A lone Tesla charging at Tamworth. Photo: Rob Dean.
As you may have read, Tesla has opened up 5 of its Supercharging sites in NSW for use by non Tesla Electric Vehicles.
They are the first of many sites that will opened up, partly due to NSW state government funds for new big installations that require them to be open to all, but also because some are in areas with low use.
This opening up provides a great opportunity for Tesla to make better use of its assets. As time passes, it’s fully expected that more Superchargers will open up at many locations across Australia.
Why is this a wise move?
- As mentioned above making better use of assets is beneficial to Tesla, and rarely used Supercharger stalls getting 79 cents a kWh is far better than sitting empty for most of the day.
- The more high paying customers Tesla has, the greater the incentive to expand at a faster pace.
- A highly reliable working Supercharger network is great marketing for Tesla.
A good example of this are the sites in Dubbo, Tamworth and Bathurst. When we visited those locations in late 2022, ours was the only Tesla at each of these the Superchargers, yet on each occasion the nearby generic DC fast charger – provided by other networks – was broken.
Non Tesla EV drivers may soon realise that not only does Tesla has a better product in terms of charging but also Tesla is an auto maker that actually cares about after sales service.
Tesla can’t build the nation’s DC charging infrastructure on its own, and unfortunately the alternative to Tesla DC charging infrastructure is in a poor state with no signs of improving.
There doesn’t appear to be much urgency to keep the equipment reliably maintained, and if competition for charging dollars doesn’t motivate some changes I’m sure the various governments who hand over large amounts of taxpayer dollars to install chargers will be motivated to carefully choose who the money goes to.
Rob Dean is a Tesla owner who has used most of the Tesla Superchargers around Australia.
Keyword: Tesla community is divided over open Superchargers: Here’s why it is a good move