American electric car pioneer Tesla Motors is in talks to open up its network of EV fast charging stations to other automakers in Germany, the German Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer revealed. In a recent interview with the German newspaper Osnabrücker Zeitung, Mr. Scheuer said that he was in direct contact with manufacturers like Tesla to ensure that existing EV charging infrastructure could be used by other manufacturers as well.

Speaking on the topic, Scheuer said, “I am in direct contact with manufacturers such as Tesla in order to ensure that the existing infrastructure, for example Tesla Supercharger, is also opened up to other manufacturers.”
EV manufacturers that don’t have their own EV charging stations as well as owners of EVs from other brands will benefit a lot if the American EV giant agrees to open up its network of Superchargers to them in Germany. It is worth-mentioning here that it will not be difficult for Tesla to open its Superchargers for others in Europe as they use the CCS standard rather than the EV giant’s own connector. In the U.S., Tesla Superchargers use the company’s own connectors.

While most of EV manufacturers rely on third-party charging networks, Tesla has developed its own from the ground up. It was more of a necessity for Tesla to develop its own charging stations as it embarked on the path of EVs at a time when most of the automobile manufacturers were not even thinking about it.

Tesla deployed its first Supercharger around a decade ago. Now, it has more than 25,000 fast charging points at more than 2,700 Supercharging stations around the world. However, Tesla has thus far not allowed EVs manufactured by other brands to replenish their batteries at its Superchargers.

While the American EV manufacturer has repeatedly indicated that it is open to the idea of sharing its Supercharger network with other EV manufacturers, it could not reach an agreement with any other entity, mainly due to differences on cost-sharing.

However, that may change sooner than later in Germany. The German government wants Tesla to open up its fast chargers for other manufacturers because Tesla Supercharger network is unquestionably the most extensive EV fast-charging network. Opening it to others will ensure easy access to fast chargers, which is crucial for the mass adoption of EVs and trimming down of carbon emissions.