Tesla flags time-based charging as it opens Superchargers to other EVs

Tesla will allow other electric vehicle makes to access its Supercharger network via an “activation button” in its app, but will also introduce time-based charging to free up peak hour, CEO Elon Musk says.

The EV maker will open its Supercharger network to other EVs later in 2021, making fast-charging more available to owners of other EVs who can currently only visit non-Tesla networks for quick top-ups.

How it will be done, and at what cost to non-Tesla owners, were the main questions raised after this was confirmed by Musk, as The Driven reported last Monday.

At the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday morning (Australia time), Musk revealed the company’s plans on how it plans to rollout its Supercharging network to other EVs.

And it will be very similar to non-proprietary chargers which use an app to activate a particular charge point, it turns out.

“Yes, we’re currently thinking it’s a real simple thing where you just download the Tesla app, and you go to a supercharger. And you just indicate which stall you’re in, if you plug in your car,” he said.

“And then you just access the app and say, turn on the stall that (you’re) in …. And this should basically work with almost any manufacturers cars.”

But, he added, there will soon also be extra fees based on what time of day an EV is charging at, in order to encourage EV owners to charge at times other than peak hour.

“There will be a time constraint if the charge rate is super slow then somebody will be charged more because the the biggest constraint at the Supercharger is …. how occupied is the stall,” he said.

“And it will also be smarter with how we charge for electricity at the supercharger. So rush hour charging will be more expensive than other hours charging because there are times when the Superchargers are empty and times when they’re jam-packed so it makes sense to have some time-based discrimination.”

But while there will be extra fees for peak hour charging, Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn also pointed out that by allowing other EVs to use its Supercharger network would also allow it to expand the network further, and also reduce the charging cost per kilowatt hour across the board.

“I think it’s also important to comment that increasing the utilisation of the network actually reduces our costs, which allows us to lower charging prices for all customers, make the network more profitable.

“It allows us to grow the network faster, that’s a good thing there. And no matter what we’re going to continue to aggressively expand the network capacity, increasing charging speeds, improving the trip planning tools to protect against site congestion, using dynamic pricing as Elon mentioned, and just continuing to focus on the minimum wait time for all customers.”