Last year, Tesla confirmed that it would open its fast Supercharger network to other EV owners in America. Now, it looks like the company is busy testing a Supercharger membership ahead of its launch later this year.
The Netherlands was the first area where Superchargers became available to non-Tesla owners. Then the network opened in Europe, where Superchargers use the standard CCS plug. However, things are taking a little longer stateside, although we’re starting to see signs of things to come.
We’ve heard that Tesla has a new “Magic Dock” plug it’ll deploy throughout the United States, making it easier for any EV to use a Supercharger station. Then, according to the latest leaks this week, those who don’t own a Tesla will need a Supercharger membership, and they’ll be able to charge up easily.
BREAKING: @Tesla has launched Supercharger membership packages for Non-Tesla EV owners.
There are two plans:
• Pay Per Use: Pay as you go, access to Supercharger network
• Membership: $0.99/month (in the US), access to Supercharger network, lower price per kWh pic.twitter.com/muVBv3pZbd— Sawyer Merritt 📈🚀 (@SawyerMerritt) August 17, 2022
It looks like Tesla briefly launched its new Supercharger membership late last night, or it appeared in the app by mistake. The option is no longer available, but the underpinnings are there as the automaker is likely testing the system ahead of its nationwide release.
As you can see, other EV owners can pay per use and only pay Tesla to use a Supercharger when necessary. Or, frequent users can sign up for a membership that’ll give a discounted price per kWh of battery power.
Also, we’re assuming the $0.99 per month membership fee is just a placeholder inside the app, as it’ll almost certainly cost a little more than that to become a member. Either way, we probably don’t have to wait long as the company is clearly getting ready to release the program.
For what it’s worth, Tesla’s ever-expanding Supercharger network is already busy and congested here in the United States. Depending on the location, some Tesla owners wait for a stall to open before they can plug in the vehicle. With Tesla opening these stations up to all EVs, things are about to get busier.
Tesla will need to rapidly expand its Supercharger network to handle the influx of vehicles that’ll start using its chargers in the future. By opening its network of chargers to other EV owners, it’ll get access to some much-needed federal funds to continue to expand. So while it’ll be busy at first, this should help in the long run.
We’ll keep an eye out for more details and report back once we know more.
via Reddit
