If you’ve ever pulled into a fast-charging site only to discover the plug doesn’t fit your car, this one is for you. The first of the EVgo Tesla Superchargers is now open, and it’s somewhere refreshingly ordinary: a Chicago grocery store parking lot. Twelve fast-charging stalls, with both NACS and CCS plugs, sit where you’d normally just grab milk and leave.

This article covers what’s actually at the Chicago site, which cars can use it, and why it matters that EVgo is installing Tesla’s own charging hardware instead of building more of its own. You’ll also see what EVgo’s plan for hundreds of Supercharger stalls across the US could mean for your road trips and weekly errands. You’ll also get my honest take on where this is a genuine win for drivers and where it’s still too early to celebrate. One site does not make a network, and I’ll treat it that way.

For years, the plug on your car decided which chargers you could trust, and drivers of CCS-equipped EVs often felt like they were living with a handicap. Stalls with both connectors attached remove that friction because there’s no adapter to dig out of the frunk and nothing to guess about compatibility. Plug type stops being your problem. Putting those stalls at a grocery store makes practical sense too, since a typical shopping trip covers a decent chunk of a fast-charging session. If EVgo delivers on the hundreds of stalls it has planned, this could be one of the more useful shifts in public charging.

Inside EVgo’s First Tesla Supercharger Site in Chicago

12 Stalls, Two Plug Types: How the NACS and CCS Setup Works

The headline isn’t that EVgo opened another charging site. It’s that a company known for its own non-Tesla network is now running Tesla hardware, and Chicago gets 12 stalls that serve both camps. For years, the DC fast-charging world was split between Tesla’s proprietary network and everyone else, and drivers picked a side the moment they bought a car. Now the plug Tesla developed is formalized as NACS (standardized by SAE as J3400), and many automakers are adopting it. EVgo is following its customers, and the cars they will be driving.

For drivers, the practical question is which stall your car can use. Before you pull in, check:

• Your port type: A Tesla, or a newer model with a native NACS port, plugs straight into the NACS connector.
• Your adapter situation: Older CCS cars may need an automaker-approved adapter if they use a Tesla-style connector. Keep it in the car, not the garage.
• The app: Check stall availability and connector details in a charging app before you arrive instead of circling the lot to read cable heads.
• Payment: Check how payment works at the site and set up any needed account before you’re standing in a Chicago January wind.

Supporting two plug types adds complexity, but it’s the right call for this transition period. Many CCS-only cars will stay on the road for years, and a site that serves only NACS would turn away a large share of today’s non-Tesla EVs. The real test is execution. A dual-standard site only works if the signage is clear, the cables reach the ports, and the app tells you the truth about which stalls are working.

Why a Grocery Store Parking Lot Is the Right Location

The best charging session is the one you don’t have to wait through, and a grocery store solves that better than almost any highway rest stop. A typical grocery run takes about as long as a solid DC fast-charging top-up, so the 20 to 40 minutes you’d spend staring at your phone at a roadside station turns into time you were going to spend in the produce aisle anyway. Nobody has ever said, “I wish I’d waited longer at that gas station.” This is destination charging logic applied to fast chargers, and it fits the way people in a dense metro area actually live.

Chicago also needs this kind of site more than most cities. Plenty of residents live in apartments, condos, and two-flats with street parking and no garage outlet, so home charging, the default for suburban EV owners, isn’t an option for them. For those drivers, a reliable fast charger at a store they already visit every week is close to home charging. My one gripe is that grocery lots can be cramped and busy, and a charging stall blocked by a minivan full of groceries helps nobody. If EVgo and its retail partner enforce idle fees and keep the stalls clear, this format should be the template for the next hundred sites, not a one-off experiment.

What EVgo Running Superchargers Means for EV Drivers

Charging a Non-Tesla EV: NACS Adapters, Native Ports, and CCS Cables

Your car’s charge port now matters as much as the charger. If you drive a non-Tesla EV, your experience at EVgo Tesla Superchargers depends on whether your car speaks NACS natively, needs an adapter, or is stuck with a CCS1 inlet and nothing else. A growing number of newer models ship with a native NACS port. Those drivers can plug in like a Model 3 owner, while everyone else brings hardware, homework, or both.

Before you head to the Chicago site with a CCS-equipped car, check these:

• Adapter source: Use the NACS-to-CCS1 adapter your automaker supplies or approves, not the cheapest one in a marketplace listing. A melted adapter costs far more than the difference in price.
• Cable reach: Supercharger cables were designed around Tesla’s rear-corner port placement. If your port sits on the front fender, you may need to back in, angle across stalls, or block a neighbor.
• Vehicle authorization: Some EVs need a software update before they can start a session on NACS hardware. Confirm yours is current before the road trip, not in the parking lot.
• Site-specific connectors: Don’t assume every stall offers a built-in CCS option. Check the station details in the app before you commit.

