Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk says the company intends to open up all its Supercharging network to other EVs, although he gave no time frame for the move.
Tesla has already opened up its network to other EVs in some European countries such as the Netherlands and Norway, and some in France, and plans to expand that in coming months.
There is big pressure on Tesla to do so, mostly because it is the only one to have built a substantial and reliable network, and owners of other EVs – particularly in Australia – are frustrated by their limited charging options and the number of outages on the networks that have been installed.
The Supercharging network is considered one of Tesla’s major competitive advantages, because there are more locations, more units per charging station, and they are more reliable.
But Musk says the network will be gradually opened up, even if it is giving up a key competitive advantage in doing so.
“We ‘ve already opened Tesla Superchargers to other electric cars in Europe, and we intend to roll that out worldwide,” Musk told the Financial Times Future of the Car conference in a lengthy 90-minute interview.
See also:Â Musk warns Tesla may stop taking EV orders because of huge delays
“We are trying as best as possible to do the right thing for the advancement of electrification, even if this diminishes our competitive advantage,” he added.
Musk noted that in the US the opening up of the network will be complicated by the fact that the Supercharger plugs are different to other EVs in that country.
“But we will be adding the rest of industry connectors as an option to superchargers.”
See also:
Why are so many EV charging stations out of order? Are they reliable?
“Beyond a joke:” Number of busted EV chargers causes concern as uptake jumps
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.