Tesla now integrates third-party charging networks into its navigation system. This is very good news, since until now it was mainly the Superchargers that were integrated into the Tesla GPS. But the brand unfortunately does not go all the way, since third-party networks are not integrated into the trip planner.
Article updated on December 22, 2022 at 3:50 p.m. : Contrary to what we wrote in our original article, Tesla does not integrate third-party networks into its route planner. Charging stations from Ionity, Total Energies, etc. are simply displayed on the car’s GPS. It is then possible to launch a navigation towards them, but manually. They are not taken into account by the Tesla software during long trips which preserve charging breaks. At least add them by hand.
Original article from December 22, 2022 at 10:49 am : Tesla launches in Europe a very practical and long-awaited feature by drivers of an electric car from the brand. The route planner (or trip planner) of these will be improved in depth, to facilitate and make long journeys faster.
On an electric car, one of the most important features is the route planner. Also called trip planner, it can be confused with GPS, since it is based on the latter, but the planner is much more than that. It is he who will allow an electric car to make long journeys with complete peace of mind. It allows the driver to be informed of the various charging stops he must make to reach his destination as quickly as possible.
How the trip planner works
Tesla’s planner is one of the best on the market and has long been the only one that can really be used without having to go through third-party applications such as Chargemap or ABRP. But in recent months, competing manufacturers are getting up to speed. One can in particular quote the excellent system of Mercedes, or that, a little less advanced, of Volkswagen. Unlike Tesla’s route planner, their main advantage is to offer charging stops on many different networks.
Conversely, Tesla had chosen to only offer the brand’s own Superchargers. However, for the past few months, third-party charging networks (like Ionity for example) have been partially listed on the car’s GPS. It is then possible to launch a route to these chargers, but the car will never offer them automatically during a long journey. But that is ancient history.
Tesla revolutionizes its planner
As we can read on the American manufacturer’s website in an article entitled ” improved access to third-party fast chargers“, the navigation of the application is changing in depth. Indeed, Tesla announces taking into account third-party fast charging networks to display them on the map. In other words, the car does not only offer charging stops at Superchargers. But beware, the Tesla car wants to maintain a high level of service quality.
Indeed, Superchargers are renowned for their reliability and availability. It is rare to find them broken down, and if so, the repair is very quick. A Supercharger is the guarantee of finding electricity at your destination to leave quickly. The same cannot be said for third-party networks, as proven by the latest reliability figures for the Avere in France. To avoid disappointment to its customers, the firm of Elon Musk has found the parade.
Third-party chargers beware
For a third-party charger to be added to Tesla’s navigation system, the latter must tick three conditions: have a compatible socket; be used frequently by a Tesla at least every four days; have an effective load rate of at least 90%.
Conversely, a third-party charger may be removed from the trip planner if one of these two conditions is met: no recharge detected over a period of 14 days; the average effective charge rate is less than 70%.
A gift to Ionity?
This new feature should make life easier for European Tesla drivers. If in the United States, third-party networks take time to take off (the only real competitor being Electrify America, from Volkswagen’s Diesel gate), in Europe the situation is not at all similar. In France, Tesla is the leader in fast charging, but Ionity is following it closely, and many other players are deploying, such as Ionity, Fastned, TotalEnergies, Allego, Kallista, etc.
Often, it is also more interesting to avoid Superchargers during long journeys to save time. The latter are most of the time deployed in commercial areas or hotels, along the highway, unlike Ionity, which has the luxury of being present in rest areas. Enough to save 5 to 10 minutes per stop. But Tesla still keeps for itself an excellent territorial network and maxi stations, sometimes comprising 28 charging stations on a single station.
Too bad Tesla didn’t integrate these third-party chargers directly into its trip planner. Instead, the driver can initiate a trip and then add them manually. But it’s not the car that calculates the fastest route with these third-party chargers.
If Tesla’s network of Superchargers continues to grow, the other players in fast charging do not intend to make up the numbers. The networks of Ionity, Fastned or even…
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