Elon Musk has confirmed that Tesla plans to open its Supercharger network to other automakers later this year.
It’s something that has been in the works for a while.
It’s hard to put a number on that value, but there’s no doubt at this point that Tesla’s Supercharger network is the most extensive electric vehicle fast-charging network in the world.
Instead of relying on third-party charging networks like most other automakers, Tesla developed its own network from the ground up, which was more of a necessity, considering how early Tesla was with electric vehicles.
A decade after deploying the first Supercharger, Tesla now has over 25,000 Superchargers at over 2,700 stations around the world.
Unlike third-party networks like Ionity, Electrify America, or ChargePoint, only Tesla vehicles can charge on the Supercharger network.
However, Tesla has often indicated that it is open to the idea of sharing the Supercharger network with other automakers, but it would be dependent on coming to an agreement on sharing the cost.
The automaker has been rumored to be in discussions with other automakers to come to such a deal in the past, but we have never seen any actual results.
Last year, CEO Elon Musk even said that Tesla Superchargers are now being used “low-key” by other automakers.
Last month, Electrek reported on Tesla actually confirming to the Norwegian government that it planned to open the network to other automakers in order to get access to subsidies.
Some thought that it would only be for a few stations in Norway, but we reported on the Electrek podcast that Tesla was planning a wider opening of the network through an adapter and an update to its mobile app:
Musk has now confirmed plans to open the network for the time and even attached a timeline.
The CEO commented on Twitter when discussing Tesla’s proprietary connector:
We created our own connector, as there was no standard back then and 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.
In North America, Tesla is using its own connector and it is going to have to offer an adapter to other owners of other electric vehicles for them to use the network.
In Europe, Tesla is now using the CCS standard, and it is going to be easier for them to open the Supercharger network in the market.
Electrek’s Take
With a timeline now confirmed for the network to open by the end of the year, Tesla will need to release more details about the plan.
As we previously discussed, sources familiar with the matter told Electrek that Tesla planned to implement a significant update to its mobile app to open to non-Tesla owners.
It would include integration of the access to the Supercharger network to non-Tesla owners.
That’s how they are going to handle their charging sessions and payment.
However, how they are going to be added to the network remains to be seen.
It needs to be handled carefully since it would be easy just to make an adapter available and open the app, but it could overload the network, which is already at capacity in some regions.
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