Official Confirmation That Tesla Will Establish A North American Supercharging Network
When Tesla first launched its network of Superchargers, it had little regard for interoperability, as the company was virtually the only serious electric vehicle manufacturer at the time. But as other companies have entered the EV market in recent years, demand for charging stations has steadily increased, prompting Tesla to begin opening its existing network of chargers to third-party EVs.
In 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company's open Supercharger pilot program - already in place in 13 European countries - will soon be coming to the U.S. A White House fact sheet recently discovered by InsideEVs suggests it could arrive by the end of this year.
"Later this year, Tesla will begin production of a new Supercharger device that will enable non-Tesla EV drivers in North America to use the Tesla Supercharger," the fact sheet says. To use it, U.S. EV owners will need to download the latest Tesla app and select the "Charge for non-Tesla" option from the menu, according to the Verge.
Tesla has spent more than a year expanding the use of its European charger network. However, despite operating in more than a dozen countries, only specific charging stations in each country are open to non-owners. Only in the Netherlands is every Supercharger station open. In order to do this in North America, Tesla will need to install adapters at its charging stations to bypass the company's proprietary charging plug shape and ensure that Supercharger software can safely shake hands with the new myriad of non-Tesla electric vehicles.
