Tesla has already opened up their Supercharger network to owners of other electric vehicles (EVs) in several European countries, launching the Non-Tesla Supercharger Pilot program last year. Based on some recent documentation from the White House, Tesla could be doing the same in the United States later this year.
The pilot program was first launched in Europe as CCS is the charging standard in the region, and since Superchargers there are equipped with a CCS connector, it made for a simple process for owners of other EVs to plug in and charge.
Elon Musk has said Tesla will open up U.S. Superchargers to other EV owners as well, but since the stations only have Tesla’s proprietary connector, adapters would have to provided to make it work. When Musk made those comments in May, he didn’t provide a timeline for when it would happen.
According to the White House, it will happen later this year. In a Fact Sheet on the Biden-Harris Administration’s plans for $700 million in private sector commitments to boost EV charging infrastructure, the White House says that later this year “Tesla will begin production of new Supercharger equipment that will enable non-Tesla EV drivers in North America to use Tesla Superchargers.” (via Teslarati)
To be clear, the wording only says that Tesla will “begin production” of the new equipment later this year, and not that they will open up the network to other EV drivers, but it would make sense for Tesla to at least begin a limited roll-out of the program, much like they have done in Europe, soon after they have the necessary equipment available.
The pilot program is currently running in 13 different European countries, having most recently expanded to five new countries last month.
The program has had its difficulties, mostly due to the fact there is no standard between automakers on where they place their charge port on their EVs. This has resulted in some awkward parking situations where EVs have taken up two (or more) Supercharger stalls in order to be able to plug in.
