January 2023 was a huge month for Tesla in Australia, and for EV owners in general. Not only did it slash prices across its range of EVs but also ended the month by opening five Australian Tesla Supercharger sites to non-Tesla EVs.Ā
Now that non-Tesla EV owners and future owners are able to charge at these sites, the EV community is starting to head to these sites to test them out and share their experiences. Tom from the Ludicrous Feed channel on YouTube did just that and shared his experience.
BYD Atto 3 charging from Tesla Supercharger in Bathurst NSW, Australia pic.twitter.com/2p8xqsnmDX
— Ludicrous Feed (@LudicrousFeed) February 1, 2023
He drove a BYD Atto 3 to a Tesla Supercharger in Bathurst, NSW, which contains 6 Tesla V2 Superchargers.
After the two and half hours drive from Sydney, he discovered all stalls were available.
After parking at one of the stalls at the end, it was spotted that the wheel stop that used to be there when the site was for Tesla-only charging had been removed.Ā
This is how you know Tesla is preparing its network for non-Tesla EVs in Australia
This is the Hollydene NSW site (open to other EVs)
Left: Apr 2022: wheel stop present
Right: Jan 2023 wheel stop gone
(Photos from PlugShare)Makes the parking spot more versatile for all EVs pic.twitter.com/AySRifkcVm
— Ludicrous Feed (@LudicrousFeed) February 1, 2023
This could be the tell-tale sign for any future Australian supercharger sites that could be opening to non-Tesla EVs.
The CCS2 plug from the supercharger stall was plugged into the BYD Atto 3.
The supercharger cable reached the BYD Atto 3 CCS2 port fairly easily without any issues.
After plugging in, the Tesla app showed that 5 of the 6 stalls were available and the price of the charge without the membership is 79 c/kWh.
The stall with the BYD Atto 3 parked was then selected via the Tesla app and the start charging button appeared.
Initially, the app connection failed but then after re-initiating the charge, the BYD Atto 3 began to charge at 82.5 kW.
The five NSW Supercharger sites which show up in the Tesla app under Charge Your Non-Tesla section are:
- Bathurst ā 6 stalls
- Dubbo ā 4 stalls
- Hollydene ā 6 stalls
- Narooma ā 4 stalls
- Tamworth ā 4 stalls
This is still a pilot program that began this week and is limited to five sites in NSW.Ā
Tesla will be taking this feedback from each charging session on board and improving it in months to come as it continues this rollout.
The Tesla supercharger network is the most reliable fast charging network around the world, including Australia. With it now opening to thousand of non-Tesla EVs, Tesla will be learning and improving it.
It also helps raise the bar for other charging station operators to pick up the reliability and accessibility aspects of the sites they operate.Ā
Thatās because EV owners donāt want to experience charger anxiety on road trips and expect a reliable service.Ā
If Tesla can offer reliable fast charging in Australia to all EVs that current and future owners can depend on, then every EV owner will have a Tesla app on their phone, regardless of whether they drive a Tesla or not.
Full video of BYD Atto 3 charging at an Australian Tesla Supercharger
RizĀ is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.