Can Porsche Taycan Drivers Use Tesla Superchargers?

Porsche is a German-based auto manufacturer renowned for its line of high-performance, expertly engineered cars, mainly targeted at the affluent class in society. Over the years, Porsche has steered clear from the EV debate until recently, in 2019, when they launched the Taycan, their first electric car that has since grown in popularity. As of 2021, Porsche released about 100,000 Taycans, many prevalent on European, Canadian, and American roads. 

However, having a new EV line for new entrants such as Porsche poses one massive headache: how to charge them using the existing infrastructure. In North America and Europe, the most dominant electric car is the Tesla, and consequently, this auto manufacturer leads the way in the number of public charging stations. This means that other EVs have no option but to charge from Tesla Superchargers under one condition: if they’re compatible. 

So can you charge Taycan at Tesla stations? Join us as we elaborate on this critical discussion, especially if you’re a new Taycan owner or looking to own one of these prestigious electric vehicles.

The Taycan: Porsche's Line of EVs

Driving a Porsche exudes an aura of confidence and class, and this has been a prominent feature of the Taycan, an EV designed to give you the ultimate convenience regardless of the road you’re driving on. The car comes in three main trims: the Sedan, cross-turismo, and sport-turismo, all of which subsequently features a range of variants, each with its own select features. 

The Taycan Sedan, first released in 2019, takes the shape of the conventional Porsche car but with fully EV functionality and is available in other variations that include: 

The other trims include the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo and the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo, specifically modeled to fit off-road and on-road driving, respectively. Also noteworthy is that the Cross Turismo and the Sport Turismo have relatively more expansive boot areas and headrooms than the typical Taycan Sedan car, thus making them perfect choices for those looking for space. They come in various varieties, as highlighted in the table below. 

Charging A Porshe Taycan: What are the Available Options?

A Taycan car features an 800-volt electrical architecture designed to enable fast charging and spare you time in the charging station. But this fast charging functionality is only possible when you plug your Taycan into a compatible DC fast charging system. 

Can you charge your Porsche Taycan anywhere? Although Porsche is a big name in the automotive industry, it doesn't have many available charging stations, primarily because it's a new entrant to the EV market. Therefore, the only option is to use charging stations owned by other autos, such as Tesla. But this is where it becomes complicated because Tesla, until recently, did not allow the direct charging of different car models on its superchargers. Even today, things are not smooth because you need an adapter to plug your car into a Tesla supercharging station. 

So why is this so? This is primarily about Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), a unique outlet different from the Combined Charging Standard (CCS) outlets that are common with other cars. So what an adapter does is that it facilitates the plugging of your Taycan into the NACS outlet and charges your car at superfast speeds. 

Charging on a Tesla Supercharger

Tesla is a market leader in EV charging, with 55,000 charging ports distributed all over North America and Europe, making it very important in the industry. They are of three primary types:

• A  Tesla-only Superchargers, which are reserved explicitly for only charging Tesla vehicles
• NACS Superchargers - North American Charging Standard (NACS) represents North America’s EV charger standard.  
• All EVs supercharger. 

Tesla has also ensured that charging your car at their stations is they breeze by first providing you can quickly identify the nearest location simply by checking on their app. For Tesla Car owners, click ‘Location,’ then hit the charging icon to see the closest available charger. 

If your car is a non-Tesla, such as a Taycan, check out the nearest available Tesla Supercharger by clicking ‘Find a Charger’ on the app. Also noteworthy is that paying for a charging service is easy; you simply add your preferred payment method from the app, and that’s all. Tesla will deduct funds from the payment method as your car charges. 

Tesla doesn't have a flat cost for charging at its superchargers; this depends on how much charge is needed to fill up your Taycan’s battery. So, it uses a pay-per-use billing model that allows you to walk to any supercharger, plug in your car, and get an estimate of how much it costs to fill it up once charging is complete. 

Tesla also has peak and off-peak hours, so you can take advantage of those when there’s not much demand to save on charging costs. 

How Good is a Tesla Supercharger?

Are Tesla Superchargers worth all their hype? Charging at a Tesla Super Charger booth means you can add up to 200 miles in a measly fifteen minutes, which makes them quite fast. But they are not as fast as Electrify America, which, rated at 350 kW, can charge at a faster rate. 

However, one area where the Tesla Supercharger beats them all is its reliability. These chargers are located all over the country and barely fail, so you can bank on finding one anytime you need it. Also, their pricing is attractive.

Although there’s no flat rate, you spend an average of 25 cents per kWh of charge, which can’t be regarded as too expensive compared to the alternatives. Therefore, in a nutshell, the Supercharger is simply the best charger you’ll find. 

The Future of Tesla SuperChargers

Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company had laid off nearly 500 employees working in the Supercharger department, casting doubts into the future of the highly revered charging stations. 

Although Tesla has not yet announced a discontinuation of manufacturing superchargers, this move will slow down the rollout process, which is a cause for concern, especially considering the importance of this infrastructure not just to Tesla vehicle owners but also to others who rely on their superchargers. 

Despite this uncertainty, there’s still a gleam of hope as Elon pledged that the company would inject more funding into the project only that the production will be slower than before. It would be interesting to see how things pan out as the number of EVs keeps increasing. 

Can Taycan use Superchargers?

It is impossible to directly plug a Taycan into a Tesla Supercharger because of the structure of the Taycan’s charging port, which essentially has a CCS charging port, unlike the Supercharger’s NACS plug. 

However, there are ways to work around this challenge, including primarily Using a third-party adapter. Tesla plans to expand its charging infrastructure to support NACS in the coming years, which will be a big win for non-Teslas like the Taycan.