Tesla opens up its electric car chargers to other EV brands in Australia for the first time – but there’s a catch
- Non-Tesla EVs can now be charged at five Tesla stations
- The select Supercharger stations are all located in NSW
- Charging your non-Tesla EV in a Tesla station will cost more
Tesla has opened up a handful charging stations in Australia to electric vehicles made by other car manufacturers – but it’s going to cost more.
The US electric automotive and energy company made the announcement on Tuesday that all electric cars could be charged at five of their stations throughout NSW.
The selected Superchargers are in Narooma, Jerry’s Plains, Tamworth West, Dubbo and Bathurst.
It is understood Tesla does have plans to open up more stations to other vehicles across the country in the near future.
Tesla has opened up five of their charging stations throughout NSW to electric cars made by other manufacturers (pictured, a Supercharger in Brisbane)
It’s understood the US electric automotive and energy company has plans to open up more charing stations to other electric vehicles across Australia in the future (pictured, a charging station at The Star Casino in Sydney)
The price to charge a non-Tesla vehicle at a Tesla station will set you back a whopping 79cents per kilowatt-hour.
For comparison, it costs between 58 to 70cents per kilowatt-hour to charge Tesla cars in the same Supercharger.
If non-Tesla owners purchase a charging membership, which costs $10 per month, the fee will drop to 66cents per kilowatt-hour.
Owners of other vehicles will also need to ensure that they have a CCS fast-charging socket.
Another issue is that Tesla stations use short cables suited to the charging port that’s located on the rear left of Teslas.
If an electric vehicle made by another manufacturer has its port on the right, it’ll have to park in a different bay and use the charging cable in the bay next to it.
Non-Tesla EV owners will be charged extra to use Tesla Superchargers, their vehicles will need a CCS fast-charging socket and a charging port on the rear left for convenience, as outlined by TikTok user and SolarQuotes founder, Finn Peacock (pictured)
Tesla has been pushing to expand their non-Tesla Supercharger pilot to new locations.
The company has been providing Superchargers for non-Tesla EVs since late 2021, starting the program in several European countries.
It has since added new Superchargers for non-Tesla vehicles to the UK and Australia.
It comes after it was announced that the Tesla Model 3 was crowned Australia’s most popular mid-size sedan for 2022.
The electric car toppled the Toyota Camry in sales. Tesla sold 10,877 Model 3s last year, compared to 9,538 sales of the Toyota Camry.
It’s a significant blow for Toyota after Elon Musk’s marque knocked the Camry off the top spot after a 28-year reign as Australia’s highest-selling sedan.
The Tesla Model 3 has become Australia’s most popular sedan outselling the veteran Toyota Camry in 2022, with 10,877 Model 3s sold
Tesla’s total sales of 19,584 vehicles amounted to nearly two-thirds of all electric cars sold across Australia.
In total, 33,410 new fully battery electric vehicles were sold in Australia in 2022, amounting to 3.1 per cent of new car sales.
Experts say that state and federal tax rebates are helping Tesla’s sales surge as politicians aim to phase out fossil fuel vehicles to tackle climate change.
Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber expects the electric vehicle uptake to remain strong in 2023.
‘This year is shaping up as one of the most significant in recent history, particularly in terms of the development of policies that set the direction for the future decarbonisation of the light vehicle fleet,’ he said.
Advertisement
