Tesla said Monday that non-Tesla owners can charge their electric vehicles at all Supercharger stations in the Netherlands.
The announcement marks an expansion of a pilot program that kicked off in November 2021 with 10 stations. CEO Elon Musk had initially expressed interest in opening up the Supercharger network to other EVs in the summer of the same year.
Unlike other automakers, Tesla operates an expansive proprietary network that has previously prevented EVs from other automakers from using the chargers. The network, which Tesla began building in 2012, now surpasses 30,000 Superchargers at more than 2,500 stations globally.
The company’s pilot program lets non-Tesla EV drivers in the Netherlands and some stations in other European countries, including France, Norway and Belgium charge their cars via the Tesla app — the automaker has not yet integrated its stations with other EV station collators like PlugShare.
Tesla uses a proprietary plug that only fits into Tesla vehicles, so the pilot is only accessible for combined charging system-enabled (CCS) vehicles. Supercharger posts have two cables; non-Tesla cars can use the CCS connector, which may not fit with all cars — if that happens, Tesla says drivers are to report the problem to its customer support center.
Non-Tesla EVs might get charged more for the pleasure of charging at Tesla’s sites, due to the “additional costs incurred to support charging a broad range of vehicles and adjustments to our sites to accommodate these vehicles,” according to Tesla. That said, the per kWh price to charge might be lowered if drivers purchase a charging membership.
Tesla said it is starting with a select number of sites so it can “review the experience, monitor congestion and assess feedback before expanding.” Future sites will only be opened to non-Tesla vehicles if there is available capacity.
The Netherlands has the largest number of EV charging stations in Europe, with 75,000 stations, which gives Tesla a competitive playground to further test this pilot. Tesla has 33 stations in the Netherlands, with 18 new stations “coming soon,” according to Tesla’s website.