Superchargers being opened up to non-Tesla EVs

[rdj001]

Hi,

following on from stories a couple of months ago that some European Tesla superchargers were able to charge non-Teslas, looks like this may now be a thing according to Elon.

[FlossyThePig]

Call me "Cynical" but is EM doing this before governments oblige him to.

[anonymous-user]

Kind of low key, just tweeted by Elon...

[Smiljan]

and the masses of paid youtubers advertising for them. I'm sure this latest tweet will be dissected and discussed on all the social media sites.

The do have a PR department. They just chose not to answer difficult questions and "leak" emails constantly out to the media channels.

Tesla PR department at work

https://www.google.com/search?q=tesla+leaked+email...

[Smiljan]

Just reading up on this for France at least, Tesla are obliged only to add 1 or 2 chargers that any EV can use when it develops new supercharger site.

Loose interpretation means they could have a 20 stall supercharger station in France and just add a couple of 7kW posts to satisfy the requirement.

Am I missing something?

[rdj001]

Smiljan said:

Just reading up on this for France at least, Tesla are obliged only to add 1 or 2 chargers that any EV can use when it develops new supercharger site.

Loose interpretation means they could have a 20 stall supercharger station in France and just add a couple of 7kW posts to satisfy the requirement.

Am I missing something?

a 7kW charger is not a supercharger ?

[Smiljan]

Correct but the French regs I read say they need to provide 1 or 2 "chargers" for other EV's when they design and build any new supercharger stations.

Unless you've read different this means they could go the cheapest route and just stick one or 2 7kW posts next to their superchargers to satisfy the requirements?

Even Musk just said they would become "more accessible" didn't say non Tesla's would be able to use Tesla superchargers.

[rdj001]

Smiljan said:

Even Musk just said they would become "more accessible" didn't say non Tesla's would be able to use Tesla superchargers.

What did you take his quote of "Tesla Superchargers are being made accessible to other electric cars" to mean?

Perhaps incorrectly but I would assume that means the Supe's are going to be available for other EVs.

[TheRainMaker]

This would take the main usp away in one blow.

[Smiljan]

rdj001 said:

What did you take his quote of "Tesla Superchargers are being made accessible to other electric cars" to mean?

Perhaps incorrectly but I would assume that means the Supe's are going to be available for other EVs.

That’s the trouble, as usual he’s being deliberately obtuse in answer to a reasonable question. If he knows exactly what and when these changes are being made (which I’m sure he does) he could just say,

[sjg]

It would make a lot of sense for a premium, lower-volume player to pay for access, which is pretty much what Jaguar are in the US. Startups like Lucid, Rivian and the like maybe.

VAG are doing their own thing with Electrify America (and via Ionity in Europe), so probably not inclined to.

[off_again]

Smiljan said:

and the masses of paid youtubers advertising for them. I'm sure this latest tweet will be dissected and discussed on all the social media sites.

The do have a PR department. They just chose not to answer difficult questions and "leak" emails constantly out to the media channels.

Tesla PR department at work

https://www.google.com/search?q=tesla+leaked+email...

Widely reported that Tesla disbanded its PR department.

https://electrek.co/2020/10/06/tesla-dissolves-pr-...

[aestetix1]

Think about it from the manufacturer's point of view. Tesla presumably aren't letting them join for free, and they will need to add special Tesla hardware and telematics to their cars. There are already decent charging networks in many countries and the rest will follow in a few years.

Tesla has fallen behind anyway on supercharging. They are stuck at 400V and 250kW. Several other networks have been offering 350kW for ages now, with 800V so the cars can reasonably make use of it. Tesla's plan of just cranking up the power on 400V has failed, they have been downgrading the charge speed on newer cars for a while now to preserve the battery.

It's just not a very attractive proposition.

[off_again]

Also, Tesla connectors for the North American market are completely different:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Supercharger#:...

Would require a convertor to allow a different EV to charge from their network. Not seeing many people will buy the connector just to get to charge from the superchargers.

[Smiljan]

off_again said:

Widely reported that Tesla disbanded its PR department.

https://electrek.co/2020/10/06/tesla-dissolves-pr-...

Electrek is one man and a website, regardless they’re PR isn’t conventional but it’s there. Musk himself has even said so.

[jjwilde]

Smiljan said:

off_again said:

Widely reported that Tesla disbanded its PR department.

https://electrek.co/2020/10/06/tesla-dissolves-pr-...

Electrek is one man and a website

It most certainly isn't. It's a massive company of numerous websites which makes millions in profits.

[Smiljan]

I knew if I baited the hook Rob / JJ would come running.

Next you’ll be telling me Teslarati is a giant unbiased media conglomerate

[Smiljan]

I’ll rephrase my comments, Electrek is a scalping site which has one main “reporter” who trawls social media and other sites, rehashes their “stories” and publishes them with the express aim of pushing the Tesla stock he holds. On top of that they monetise it by plastering every page with affiliate advertising,

There are from time to time other contributors but mostly it’s one man and his cash generating website,

Part of a bigger network of similar sites.

If you ever see any of the Surrey live. Hampshire live, Dorset live etc,,, “news” sites it’s along a similar vein with the prime aim of monetising vague and often misleading articles scalped from Facebook and Twitter as news.

That better?

[off_again]

Smiljan said:

off_again said:

Widely reported that Tesla disbanded its PR department.

https://electrek.co/2020/10/06/tesla-dissolves-pr-...

Electrek is one man and a website, regardless they’re PR isn’t conventional but it’s there. Musk himself has even said so.

Is it? Unconventional for sure, but widely reported that most of the people who were part of the department have now moved on or are in different roles. So yeah, their PR department isnt there and its handled as part of their marketing (skeleton) team.

For some context, names and situations:

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/tesla-just-elimina...

And additionally, I am aware of several journalists recently commenting about the lack of ability to contact or discuss things with Tesla. Without an official way to get hold of Tesla and ask questions or obtain detail, its a major concern. Specifically, many journos are enjoying the switch from large launches to the ones they run at the moment - all from companies that have an effective PR team. Tesla? Yeah, not so much. Model 3 update with heat pump? Yeah, nothing in the press (YouTube videos from Tesla fans dont count). Says it all really.

[Smiljan]

Musk said himself they don’t have a PR department but have people doing PR as part of their roles.

Read the Electrek article again, it’s all supposition and not factual.

I stand by my argument that they actually do have a PR strategy and run it carefully through leaked emails, beta testers, favoured you tubers, Twitter, etc..etc...