Tesla’s Supercharger network is growing and growing, and the company keeps pointing it out by reporting milestones it has reached. Less publicly, however, is the growth of its destination chargers – basically the same devices that everyone Buy customer as a Tesla Wall Connector in the online shop can, but installed at hotels or restaurants that are included in the directory of this network. In terms of the sheer number of locations, it is even much larger in Germany than that of the fast superchargers. And in the US, Tesla now seems to be starting to make it part of the public charging infrastructure.
Charge to Tesla Wallbox for 21 cents
This was reported on Tuesday by the Electrek blog and also emerged from Twitter messages. Accordingly, Tesla is now offering operators of destination chargers the option of registering their locations for paid use. The activation then apparently takes place via the Tesla app, in which shoppers also have to enter their payment details. So the procedure is similar to that of Use of superchargers with electric cars from other brandsas is now possible in several European countries at some locations.
In fact, both could be related, because in addition to paid destination charging, charging non-Teslas on the Supercharger now appears to be in the app for the USA. As of Tuesday, there were still no open superchargers for all electric cars in North America. But even from Germany, a single destination charger was reported in California, where charging costs 21 cents per kilowatt (see screenshot above). To activate it, you have to scan the QR code on the side.
Businesses with #Tesla Wall Connectors can now opt to set prices for all EV drivers to charge via the Tesla app! The one I used had a J1772 plug however when I plugged into my Model Y it began charging for free. @TeslaCharging pic.twitter.com/JvmiPeG0AM
— Ryan Zohoury (@RyanZohoury) August 2, 2022
According to a Twitter user who was already there, the activation did not work because the private Tesla station is in an underground car park where he had no mobile phone reception for the app. He was still able to load his Model Y there, just for free. This suggests that the program is not yet fully developed. According to the Electrek report Tesla announced a destination charging billing option two years ago with the launch of the third generation of its Wall Connector, but has only now started inviting operators to sign up for it.
The still low number of visible stations could also be related to the fact that Tesla does not include every destination charger in the program. According to Electrek, you have to operate at least six of the wall boxes at one destination in order to be able to register. As a result, many locations are initially excluded because most have a maximum of four Tesla charging stations. On the other hand, it could be an incentive for operators to increase their numbers. And of course, Tesla could lower the requirement slightly if the program catches on and runs smoothly.
More destination chargers than superchargers
There were initially no signs that it would also start in Europe. But as with the superchargers, Tesla is likely to introduce this opening worldwide in the longer term. In this case, however, it consists less in that charging stations are also accessible to other electric car brands become – many destination chargers have always been. Instead, the innovation is that you can also use the chargers in the slower Tesla network if you are not a guest at one of the locations and that they are also displayed to external app users.
In any case, the potential is enormous: for Germany alone, Tesla listed a good 700 locations with destination chargers on Tuesday, a good five times as many, like there are German supercharger stations (although probably with fewer charging points overall). But in principle, the program should also be extended to all third-generation Wall Connectors that Tesla has ever sold to private individuals.