Charging EVs has by far been one of the biggest concerns around EVs. Choosing to shift from fuel-based vehicles to EVs must not have been as hard as being able to find a place to charge your EV at least for non-Tesla owners. However, it’s all set to change as there is welcome news for non-Tesla EV owners as Tesla Supercharger is available to use for them at select US sites.
For now, the pricing system is a bit odd but non-Tesla EV owners will care little for they have now found some sort of relief from the trouble of going to lengths to find an EV charging station. It has come as a surprise to Tesla EV owners that the Tesla Supercharger network that was earlier reserved for them is now available to use by people with cars from other companies.
Although the change is new in the US, in Europe Tesla has been allowing cars from other companies to get charged at the Tesla Supercharger network. This move comes on the back of the Biden administration’s 7.5 billion dollar plan in which they hope to expand EV charging options to more and more Americans.
Tesla company’s statement said, “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”.
The experience that non-Tesla EV owners will have at Tesla Supercharger stations will be different from what they are used to having at any other station. Instead of dealing with touchscreen or payment kiosks, they will simply have to download the Tesla app on their Android or iOS device and create an account. Next, they need to select the charge your non-Tesla option and find the Supercharger site.
Next up they need to add a payment method then they need to select a stall and then unlock the adapter and plug in their car. Now they just need to click on the start charging and stop charging options as and when required.
While it is welcome news for non-Tesla EV owners as Tesla Supercharger is available to use for them at select US sites it is going to take a while till non-Tesla EV owners can wrap their heads around the process of using these stations that will require them to tap and swipe a lot more than a Tesla EV owner would have to.
Coming back to the payment structure, non-Tesla owners will have the option to pay per charge or they can pay a monthly fee of 12.99 dollars to be offered discounted rates. Tesla will be charging non-Tesla EV owners more than their counterparts to cover the additional cost spent on getting vehicles from other companies accommodated at their charging networks.
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According to Tesla, they had to make adjustments to the company charging cable at the US stations to prepare them to charge vehicles of other companies. However, the one thing that will remain common for both parties is that they will pay an ideal fee if the vehicle is left plugged in for a long time. For now, the exact number of locations that are open to non-Tesla EV owners remains unknown but the avid followers of the company make it a point to share information about new pumps daily.
Tesla says “More customers using the Supercharger network enables faster expansion. 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.”
Source: Tesla
