Tesla Supercharger network will open up to all car manufacturers soon
21 July 2021, 13:44
The extensive charging network is currently only open to Tesla.
Tesla boss Elon Musk has revealed that his electric car company will open its charging network to other car manufacturers soon.
The ‘Supercharger’ network was a pioneer of public charging infrastructure, with locations popping up at high traffic hubs such as motorway service stations to give Tesla owners more opportunities to travel longer distances.
However, the Superchargers only work with Tesla vehicles, meaning owners of other electric vehicles cannot take advantage of them. It can also mean queues for other public chargers while Tesla’s units sit unused nearby.
We created our own connector, as there was no standard back then & Tesla was only maker of long range electric cars.
It’s one fairly slim connector for both low & high power charging.
That said, we’re making our Supercharger network open to other EVs later this year.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2021
In a tweet, Musk confirmed that this would no longer be the case. Responding to a Twitter user who said people shouldn’t criticise Tesla for using a proprietary charging connector, Musk wrote: “We created our own connector, as there was no standard back then & Tesla was [the] only maker of long range electric cars.
“It’s one fairly slim connector for both low & high power charging.
“That said, we’re making our Supercharger network open to other EVs later this year.”
It’s unclear what has motivated this move, and whether this will be the case in all markets that have Superchargers. However, it would be a good opportunity to create extra revenue by billing non-Tesla owners for electricity.
Owners of earlier Tesla models were given free access to the Supercharger network, while buyers of newer cars can pay a premium up front to get free charging.
There are currently over 2,500 Supercharger stations in Europe and the Middle East, with dozens in the UK and many more under construction.
