Tesla to open Supercharger network to all car manufacturers
Tesla owners can now charge at the new Supercharger location at Mahon Point. Picture: Mahon Point Shopping Centre
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.
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.”
We created our own connector, as there was no standard back then & Tesla was only maker of long range electric cars.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2021
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 upfront to get free charging.
There are currently over 2,500 Supercharger stations in Europe and the Middle East.
In Ireland, there are currently five Supercharger station sites with 34 charge points, the most recent of which can be found in Cork's Mahon Point Shopping Centre.
The Cork site is the first to feature Tesla’s latest V3 Superchargers which can potentially boost a Model 3 Long Range with up to 120km of charge in just five minutes.
As well as the five Supercharger sites, Tesla has installed a network of more than 50 ‘destination charging’ locations across Ireland.
