As more and more people get electric vehicles, charging is becoming increasingly important. There are multiple charging networks springing up all over the nation, but these all come with different caveats that people should know. Tesla has long since been building its supercharger network (well since 2012 away) and 9 years in the age of electric vehicles is a long time.

But it is not the only game in town. Electrify America and EVgo are two of its competitors. Well, not really competitors, as the Tesla Supercharger network is a closed network only for Tesla vehicles. So it's not really competing. Still, knowing the different charging networks out there is an important part of knowing which electric vehicle to buy. Here are five things you need to know about Tesla's Supercharger network and five facts about other networks.

10 Tesla Supercharger - The Most Extensive

Currently, it would seem that Tesla is very comfortably ahead of all the competition and remains the gold standard of a charging network. In the first quarter of 2021, Tesla was boasting 2,699 Supercharging stations and 24,515 charger connectors globally.

Tesla's Supercharging network is now all around the country and ready to charge Tesla's lineup of vehicles. The network has been expanding at a blazing speed, and that is likely to not be slowing down any time soon.

Related: These 10 EVs Have The Longest Range On The Market

9 Electrify America - Main Competition

The main competition to Tesla's network is Electrify America. Electrify America is owned by Volkswagen and is expanding at a dizzying pace and is perhaps the main rival to Tesla's Supercharger network.

While still far behind Tesla's network, it now (as of November 2020) has some 500 charging stations and over 2,200 outlets. This number is sure to explode over the coming years as they expand the network all across the country, focusing on popular routes at first.

8 Tesla Supercharger - Exclusive Use Only

Tesla's Supercharging network is only for Tesla's vehicles. That means that currently only the Model S (the first vehicle to use the network), the Model Y, the Model 3, and the Model Y can use this network.

It is likely that Tesla will keep the network exclusive and only for its own vehicles. Tesla has also encouraged the use of long-distance travel and so has banned ride-hailing services, taxicabs, and government usage of its network.

7 Electrify America - Origin Story

Electrify America was part of the compromise that car giant Volkswagen reached with settling its emissions cheating sandal with the American authorities. As a part of the settlement, Volkswagen pledged to spend $2 billion over the next ten years to promote the use of electric vehicles.

One of the things they agreed to spend the money on was charging infrastructure. And today that has grown and is now the second-largest network in America and growing fast.

Related: 10 Benefits Of Electric Cars That Make Them Worth Getting Excited For

6 Tesla Supercharger - Focus On Fast Charging

Tesla has always focused on fast charging. Its newest charger (the V3 superchargers) is made at its Gigafactory in New York and can add around 15 miles per minute. That is, of course, one of the fastest on the planet.

That doesn't mean that other non-Tesla chargers are slow, far from it. Some other manufacturers who use the IEC 62196-3 Combined Charging System (CCS) charging standard can actually charge faster than Tesla's V3 in the right conditions.

5 Electrify America - Partnerships

Electrify America has partnered with a number of other car companies including Lucid Motors, Harley-Davidson, Audi, and of course Volkswagen. There are special discounts for these partnered companies, and the list is growing.

Other electric cars can use this network, but they may have to pay higher prices for the electricity. This is unlike Tesla's Supercharging network, where only Tesla's cars can use it. Additionally, even Teslas can use the network, but they need a special adaptor.

4 Tesla Supercharger - Pricing

Pricing is complicated. For example, if you bought a Model S or a Model X before January 15, 2017, or between August 2, 2019, and May 26, 2020, then your vehicle has unlimited supercharging for life.

Other cars may have the first 400kWh (about 1,000 miles) free. And there are only a couple of the caveats out there to Tesla's pricing. In some cases, Tesla may also charge by the minute for cars left plugged in after they are fully charged.

Related: These Are The Top 10 Fastest Everyday EVs, Ranked

3 Electrify America - Pricing

Pricing is also a little complicated, as it depends on whether the car company has an agreement with Electrify America or not. It also depends on the local state regulations as well as the local price of electricity.

In most states, Electrify America charges by the kilowatt-hour. However, some states (rather oddly) only permit electric utility companies to charge for electricity, meaning Electrify America cannot. So in those states, the fee is by time spent charging.

2 Tesla Supercharger - Megacharger

Remember how Tesla is developing the cutting-edge Tesla Semi truck? Well, those trucks will need to have somewhere to charge, too. To accommodate this, Tesla is planning to build an even higher capacity Megacharger network.

This Megacharger would likely have an output level of over one megawatt. They are expected to charge the semi-trucks with some 400 miles of range in as little as 30 minutes (the Semi has a full range of 500 miles).

1 EVgo - The Other Network

It's not quite clear how many charging stations EVgo has around the country, with different sources saying different things. But according to their website, they claim to have more than 800 stations across 34 states.

It seems that General Motors has partnered with EVgo and is planning to build over 2,700 fast chargers over the next five years. EVgo's chargers are also fast chargers, so users will be able to replenish their batteries at high speed.

In summary, there are different developing and competing networks out there, but with a Tesla, you can use all the stations with the right adaptor.