Half of Tesla charge points open to other EVs

AUSTRALIA’S best-selling electric vehicle brand, Tesla, has opened almost half of its Supercharger EV charging stations to non-Tesla EVs, encouraging more drivers to make the move into an electric vehicle and assisting the travel plans of EV drivers across the country.

Following on from the popular New South Wales-based Tesla Pilot Program, in which five Supercharger sites were made available to non-Tesla EVs, Tesla has now extended the use of 30 of its 63 EV charging stations to other brands.

Sites in the ACT (1), New South Wales (11), Queensland (3), South Australia (3), Victoria (10), and Western Australia (2) are now open (see full list below), promoting what Tesla says is its pragmatic commitment to the global shift towards sustainable energy.

“I think we do want to emphasise that it is our goal to support the advent of sustainable energy, it is not to create a walled garden and use that to bludgeon our competitors, which is sometimes used by some companies,” said Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, at the company’s 2021 Earnings Call.

Tesla says the step is instrumental in encouraging more drivers to transition to electric vehicles, and that select Supercharger sites have been seamlessly integrated into the Tesla app, granting non-Tesla EV drivers access to Tesla's “superior charging network”.

The Tesla app may be downloaded for iOS or Android devices. Users need only download the app, create an account, select ‘Charge Your Non-Tesla’ and find their nearest Supercharger site. Once the vehicle is charged, simply tap ‘Stop Charging’ to complete the session.

Concurrently, Tesla drivers retain all existing access privileges, while Tesla actively monitors each site to manage potential congestion and gather user feedback.

Commenting on its Supercharger network, Tesla Australia says it is committed to the reliability of the system which has a claimed global uptime average of 99.95 per cent (based on 2022 figures).

The network is purported to be entirely powered by renewable sources and offers convenient charging with stations located “strategically along major routes” and “with the capability to add up to 275km of range in just 15 minutes”.

Tesla Supercharger locations now open to non-Tesla EVs: