Tesla wants to expand its Supercharger network and is applying for public grants, as the Wall Street Journal reports. To the delight of non-Tesla owners, one of the requirements is that the Superchargers should not be exclusive to Tesla cars.
Tesla recently announced the design of its next-gen Supercharger, V4.
The American EV maker has already committed to letting other EVs use its charging network globally. However, Tesla has been slow in implementing the changes. Only in a part of Europe that non-Tesla electric cars can charge at the Superchargers. But it is not strange that Tesla decided to start in Europe, where it uses the CCS charging standard instead of its proprietary connector.
When the changes eventually get to the US, non-Tesla users will need a connector unless the company updates the Supercharger hardware. However, Tesla owners have been able to use non-Supercharger public fast chargers by getting a CHAdeMO or CCS adapter.
Tesla has yet to outline how it will go about opening its stateside Superchargers to more EVs, but the CEO, Elon Musk, has mentioned an adapter bridging the gap. He even hinted that Tesla might add a connector to the Superchargers, which tallies with our report about a Tesla Magic Dock.
Also, Tesla has not revealed when the roll-out to other EVs will happen, but it has reportedly started applying for the funds it needs to finance an expansion. It wants a slice of the billions in dollars earmarked by the Biden administration and state governments to fast-track the adoption of electric vehicles. Part of the money will go to building public charging stations.
A White House publication last month said Tesla would start making new Supercharger equipment that will allow non-Tesla EVs to benefit from Superchargers.
Recent filings with different regulators also show that Tesla has been applying for grants that require that charging stations be open to all.
