Chevrolet Silverado EV Driver Stops At Kentucky Buc-ee’s To Charge. They Only Have Tesla Chargers, But He Gets Lucky

A Silverado EV driver was pleasantly surprised to see the electric vehicle accommodations on offer at a Buc-ee’s in Smiths Grove, Kentucky. TikTok user Terry Hensley (@tshensley) shared his experience in a viral clip he posted to the platform. In his video, he says the store provided him with an adapter that allowed him to use Tesla’s NACS plug on his Chevy truck. Commenters also remarked that there were other EV chargers he could’ve used at the same location even if an adapter wasn’t handy.

Silverado EV Charging At A Tesla Stall

“Stopped at a Buc-ees, just to be able to get a charge. Surrounded by Teslas,” he says, showing off the long line of vehicles from the popular EV manufacturer. Stationed behind the cars are rows of dedicated Tesla charging kiosks, meaning anyone driving an EV that doesn’t come equipped with a NACS port would need to have an adapter. Or so Hensley thought.

Luckily, the gas station chain had him covered. “Now, it’s kind of funny ‘cause Buc-ees only had Tesla chargers. But luckily, they had a magic dock. So then I was able to pull the cable and it comes out, and it plugged right into the truck,” he says.

While the TikToker says he was able to get power to his vehicle without issues, it wasn’t a perfect experience. There was still the issue of charging speeds, he tells viewers. “It’s getting kind of slow though. First started out at like 175 kilowatts. Now it’s down to like 140. So that was a little disappointment, when it says it’s, like, a 325 kilowatt system, but yet kind of charges pretty slow. But I kind of figured it would with the amount of units that are out here.”

Toward the end of his video he highlights that his Kentucky stop is one leg of his journey. His next EV charging destination is a Buc-ee’s in Alabama, which he says he hopes to have enough charge to reach. Once there, he said he hopes to find a Mercedes-Benz charging station. The German automaker provides docks for drivers and has been actively placing them at Starbucks locations across the U.S.

Commenters Sound Off

In the comments section of his post, Hensley shared more information on his journey. He said he enjoys going to Buc-ee’s and spends a considerable amount of time there when he does so the stop didn’t add any extra time to his trip. “I typically charge at home, but this being a trip to Alabama, I needed a boost on the way. btw I typically spend 45 mins at Buc-ee’s so win-win,” he wrote.

Another person stated that the Kentucky Buc-ee’s he visited does indeed sport Mercedes-Benz EV chargers, too. Local news outlet WFAA writes that the chain had outfitted at least 31 of its stores across 12 states, Kentucky included, with the Benz EV power stations by the end of 2024. Business Wire also confirmed that this is the case.

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One person who replied to Hensley’s video remarked that they weren’t happy to see non-Tesla EVs utilizing Tesla chargers. “As a long time Tesla owner (my first was 2015 Model S). I don’t know how to feel about this I’m glad more EVs on road. But also, I don’t like Tesla opening these up to GM and Ford. Gross,” they wrote.

Charging Speeds

Someone else offered up a reason as to why the car wasn’t having its battery filled as quickly as Hensley would’ve liked: “The power is split across 2 stalls. So if there is a car next to you then you get half of the full rated power,” they wrote.

Electric charging equipment purveyor EVBox does indicate on its website that this is the case. In a blog post titled “6 reasons why your electric car isn’t charging as fast as you’d expect,” it lists this exact scenario: “Another factor that can prolong charging time is if multiple EVs are connected to the same charging station.” 

EVB.com echoes these sentiments and specifically highlights how drivers will not attain quoted fast charging speeds if multiple cars are receiving power from the same source.

Silverado Battery Charging

In 2024, InsideEVs crowned the Silverado EV as king in battery top-off tests. With battery preconditioning, the vehicle was able to reach its advertised 350kw charging speed. What’s more, is that the Silverado continued to impress with its sustained performance.

The vehicle stayed above 340kw until its battery reached 30% capacity. Following this, the car maintained 220kW after it hit the 75% threshold. Following this, it continued to recharge at 50w even after it hit the 90% mark.

InsideEVs has reached out to Hensley via TikTok direct message for further comment.

 

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