GlaD1 Posted September 30, 2023 Posted September 30, 2023 Tesla Supercharger network: where can I charge in the UK? The Tesla Supercharger network is arguably the blueprint of EV charge point networks. Launch a car (or four - enter the Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y), then give the people somewhere to charge and boom. As questionable as some of his tweets (Xeets? Exes?) are, Elon Musk isn't daft. Resolving that classic chicken-or-egg-first conundrum, the Supercharger network is now well-established. It recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in Europe, giving all Tesla (and some non-Tesla) drivers free electricity for the day. It launched with wild ambitions of being fully solar-powered and offered free energy to all Model S customers for the lifetime of their cars... initially. Sadly, those perks are nowhere near as generous these days. What did they go and do that for? Well, Tesla levies a pence per kilowatt-hour fee to its customers, but allowing non-Tesla drivers to use Superchargers means it can charge those people more. So more revenue. Plus if the Supercharger stations are full, Tesla drivers will naturally start queuing up at other third party charging points, and arguably it makes sense to give non-Tesla owners reciprocal access. Fair’s fair. Nice. Do I need a special card or passcode to use a Tesla Supercharger? Nope. If you’re a Tesla driver, you can turn up, plug in and use your ginormous touchscreen once you’ve finished charging to find out how much it cost you. But the charger can already tell who you are and who to bill once connected and glowing. If you’re a non-Tesla driver, you need to use the Tesla app to initiate the charge and pay. Unless you've stumbled across Tesla's first UK V4 Superchargers, opened at the Tesla Centre in Tottenham in August 2023: those have contactless payment pads as required by the law now. More are on the way. https://www.topgear.com/car-news/Tesla-supercharger-network-uk
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