Teslaās supercharging network is the largest and most reliable charging network, which has been a huge benefit for many Tesla owners wanting to travel distances with their EVs.
In recent times, Tesla has opened part of its supercharging network to other EVs in many parts of the world, including a few sites in Australia. Now, Tesla has announced that it has started to open its supercharging network in the worldās biggest EV market, China.
Tesla Asia put out a post on Twitter with the announcement of certain Tesla superchargers and destination chargers will be open to non-Tesa EVs.
Certain non-Tesla vehicles can now charge at select Superchargers/ destination charger stations in Chinaās mainland ā”ļø@TeslaCharging @Tesla pic.twitter.com/TsMKpaR4fw
— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) April 26, 2023
This seems to be part of a pilot program in China with Tesla sharing some more details on its Weibo social media account. Translated version of the post states:
āOfficially opened, the pattern is opened. Today, Tesla’s charging network in mainland China is piloted! Give electric car owners a better charging experience and continue to promote the iteration of charging technology and services. A more anticipated era of electric travel is accelerating!ā
The number of sites as part of the initial rollout includes:
- 10 Supercharger locations in Beijing and Shanghai
- 120 destination charger locations across China
A Tesla enthusiast, Jay in Shanghai, shared more details about the rollout on Twitter:
BREAKING: Tesla Supercharger Network now open for non Teslas in Mainland China!@Tesla @Tesla_Asia @TeslaCharging @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/nV4rX712BC
— Jay in Shanghai ēµåØ Jay (@JayinShanghai) April 25, 2023
The pilot program will allow 37 different EV models to be able to charge at the now-opened supercharger locations, including well-known non-Tesla models such as the Audi e-Tron, BMW i3/iX/iX3, Ford Mustang Mach-e, Polestar 2, Porsche Taycan and other models released in a list by Tesla in China.
This is a fairly big announcement by Tesla after opening superchargers in Europe, the US, Australia and now in China.Ā
Depending on how the pilot program goes, it will allow Tesla to learn from non-Tesla EV owner usage trends to see how they would expand the program outside of the two initial cities.
Tesla currently operates 1,600 supercharging sites in China with in excess of 10,000 charging stalls. Thatās out of a global count of 45,000 supercharging stalls globally as of earlier this month.
45k Superchargers around the world ā and counting pic.twitter.com/DkVMdk8Cre
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) April 9, 2023
Meanwhile, in Australia, the program for non-Tesla-friendly supercharger sites remains at the initial five sites in NSW. We look forward to following this rollout to see how it expands over time.
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.