The day when all EVs can use the identical DC quick chargers simply moved a bit nearer, because the White Home introduced that Tesla will transfer ahead with plans to open its Supercharger community to non-Tesla EVs within the US. (Is that the way it works when an organization has no PR division?)

Tesla, which rolled its personal charging normal again within the early days as different automakers dithered, has been shifting in direction of opening up its Superchargers for a while. It has little selection however to take action, as subsidies for public chargers within the EU, and now within the US, can be found solely to firms that make their charging stations out there to all drivers.

Tesla has already opened lots of of stations in most of its European markets, the place it was already utilizing the usual CCS connector, however right here in North America the corporate fell not on time—it had introduced plans to open up by the top of 2022.

Making Superchargers out there to non-Teslas could also be a bit tougher within the US, the place the corporate nonetheless makes use of its personal proprietary connector. Nonetheless, Electrek experiences that Tesla has a brand new CCS adapter known as the Magic Dock, which might be retrofitted to present Supercharger stalls (hopefully with an extended charging cable).

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation will make some $7.5 billion in funding out there for public EV charging infrastructure, however solely charging stations that serve all manufacturers of EVs can be eligible. Assuming that Tesla strikes shortly to open up entry, it stands to earn a large chunk of that pot of funds. The corporate has additionally introduced plans to “greater than double” the variety of Superchargers within the US by the top of 2024.

The official White Home announcement reads, partly:

Tesla, for the primary time, will open a portion of its US Supercharger and Vacation spot Charger community to non-Tesla EVs, making a minimum of 7,500 chargers out there for all EVs by the top of 2024. The open chargers can be distributed throughout america. They are going to embody a minimum of 3,500 new and present 250 kW Superchargers alongside freeway corridors…and Degree 2 Vacation spot Charging at places like motels and eating places in city and rural places.  All EV drivers will be capable of entry these stations utilizing the Tesla app or web site. Moreover, Tesla will greater than double its full nationwide community of Superchargers.

If the previous is any information, the transition could not occur as shortly as marketed, and a variety of vital questions stay. Will opening the community enhance congestion at Superchargers? Will Tesla have to vary the structure of its stations to accommodate EVs which have their cost ports in different places? Will or not it’s allowed to cost non-Tesla drivers the next price for charging?

Over the long term, will opening up show to be a optimistic or a unfavorable improvement for the EV trend-setter? Some have opined that Tesla dangers dropping one among its main aggressive benefits. The Supercharger community is broadly thought-about to be the “gold normal” of charging. Will permitting the thundering herd into the walled backyard trigger requirements to slide?

We doubt it. Tesla is probably not nice at assembly deadlines, however one factor the corporate has confirmed to be excellent at is rolling out giant numbers of Superchargers (it at the moment has round 17,700 within the US, along with 10,000 Vacation spot Chargers). Reliability is usually merely a numbers sport—if a web site has 20 cost factors, it’s no large deal if 2 or 3 are out of order. Moreover, again in 2021, Tesla’s CEO mentioned that non-Tesla EV house owners would be capable of (or perhaps required to?) use the Tesla smartphone app to handle and pay for his or her charging periods. Tesla’s opponents’ prospects can be downloading its app? That seems like a golden brand-building alternative—and brand-building simply occurs to be one other Tesla specialty.

Sources: Electrek, Reuters