Tesla Is Now Powering One Of Its Biggest Charging Rivals

EVgo just opened its first station featuring Tesla Superchargers, with hundreds more stalls on the way.

Photo by: EVgo

By: Kevin Williams

Nov 5, at 2:13pm ET

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EVgo has installed the first Tesla Supercharger stalls on its network at a station in Chicago.
The charging stations can work with both NACS and CCS-equipped cars via Tesla's Magic Dock connector.
Within the next two years, EVgo wants to add at least one NACS port to every charging station it built after 2023.

Superchargers aren't just a Tesla thing anymore. Today EVgo announced that it opened its first location powered by Tesla hardware. The 12-stall charging station in Chicago kicks off an expansion that will include hundreds more Supercharger stalls nationwide, EVgo said.

With the shift to the North American Charging Standard (NACS), Tesla has shifted in some aspects toward a brand-agnostic tech provider. The NACS port was once a Tesla exclusive; now it’s the port of choice when it comes to modern EVs. Similarly, Tesla’s V4 Supercharging cabinets are available for purchase and installation by any commercial client. Tesla's V4 Supercharging cabinets are powerful, offering speeds up to 500 kW.

“Deploying our first EVgo Supercharger marks an important milestone in growing our customer base while supporting the EV industry’s transition to NACS,” said EVgo CEO Badar Khan.

The first EVgo location in Chicago has both CCS and NACS ports, thanks to the Magic Dock connector. The first batch of Tesla-powered EVgo stations will be built at grocery stores and shopping outlet centers owned by real estate company Regency Centers. This developer has had a longstanding partnership with EVgo; it already had plans to implement 400 more charging stalls. It says that Illinois is a great place to start its Supercharger push, since EV registrations have grown 60% over the past two years.

One nice bonus for Tesla drivers: EVgo’s Superchargers come up in Tesla’s in-car navigation system. As long as the “third-party charging” box is checked in the Tesla navigation app, users will be able to navigate to and charge just as easily as they would for a normal Tesla Supercharging station.

EVgo’s expansion spans more than just one developer or a handful of NACS ports. The company says it already is on track to hit 500 NACS-enabled charging stations nationwide (not counting the Supercharging network). Within the next two years, it wants all of its existing stations built after 2023 to have at least one NACS plug.

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Tesla isn’t the only DC fast-charging company with hardware capable of charging natively via a NACS port. Once the NACS plug shape was officially certified by SAE, charging cabinet manufacturers quickly integrated it into their designs. However, Tesla’s Supercharging cabinets are known for their reliability. Tesla itself claims that uptime is 99%, and the network is known for being one of the best in the business.

In a recent survey of EV drivers, EVgo came in second place in terms of reliability after Tesla. Implementing more Tesla Supercharging cabinets could continue to elevate EVgo's reputation.