EVgo’s involvement doesn’t magically fix the cable-length problem, because the hardware is the hardware. What it can fix is everything around the plug: site layout, signage, and making sure a Mach-E driver isn’t left guessing which stall works. If EVgo applies its experience serving a mixed-brand fleet to stall assignment, that alone would be a meaningful upgrade over many Tesla-run sites, where non-Tesla drivers still feel like guests at someone else’s family dinner.

Pricing, Apps, and Payment: EVgo vs. Tesla’s Ecosystem

The real question isn’t how fast these stalls charge. It’s which app you have to open. Tesla owners are used to plugging in and walking away, with billing handled automatically through the car. EVgo customers are used to its own app and account system. Blending those two systems at a single site is where this partnership will succeed or fail in day-to-day use.

Pricing deserves scrutiny before you assume anything. Charging networks commonly charge different rates for members and non-members and adjust prices by time of day, and the gap can decide whether a stop is a bargain or a mild robbery. Before your first session at an EVgo-run Supercharger, compare what the EVgo app and the Tesla app each show for that location, if both list it. Do it in the parking lot, phone in hand, because charging costs vary by site and change often.

My take: this works for drivers only if it cuts down on apps and accounts rather than adding to them. Nobody wants a third payment method buried behind a fourth login screen just to add 150 miles of range. If EVgo delivers reliable plug-and-charge for its members on Tesla-built hardware, Chicago becomes a template worth copying. If it adds friction, drivers will go back to the old routine of comparing four apps and hoping the stall works.

EVgo’s Plan for Hundreds More Supercharger Stalls Across the US

How This Fits Into the NACS Standard Shift and Tesla Supercharger Network Expansion

The most telling part of this story is that a charging company built its brand on not being Tesla and is now installing Tesla’s hardware. That isn’t a surrender. It’s a read on where the market is heading. The Chicago opening is the proof of concept, and the stated goal of hundreds more stalls nationwide suggests EVgo sees Tesla-built chargers as a growth engine rather than a one-off experiment. When a competitor decides the best way to win is to stock the rival’s product, the format war is effectively over.

The connector question settled first. The North American Charging Standard (NACS), Tesla’s plug design that was opened up and later formalized by SAE as J3400, is being adopted by most major automakers selling EVs in North America, many of which are moving their ports over from CCS1. That leaves charging networks with an awkward fleet of CCS-only dispensers and a customer base that will increasingly show up with the “wrong” plug. Adapters bridge the gap for now, but anyone who has fumbled with one in a sleet storm at 11 p.m. knows they’re a stopgap, not a strategy. Hosting EVgo Tesla Superchargers sidesteps the problem by putting proven NACS hardware on the ground instead of retrofitting older equipment.

For drivers, the practical effects of this shift come down to a few things worth watching:

• More places to plug in natively: NACS-equipped cars, Teslas and the growing list of non-Teslas, gain stalls at locations that previously meant a CCS adapter or nothing.
• Reliability expectations go up: Tesla’s hardware has a reputation for working when you arrive, which is the one feature every charging network claims and few consistently deliver.
• Pricing and app experience: The real test is whether payment, pricing, and session start feel seamless or turn into a two-app shuffle at the plug.
• Site placement: Sites like this grocery store lot could put Supercharger hardware in spots Tesla might not have prioritized on its own.

Here’s my take. This deal benefits Tesla at least as much as it benefits EVgo, and arguably more. Every stall EVgo installs extends the reach of Tesla-built hardware, and site work like utility interconnection is often the slowest part of building any fast charger. EVgo, meanwhile, gets hardware with a strong track record and a plug that matches where the fleet is going. That’s a sensible trade, but it also concentrates more of the country’s fast-charging backbone around one company’s technology. That’s fine as long as the hardware keeps working and access stays open. It’s less fine if pricing or access terms ever tighten.

The broader picture is consolidation around a single plug, which is unambiguously good for anyone tired of checking compatibility charts before a road trip. The open questions are execution: how fast EVgo can actually scale beyond Chicago, whether these sites keep the uptime Tesla drivers are used to, and whether non-Tesla owners get an experience that feels native rather than tolerated. If EVgo nails those three, the idea of a “Tesla charger” versus an “everyone else charger” starts to look as dated as asking which gas stations take your brand of car.

Real-world applications and examples

The Chicagoans who benefit most from this opening may never have owned a Tesla. Picture a Ford Mustang Mach-E owner in Logan Square who parks on the street and has no garage outlet to call home. For that driver, public fast charging isn’t a road-trip luxury. It’s the fuel station, full stop. A new site that accepts the NACS plug (the connector Tesla designed, now standardized as SAE J3400) gives that owner one more reliable option, whether through a native port on a newer car or a properly rated adapter on an older one.

