As Tesla works to open up its Supercharger network to non-Tesla electric vehicles in North America, it has announced the price of retrofitting older Tesla models to use the CCS adapter and access other charging stations. The move has been a concern for Tesla owners since it could increase traffic at Supercharger stations. However, this does not work both ways as Tesla owners do not have access to most non-Tesla charging stations due to their CCS connectors.
In 2020, Tesla announced that it was developing a CCS1 adapter, which was initially available only in Korea. However, the company eventually launched the $250 CCS adapter in North America late last year. Unfortunately, the adapter was not available to all Tesla owners. Tesla vehicles built before October 2020 are not compatible, and they will need a retrofit to work with the adapter.
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Initially, the automaker said that the retrofit would come in 2023 without confirming the price. Now, Tesla has added the price of the retrofit, and it’s not cheap. The company reduced the price of the adapter to $175 last week, but if you own a car older than October 2020, it will cost you $450 to get both the adapter and the new charging ECU.
However, Tesla seems to have pushed the start of the retrofits to “mid-2023,” which could put some stress on the automaker’s service capacity. Tesla owners who want to use other charging stations will need to pay the hefty price for the retrofit or wait until mid-2023 to get it done. Nonetheless, the move is a step forward for the company as it aims to open up its Supercharger network to non-Tesla electric vehicles.
