Key Takeaways
- Using a Tesla Wall Connector doesn’t slow Audi’s charging speeds.
- Tesla doesn’t appear to be limiting charging speeds for its competitors.
- There’s no need to go and buy a new charger just because you bought a different EV.
If you own a Tesla, and you’re thinking of switching brands, you may be wondering what will happen to your charging speeds if you continue using your Tesla Wall Connector. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear there’s any throttling, at least according to one Reddit user’s first-hand experience with charging their new 2024 Audi SQ8 E-Tron at home.
Now that Tesla’s NACS charging port has taken over the EV landscape, it raises questions about the charging speeds other brands can expect when using the system. Some worried that Tesla would keep the best speeds at its chargers for Tesla owners as a way to incentivize sales, but it doesn’t appear Tesla has gone that route.
Charging The SQ8 E-Tron
Reddit user Staplersarefun posted on the electric vehicles subreddit saying they were a bit perplexed by the speeds being achieved. “I previously owned a 2022 Tesla Model Y LR and found that it charged from 10% to 90% in about 6 hours on the 48 amp setting,” they said. “Factoring in the battery size difference, I still think there’s something that slowing down the charging. I’m currently getting 10.9kW with a total charge time of 5 1/2 hours from 50% to 100%.”
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While at first glance this does appear to be slower, other users were quick to point out that you can’t just compare the two wholesale, because they’re different vehicles with different battery sizes. The 2022 Tesla Model Y Long Range came with a 78.1 kWh battery pack with 75.0 kWh of useable capacity, while the 2024 Audi SQ8 E-Tron uses a much larger 114 kWh battery with 106 kWh of useable capacity.
Doing the math, you can see that this means charging the Model Y from 10% to 90% meant a draw of about 10kw, while charging the Audi from 50% to 100% meant a draw of 9.6 kw, meaning you’re getting near identical charging speeds, but the Audi will take longer since it’s bigger.
The Big Picture
While this is just one scenario, it bodes well for those looking to break out of the Tesla ecosystem. You’re not going to want to buy every automaker’s proprietary charging setup every time you buy a new car. Chargers don’t come cheap.
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Imagine where it could be by the end of the decade.
This little experiment shows that there’s no real difference when you charge another automaker with a Tesla Wall Charger. The same would be true if you’re going the other direction and want to move to a Tesla from another EV. Switching chargers just isn’t necessary.
