Open for business: Most Aussie Tesla Superchargers now available for drivers of other EVs … but there’s an expensive catch
The nation’s most reliable electric vehicle charging infrastructure is now charging more vehicles than ever before.
That’s because more than two-thirds of Tesla’s Supercharger network has been opened up to drivers of other brands.
According to the US car-maker, more than two-thirds of Tesla’s 130 charging locations (817 plugs) – equating to 86 sites and 564 charging posts – are now open for business for non-Tesla drivers because of investment partnerships with various government funding bodies.
READ MORE: Tesla on course to go broke, just before Elon Musk kills us all | Opinion
READ MORE: Range buster! Tesla Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive launches in Australia with 750km range, AWD Long Range dropped
READ MORE: 2025 Tesla Model 3 Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Review: Everything you need to know about the Tesla that drives you
Exact figures of just how many non-Teslas are now topping up daily have yet to be announced, but thanks to the US brand’s big investment in its own service, parts and maintenance supply chain, the firm claims an admirable service rate of nearly 100 per cent.
But the downside of being able to use a Tesla Supercharger network is the price premium charged by the US brand.
While other branded sites charge an average of $0.72 per kWh, a Tesla top up costs an alarming $0.85 per kWh at peak times, equating to more than an 18 per cent price hike.
Owners of a Model 3 or Model Y, meanwhile, pay no more than $0.61 per kWh.
According to reports, the recent injection of government funding will be used to help the country’s most reliable charging network to continue to expand.
Data gathered from customers is helping guide where to open new charging stations.
Earlier this year, Tesla announced it had opened what it claimed to be the “biggest charging site in the southern hemispheres”, after EVs began topping up at its new Goulburn Supercharger station in NSW.
Consisting of 20 300kW chargers, the new V4 Tesla Superchargers unusually reserve their very fastest charges for non-Tesla vehicles.
That’s because the facelifted Tesla Model 3 and the current Model Y rely on a 400-volt electrical architecture that only allows for a top-up of up to 250kW (or 175kW on non-Tesla 350kW chargers).
Meanwhile owners of some Audi, Porsche, Hyundai and Kia models are capable of 800V charges with the Porsches and Audis each exceeding 270kW charge rates.
The latest IM5 and IM6 – premium models by Chinese car maker MG – can charge at up to 396kW.
>a Tesla top up costs an alarming $0.85 per kWh at peak times
I’m not sure where you are getting your pricing information from John, but as a regular user of Tesla Superchargers, with an LDV eDeliver 7 van, I pay no more than 52c/kWh (Tamworth, Armidale, Raymond Terrace, Tenterfield), and as low as 40c/kWh at locations such as Gosford.
Of course those prices are a result of paying $10/month subscription, but it only takes one 50% charge per month to cover that and save money over the other DC chargers, such as NRMA at 74c, and locally EVIE at 85c/kWh.
Happy to pay a premium on my road trips as long as I am guaranteed a spot when I arrive to charge and the charger is working, this is my experience all the times I have charged my non tesla car at a tesla charger.