Tesla announced an expansion of its Non-Tesla Supercharger Pilot program to several more countries in Europe, where it was already launched in the Netherlands, Norway and France.
As of today, non-Tesla cars can use select Supercharging stations also in Austria, Belgium, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
This brings the total number of countries to 8, although we must remember that only part of the network (an undisclosed number of stations) was opened for non-Tesla EVs, as the manufacturer must double-check whether its network has the capacity to handle more electric cars.
For example, Autocar reports that in the UK, 15 stations (158 individual stalls out of about 600 total) were opened.
"We’re starting with a select number of sites so that we 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."
Earlier this month we heard that in Norway things are progressing well, which enabled Tesla to open most of its stations (reportedly 58 or 66% out of 88).
The exact locations and pricing are available in the Tesla app. Tesla offers a single-use or a subscription (Members) with a monthly fee for a lower price per kWh.
Non-Tesla electric cars can use Tesla Superchargers because, since the introduction of the Tesla Model 3, the company retrofitted the network with CCS Combo 2-compatible plugs. The CCS2 connector has become the European DC fast-charging standard (with only minor exceptions and retiring CHAdeMO).
Because Tesla is now also using CCS2-compatible inlets in its cars in Europe (and some other markets), new Tesla cars can natively use the general CCS2 fast-charging infrastructure as well.
The merge of those two "worlds" is great news for the EV market in Europe, although there is no shortage of voices that, by opening its network to non-Tesla EVs, Tesla is giving up its competitive advantage and in some cases might make customers angry (if a Supercharging station is overwhelmed by non-Tesla vehicles).
There are also some other issues, as most of the stations - due to their layout and short charging cables - do not allow to park and charge some of the other EVs (depending on the location of the charging inlet).
In other words, a few more years might be required to smooth out all of the issues.
