Elon Musk hints at opening Supercharger network to other brands

Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to announce Tesla's global Supercharger network could soon be utilised by other manufacturers, taking away the exclusivity of its ultra-fast charging systems.

As previously reported, Tesla has already stated its intentions to open up its charging network in Europe, engaging in talks with the Norwegian Government to allow access from other brands so long as it benefits from financial incentives.

Tesla's Supercharger network is made up of over 2500 stations and 25,000 charging points worldwide, having been developed solely by the American manufacturer before the wider adoption of EVs, forcing alternative brands to play catch up and rely on third-party chargers.

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"We created our own connector, as there was no standard back then and Tesla was only maker of long range electric cars," tweeted Musk.

"It’s one fairly slim connector for both low and high power charging. That said, we’re making our Supercharger network open to other EVs later this year."

In the United States, Superchargers can only work with Tesla's vehicles because the charging connector included with its cars is incompatible with its rivals' offerings.

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European Tesla models are sold with a more common Combined Charging System connector, allowing owners to charge on a wider network, which would also make it easier for Tesla to adapt its Superchargers to become universal.

Tesla's claim of Supercharging being cheaper than refilling a traditional internal combustion engine vehicle was found to be false by WhichCar, with per-100km costs being higher for the EV at a recharge rate of 52c/kWh.