be seen at the commissioned V4 supercharger sites in Europe.
There are only two active V4 supercharger sites with a third one being under construction in Leon, France. The first two sites currently do not feature the credit card reader so it would be interesting to see if the upcoming site in France gives us a glimpse of whats to come.
EV charging should be accessible to everyone. One way to improve the current charging experience is by not having multiple charging apps on every EV driver’s phone.
Hopefully, with Tesla starting to look at credit cards as a way to take payments, it can only be a good thing for other equipment manufacturers to incorporate it too, reducing barriers and helping EV adoption.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
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