Tesla To Open Charging Network To Other EVs

Electric car giant Tesla is conducting a pilot at ten Supercharger locations in the Netherlands, to allow electric vehicles (EVs) from other manufacturers to utilise its facilities.

Tesla confirmed the news of its ‘Non-Tesla Supercharger pilot’ in a support page, and said that it is doing this because “extensive, convenient and reliable fast-charging network is critical for large-scale EV adoption.”

This is the first time that Tesla has opened its charging stations to other EVs since it began building its charging network from 2012.

Supercharger network

It comes as some countries, such as the United Kingdom, struggle with overcrowded, faulty and infrequent charging stations for EVs.

In the pilot in Holland, Dutch non-Tesla EV drivers will be able to access the Tesla stations, known as Superchargers, via the Tesla app.

Tesla has 25,000 Superchargers globally, so this development will be a welcome addition to drivers of electric vehicles.

“With this pilot, 10 stations are now accessible to Dutch Non-Tesla EV drivers via the Tesla app (version 4.2.3 or higher),” said the car maker. “Tesla drivers can continue to use these stations as they always have, and we will be closely monitoring each site for congestion and listening to customers about their experiences.”

“It’s always been our ambition to open the Supercharger network to Non-Tesla EVs, and by doing so, encourage more drivers to go electric,” said Tesla. “This move directly supports our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”

“More customers using the Supercharger network enables faster expansion,” it added. “Our goal is to learn and iterate quickly, while continuing to aggressively expand the network, so we can eventually welcome both Tesla and Non-Tesla drivers at every Supercharger worldwide.”

Tesla’s Superchargers are open to cars with the Combined Charging System (CCS) which is used in EVs belonging to BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford and the Volkswagen (which includes Audi and Porsche).

Tesla uses the CCS standard in Europe, allowing a wide range of cars to charge in stations without an adapter that uses a similar connector.

So far, there is no sign that a wireless charging option for electric vehicles, as demonstrated by researchers in 2016, can be expected commercially any time soon.

Extra costs

It should be noted that charging prices for non-Tesla drivers will apparently include extra costs to support a broad range of vehicles and site adjustments to accommodate these vehicles, Tesla said.

It added that the price to charge can be lowered with a charging membership.

Last week Tesla crossed the $1 trillion market value threshold, after its share price continued to climb.

This makes Tesla the world’s most valuable car maker by a huge margin. Toyota for example was last week only valued at $242 billion.

Volkswagen meanwhile was valued at $134 billion, and Ford was valued at only $63.5bn, as of last week.