Tesla has already opened up their Supercharger network to owners of other electric vehicles (EVs) in several European countries. The automaker launched their pilot project in Europe because they would not have to incur the additional expense of adding CCS connectors as the stations are already equipped with those connectors.
Tesla has yet to announce when it will open the network to other EVs in other countries, but CEO Elon Musk confirmed today they will be adding CCS connectors to Superchargers in the United States.
Speaking at the Financial Times Future of the Car summit today, Musk said they will add the connectors even if it lessens their competitive advantage over other automakers.
“It’s a little trickier in the US because we have a different connector than the rest of the industry, but we will be adding the rest of the industry connectors as an option to Superchargers in the US. We are trying as best as possible to do the right thing for the advancement of electrification, even if that diminishes our competitive advantage,” Musk said.
Musk did not provide a timeline for when this might happen, but when it does it could happen fairly quickly.
Last year Tesla was forced to add CCS connectors to all Superchargers in Taiwan after the Taiwan EV Charger Equipment Supplier and Manufacturer Advancement Alliance decided CCS should be the charging standard in the country.
A few months after the decision, Tesla had retrofitted the Superchargers with CCS connectors, in addition to their proprietary connector.
Tesla recently applied with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ) to receive funding to install Superchargers in Texas with universal connectors. Despite requesting significantly less money per charging station than other applicants, Tesla failed to receive the funding.
During the same interview, Musk also revealed Tesla might have to stop taking orders on new vehicles based on “ridiculous” levels of demand.
You can watch the full interview below.
