News

Musk confirms Tesla Supercharger network will open up to all car manufacturers later this year

  • Tesla’s Supercharger network to work for other manufacturers from later in the year
  • Move to generate income for company firm billing non-Tesla owners for electricity
  • Boss Elon Musk confirms the change on Twitter
Advert

Time 7:49 am, July 22, 2021

Tesla will open its charging network to other car manufacturers later this year, the firm’s boss has confirmed.

The Supercharger network is currently only compatible with Tesla vehicles, leading to huge frustration among motorists.

The network was one of the early pioneers of public charging infrastructure, with locations popping up at high traffic hubs across the country.


The locations give Tesla owners a better opportunity to drive long distances.

However, as the superchargers only work with Tesla vehicles, it can mean queues for other public chargers while Tesla’s units sit unused nearby.

In a tweet, Elon 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 is not known what has motivated the change of heart and whether it will apply to all markets that have Superchargers.

However, experts believe that billing non-Tesla owners for electricity would be a good opportunity to create extra revenue.

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 more than 2,500 Supercharger stations in Europe and the Middle East, with dozens in the UK and many more under construction.

Car Dealer Magazine's avatar

Car Dealer has been covering the motor trade since 2008 as both a print and digital publication. In 2020 the title went fully digital and now provides daily motoring updates on this website for the car industry. A digital magazine is published once a month.



More stories...

Auto Trader Advert
Server 108