The road-trip case is where EVgo Tesla Superchargers start earning their keep. Chicago to Milwaukee runs about 90 miles, and Chicago to Indianapolis about 180, both routes most modern EVs can manage on paper. Paper doesn’t account for a January morning on I-94 with the heater running and a headwind off the lake. Cold weather eats into range in every EV, which is why experienced owners treat a city-edge fast charger as a range buffer rather than a convenience. Topping up before you leave the metro area beats watching the battery percentage fall somewhere near the Wisconsin state line.

Here’s who should be paying closest attention:

• Apartment and condo dwellers without home charging, who rely on public stations for nearly every mile they drive.
• Rideshare and delivery drivers, for whom an hour of downtime is an hour of lost income, and every working charger cuts the odds of waiting behind someone else.
• Non-Tesla owners with NACS adapters, who now have a growing network to test their hardware on, though they should confirm compatibility before relying on it.
• Visitors and rental-car drivers landing at O’Hare or Midway, who may be handed an unfamiliar EV and need a charger that works without three apps and a prayer.

That last point deserves some honesty. Plug compatibility doesn’t automatically make for a smooth session. Owners know the difference between a charger that accepts your connector and one that charges your car well, since battery temperature, your car’s own charging curve, and whether you’ve used preconditioning all shape how fast the electrons actually flow. If your car can warm its battery on the way to a fast charger, use that feature, especially in a Chicago winter. Skip it, and even the best hardware can deliver a frustratingly slow session that has nothing to do with the station.

My take: the real story here isn’t one site in one city. It’s the slow death of “which network does your car use?” as a question anyone should have to ask. For years, public charging meant juggling memberships, connector types, and reliability gambles, a mess that kept plenty of EV-curious buyers in gas cars. Every station that brings a familiar plug to a non-Tesla network chips away at that friction. One Chicago location won’t solve range anxiety for the Midwest, but it’s a useful test of whether this cross-network approach holds up through heavy traffic and brutal winters. Watch the uptime and the queue lines this winter, because that will tell you more than any ribbon-cutting ever could.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly are EVgo Tesla Superchargers?

They’re Tesla Supercharger stalls at stations opened by EVgo. The Chicago opening is EVgo’s first site built this way. That matters because Tesla’s equipment has a strong reputation for uptime. This is a hardware switch, not a merger of the two networks.

Can non-Tesla EVs charge at EVgo Tesla Superchargers?

Yes. The Chicago site’s stalls have both NACS (J3400) and CCS plugs, so cars with either port type can plug in. At other sites, if your car has a CCS1 port and only NACS plugs are available, you’ll need an approved adapter, ideally one your automaker sells or recommends. Cheap third-party adapters are a gamble at high power, and I wouldn’t trust one. Don’t assume every future site will have a CCS cable either. Check the station listing in a charging app before you go. Showing up with a CCS-only car and no adapter at a NACS-only site means you’re not charging.

How do you pay at an EVgo Tesla Supercharger, and is it cheaper?

Drivers should check both the Tesla app and the EVgo app to see which handles payment at a given site, since setup can vary by location. On price, don’t assume Tesla’s own rates apply; check what you’ll pay per kWh, including any time-of-day pricing or membership discounts. Compare the posted rate against nearby Tesla-owned Superchargers before you commit. Sometimes the convenience is worth a few extra cents, and sometimes it isn’t.

Are EVgo Tesla Superchargers faster or more reliable than regular EVgo chargers?

Reliability is the bigger win. Tesla’s network has a reputation for stalls that work when you arrive, while drivers have long complained about broken units on some third-party networks. Running Tesla hardware should help close that gap, though how well EVgo maintains these sites still matters. Speed is less clear-cut. Your car’s charging curve sets the limit, not just the stall. Many EVs top out well below what the hardware can deliver, and adapter-equipped cars may see lower peaks. Expect a smoother session, not necessarily a dramatically faster one.

The Bottom Line

One site in Chicago won’t change your road-trip math overnight. It does signal a shift in the charging war, away from whose plug wins and toward who runs the best stations. With NACS becoming the default port across most automakers, the hardware itself is turning into a commodity. What separates networks now is uptime, pricing transparency, and whether the stall actually works when you pull in at 10 p.m. with 12% left. If EVgo Tesla Superchargers deliver Tesla-grade reliability under EVgo’s banner, that’s a real upgrade for drivers who’ve been burned by broken third-party chargers.

Execution will decide whether that happens. Tesla built its charging reputation as much on software, maintenance, and smart site selection as on the chargers themselves, and putting the hardware on another company’s network doesn’t automatically bring that along. Watch the next rollouts closely: how fast they expand, what they charge per kWh, and how they hold up after a Midwest winter. Then ask yourself honestly: when the plug is the same everywhere, which network has actually earned your loyalty?