Tesla has unlocked about half of its supercharger network for non-Tesla EVs in Australia.
As originally reported by The Driven, 30 of Tesla’s 63 supercharger sites are now accessible by non-Tesla EVs, meaning if you own an electric car from Polestar, MG, BYD, or any other EV-maker that uses a CCS2 port, you could top up at Tesla’s most powerful charging stations – provided it’s one of the 30 stations opened up to other EVs, of course.
Tesla operates one of the biggest charging networks in Australia, from superchargers (which provide much faster speeds) to destination chargers (which are slower but also smaller and easier to install), however up until January of this year, they’ve all been locked to Tesla owners only. In Australia, Teslas use the CCS2 port for DC charging, which most other EVs have, but the superchargers have been locked exclusively to Tesla owners for most of the network’s history.
A version of this article in January reported that five superchargers had been opened up to non-Tesla cars. Opening the Tesla supercharger network was originally floated in July 2021, and has been trialled overseas for years.
Over on the Tesla Australia charging map, click on the ‘Superchargers open to Non-Tesla’ widget. You’ll note that charging speeds vary depending on the location, however, both 250kW and 120kW chargers are now open to non-Tesla drivers (back in January, the five that were opened up to other drivers were 120kW only).
When you click on these chargers (characterised by red dots on the map when the ‘Superchargers open to Non-Tesla’ filter is applied), Tesla also makes note that these Superchargers will only work with CCS-compatible non-Teslas and Teslas. Sorry, Nissan Leaf drivers.
As spotted by Ludicrous Feed, the costs for charging equals 78c per kWh for non-Tesla owners, or 63c per kWh with membership ($9.99 per month).
This is starkly different to the costs of charging a Tesla at one of the superchargers, which costs between 58c and 70c per kWh depending on the location (as reported by Drive). It’s also more expensive than what you can expect to pay at other chargers. For example, Evie charges 65c per kWh on 350kWh chargers and 50c per kWh on 50kW chargers, and Ampol’s new EV chargers cost 69c per kWh.
Despite this, I absolutely welcome this from Tesla, and I look forward to seeing more superchargers open to non-Tesla vehicles. I’ve always thought it was a bit odd that Tesla would lock its extensive charger network behind the requirement of owning a Tesla, for the opportunity to make money at least, but it looks like the company is changing course.
This article has been updated since it was originally published.