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My travels in my non-Tesla electrical car (EV) had been fraught over the previous few summers. There have been too many occasions the place sporadic or Stage 2 charging, which gives about 25 miles of vary per hour, had made my longer distance journey fairly time-consuming. In 2025, although, along with a big buildout of charging stations, the North American Charging Normal (NACS), developed by Tesla, turned accessible.
NACS wants an adapter for all however 2000 non-Teslas, and solely newer technology Superchargers can accommodate the NACS. I discovered that lesson earlier in the summertime: non-Tesla EVs can solely cost on the V3 250kW or V4 chargers.
Would the NACS make a distinction in charger availability and quicker charging whereas my man and I had been on the highway? It was time to seek out out.
The NACS Experiment
Throughout the summer season my household and I storage our Mannequin Y and transfer from Florida to Connecticut. We discover the area from our park mannequin dwelling with our 2017 Chevy Bolt. It has an upgraded battery and anticipated vary of about 265 miles. These summer season digs have simply 30 amp electrical service, so including a 40 amp, 240 volt circuit has been out of the query. Hubby put in a climate resistant outlet to the outside of our shed, and we’ve been plugging into that family outlet for almost all of occasions we’ve spent in our summer season bungalow by the brook and state forest. Like many EV drivers, our sample is to plug in once we get dwelling and get up to a completely charged battery.
That state of affairs disintegrates into mud, nonetheless, if we’re going to be taking a highway journey. Final month it was to Cape Cod. This month it was 11 days in northern New England, with the primary leg beginning off in north-central Connecticut and shifting by Massachusetts and New Hampshire and into Maine. There we’d spend three nights with pals, having fun with their north nation summer season areas earlier than heading to every week in Vermont.
Tesla’s fabulous Supercharger system was once accessible solely to Teslas, however with our newly bought NACS adapter tucked cozily into its personal nook of the hatchback, we had been able to hit the highway, head to the northern nation, and take a look at our luck. Would our sluggish tripping be extra environment friendly this summer season season? I created a spreadsheet of quick charging choices, simply to extend our odds of success.
Seabrook, New Hampshire: A Little bit of a Spectacle
We pulled into Seabrook, New Hampshire and The Brook on line casino compound. After wandering round only a bit, we discovered the Tesla Superchargers financial institution. It’s open to Tesla and NACS-enabled automobiles with CCS compatibility. Getting the charger to acknowledge our current Tesla account was, admittedly, a little bit of an ordeal. The display variously wished us to enter in a serial quantity on the aspect of the charger or to scan a QR code. We needed to transfer the Bolt twice to a brand new area as a result of earlier failed makes an attempt indicated to the Tesla reader that the spot was occupied. However quantity three was golden — voila! It acknowledged my scan of the QR code and the ultimate click on instead of the balky connector with hooked up NACS adapter.
Whereas the Bolt charged, we entered the on line casino by swooping electrical doorways and into an unlimited room filled with slot machines. At midday, a number of bars had been open. The patrons had been pasty, sporting ill-fitting garments, and squinting within the dim gentle. After a fast restroom cease we ventured again outdoors and sat within the consolation of our Bolt.
In 21 minutes we gained 10 kWh of vitality for $5.22. At 80%, it could be sufficient to get us to our Kennebunkport, Maine vacation spot.
Charging subsequent to the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge
The Goose Rocks space of Kennebunkport runs parallel to the Gulf of Maine and its hanging tidal rise and fall of as much as 15 ft. Our host was a buddy from Florida who invited us to her dwelling. Her massive household greeted us warmly, and we spent the night telling tales and breaking bread.
The Bolt fortunately sucked up electrons from an outlet within the barn. The Rachel Carson Nationwide Wildlife Refuge was out again — grasses swaying within the present, seagulls squawking, gentle glinting off the stream. We added 60 anticipated miles in a single day.
From there we headed north to Augusta, Maine and one other Tesla Supercharger outfitted to simply accept our NACS adapter. This time the display recognized me instantly — no must register by a QR code. As we had been setting as much as cost, a Tesla technician approached us. He was repairing one of many 16 Superchargers and tell us that this website didn’t require our NACS adapter — it had an inside adapter. It was a Magic Dock. This connector was slim and chic — a world away from the same old clunky NACS match and far simpler to plug in.
We ate a bland snack at a 99 Restaurant in the identical parking zone. Over 51 minutes we added 26.6 kWh at $.53/kWh, for a complete of $14.12. We hopped within the automobile, with solely half-hour till our subsequent vacation spot.
Charging from Lake to Mountains
Within the Sheepscot Lake area of Palermo, Maine, we had been delighted to plug into an exterior outlet at our buddy’s rustic rental cottage, which had upgraded electrical. We sat on the dock and watched diving geese. Searching a wall of home windows to a lake cove, we feasted on pasta primavera one night time and stir fry the subsequent. We toured across the arts-oriented seaport of Belfast, savoring a vegetarian lunch and a stroll alongside the waterfront. The Bolt purred away because it inhaled electrons.
Earlier than we knew it we had been waving goodbye and off to North Conway, New Hampshire, the place we might meet a CleanTechnica reader for lunch. A financial institution of 8 Tesla Superchargers awaited us. We famous the stall quantity, pressed that icon on the Tesla app, and plugged in. Whereas the NACS adapter continued to be balky, it did click on in with somewhat further ooommmpphh. We ate at a close-by “Mexican” restaurant (too Americanized for my tastes), chatted with our new buddy, and accrued 23.09 kWh in 1 hour and seven minutes — as much as 92% cost!
I took a flip eradicating the connector and separating the NACS adapter from it; it wasn’t a swish sight, with me bracing the connector between my legs and pulling the adapter off with all my may. However I did it, which gave me the boldness to know that I may use the NACS efficiently on my own if my man weren’t with me.
My brother’s Waitsfield, Vermont dwelling, set on the aspect of a mountain and searching over the valley to the Mad River Ski space, was our ultimate vacation spot of the journey. It took almost one other three hours of journey to achieve this northern New England oasis, the place we instantly plugged into an exterior plug. Right here we relaxed with pals and spent every week savoring the vistas, respiratory within the 802 enjoyable.
Our charging for the remainder of the journey was at non-Supercharger websites, however having the NACS quick charging functionality throughout the earlier miles made all of the distinction in our peace of thoughts. Sure, we relied on the kindness of pals and their exterior family plugs, positive. However we had been capable of efficiently traverse the area on plenty of highways from ocean to lake to mountains and valleys, with about one hour stops every time to cost.
It was sluggish tripping with out vary nervousness — a much-improved, elevated EV highway journey expertise. I might do it once more!
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