I own a Chevy Bolt, and the superchargers have completely transformed the experience.

It shouldn't be so exhilarating to enjoy a breakfast quesadilla in the car, but this one held a special significance; it was from Wawa, which has a Tesla Supercharger, and the vehicle was a 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV, connected to that charger via an NACS/CCS adapter. More than a year after General Motors announced its shift to NACS, and after some internal setbacks at Tesla that made it seem like the agreement had stalled, the company enabled access to its charging stations for GM vehicles at the end of September. While not all Superchargers were included, over 17,000 charging points were opened, many in areas that had previously been dead zones on any travel itinerary.

I purchased my car knowing that long trips would be an infrequent but real hassle. With the Tesla network now available, the anxiety of searching for CCS chargers in unfamiliar places has significantly decreased. To better understand this situation, it’s necessary to recall earlier times.

Many Apps, Few Guarantees

I have had my Bolt for just over a year, and I’ve made four long trips that required DCFC rapid charging. However, "rapid" is a misleading term for the Bolt, which is the modern electric vehicle with the slowest charging, forcing me to plan based on battery levels, nearby services, pets, and assumptions about user influx. Each night before a long trip, I spend time zooming in and stressing out analyzing apps like A Better Route Planner, PlugShare, and Google Maps reviews, wondering if a ChargePoint charger in the parking lot of a brewery will provide 7 or 9 kilowatts per hour.

Despite all this preparation, I have accumulated a useful collection of negative experiences with rapid chargers over a year: three roadside stops during the Thanksgiving weekend with lines of multiple vehicles threatening our schedule; an Electrify America station where a poorly parked car caused everyone else to take up two charging spaces; and the constant exposure to shopping malls, which are the sweet spots for EVs but often only offer faulty non-Tesla chargers.

Goodbye to Dealership Chargers

However, it's hard to argue against the convenience and reliability of those eye-catching red chargers. On a recent trip from Washington, DC, to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I planned to take a longer charging stop at an EVgo in Williamsburg, Virginia, near a shopping mall with a Target. This worked out well because we needed some groceries for the trip. But, unfortunately, only two of the four chargers were operational after wasting 5 minutes trying to activate a third station that appeared functional in the app. If I had wanted to save 11 minutes and significantly increase my odds by choosing among 12 spaces, I could have opted for a Tesla Supercharger further down the route that I was already taking.

Tesla Superchargers are typically located along highways, near places with restrooms or snacks, and the Tesla app stays updated on how many spaces are occupied and functioning. In contrast, with other networks or multi-brand apps, planning a long trip becomes a guessing game.

The Real Deal

This type of situation led me to try charging at Tesla on the return trip. I purchased an A2Z Typhoon Pro adapter, based on its excellent reviews and fast shipping. Plus, it cost notably less than the $225 GM charger, which was out of stock until November, and the Chevrolet app suggested I would have to pick it up at a dealership. But before using any adapter, I had to find a place. That turned out to be the biggest challenge.

At my first stop, a Wawa, most of the spaces were occupied. I tried to park and stretched the cable, but it didn’t reach. Then, the father of the family occupying one of the only available chargers approached me and suggested I park laterally behind the plugs. Following his advice, I managed to connect the adapter, and within less than 30 seconds, the kilowatts began to flow. No faulty screens or common shared-capacity issues, just available power.