In the future, all electric car owners will be able to pay for high-speed charging via a public Tesla plug.
Tesla’s Supercharger network will eventually be opened to all electric car makes globally, the manufacturer has revealed.
A handful of sites are already public in Europe, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously hinted at broader accessibility.
However, overnight during a quarterly-profits review the company confirmed it was preparing to democratise the infrastructure.
“We do plan to provide third-party vehicle access all over the world, not just in Europe, where our original pilot was,” a senior executive told investors.
“We are working on solutions in North America, which is a little more problematic with our connector being different than others, but we are moving in that direction.”
Tesla has previously suggested it would not open its chargers in Australia, however the recent comments suggest the local network is destined to be made public.
While all electric cars will be able to use Superchargers, it will not be free – and it’s unclear if non-Tesla vehicles will be charged a premium for the service.
Currently, Australian Supercharger pricing is set at 52 cents per kWh – or roughly $30 for a complete top up – following a 25 per cent hike in late 2020.
Yesterday the country’s largest public infrastructure network Chargefox hiked its price for ‘Ultra-Rapid’ services by 50 per cent – to 60 cents per kWh.
Despite this, public charging remains approximately 60 per cent cheaper than filling an equivalent petrol car by Drive‘s estimation.
Further, surveys suggest public plugs are primarily used for long trips or emergencies – with 80 per cent of charging done at home.
Currently more than 40 Supercharger sites in Australia, primarily across Queensland, Victoria, and NSW. South Australia has three chargers, while Western Australia and Tasmania both have one.
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