Australian electric vehicle drivers will get a major power boost after Tesla revealed plans to open almost half of its charging stations to cars from other brands.

Thirty Tesla Supercharger locations will welcome other vehicles as part of the company’s expansion announced on Wednesday, with the chargers located across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT.

The news comes two days after the Victorian government announced funding for another 214 charging stations across the state and after the Electric Vehicle Council revealed the number of high-power public car chargers had risen 57 per cent over the past year.

Tesla’s announcement could make a major impact on electric vehicle adoption in Australia, where rising sales figures have given way to concerns about the availability of charging infrastructure.

The pilot expansion will open 11 Superchargers in NSW, with locations including Tenterfield and Campbelltown, 10 locations in Victoria, including Bendigo and Mornington, three locations in Queensland and South Australia, two in Western Australia and one in Canberra.

Any vehicle with a compatible CCS plug can be charged at one of the Tesla sites, though non-Tesla vehicles incur higher costs at 79 cents per kilowatt hour.

The company’s move follows a smaller test in January this year that saw five Supercharger locations in NSW open to non-Tesla vehicles.

The American brand, which dominates electric vehicle sales in Australia, initially opened parts of its charging network to other brands overseas in November 2021 to fuel a faster infrastructure expansion.

“It’s always been our ambition to open the Supercharger network to non-Tesla EVs and by doing so encourage more drivers to go electric,” the company said.

“Our goal is to learn and iterate quickly while continuing to aggressively expand the network so we can eventually welcome both Tesla and non-Tesla drivers at every Supercharger worldwide.”

Tesla currently operates Superchargers in 63 locations across Australia, offering power from renewable sources.

The brand’s announcement comes two days after the Victorian government revealed plans to fund another 214 charging points across the state, in addition to 116 charging sites already underway.

Victorian Climate Action Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the projects, led by Jet Charge, were designed to help the state see electric vehicles represent 50 per cent of new car sales by 2030.

The Electric Vehicle Council also found fast and ultra-fast car chargers had grown significantly in Australia, with 967 high-power public charging stations in the country by the end of June – an increase of 57 per cent in the past year.

NSW led adoption of fast and ultra-fast chargers, with 174 locations, followed by Victoria with 129 and Queensland with 109 places.

 

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
(Australian Associated Press)