- Electric vehicles made by General Motors can use the Tesla Supercharger network with an adapter.
- However, this only applies to retail models.
- Fleet vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Silverado EV WT and BrightDrop van, are not included.
Update: General Motors clarified that retail customers who have a retail OnStar account will be able to order a charging adapter and charge their Silverado EV Work Trucks at Tesla Superchargers. The original story has been modified to reflect this change. We regret the error.
General Motors recently announced that its electric vehicles can finally be charged at Tesla Supercharger stations across the United States with the help of an adapter, which is a great thing however you look at it. With roughly 18,000 stalls accessible by non-Tesla EVs in the U.S. and Canada, this change is sure to make life easier for both road trippers and everyday drivers alike. However, not all GM EVs can top up on Tesla’s DC fast charging network.
The Chevrolet Silverado EV Work Truck (WT) and the Chevrolet BrightDrop van owned by fleet customers don’t have access to Superchargers, a GM spokesperson confirmed for InsideEVs in an email.
“At launch, access to the Tesla Supercharger network will be available to retail customers,” the company representative said. “We will be pursuing a commercial and fleet solution soon and expect to share more in future updates.”
This doesn’t affect people who bought the retail version of the Silverado EV, the RST. Furthermore, if a retail customer somehow got their hands on a fleet-oriented WT version of the Silverado EV and has a retail On-Star account, they will be able to order a charging adapter from Chevrolet and use compatible Tesla Supercharger stalls to top up the battery.
"Access to the Supercharger Network using a GM Approved NACS DC Adapter is account specific – that means if you are a retail customer with a retail OnStar account on your Chevrolet Work Truck, you can order your adapter and charge on the network," a GM representative told InsideEVs.
Hertz recently started selling some of the Silverado EVs in its fleet, and they’re all WT versions, so if you were planning on getting one because of the appealing prices, keep this in mind.
This is an interesting proposition. The Silverado EV WT comes with Apple CarPlay, something that the retail-oriented RST trim doesn’t have. But that variant does offer native support for the most commonly used apps such as Google Maps, Spotify and PlugShare.
As for the Chevrolet BrightDrop van (previously known as the BrightDrop Zevo), it’s only available for fleet customers, just like the Silverado EV WT. The difference is that none of the companies that purchased BrightDrop vans are currently selling them to people like you and me. (That said, I found three Zevos for sale in Canada, so if you’re into white electric delivery vans, this might be your chance to get one.) And even if you have a retail OnStar account, you still won't be able to use Superchargers with your BrightDrop, GM confirmed for InsideEVs.
Fleet operators like Hertz, Ryder, FedEx and DHL which bought these EVs can work with GM Energy, the automaker’s charging and energy management solutions provider, to install charging stations at their locations, so access to Tesla Superchargers isn’t really that important to them.
It’s hard to imagine a BrightDrop van going on a road trip, seeing how its sole purpose is to do last-mile deliveries. But the Silverado EV WT, with its impressive driving range of up to 450 miles, is more than capable of going cross-country.
