A recent report suggests that plans to let more car companies use the Tesla Supercharger network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations might be delayed. Last year, many big carmakers said they’d soon get access to this large network. But things have changed since then.
A representative from Polestar, a car brand, told the media, “The timeline has been adjusted to later this summer, but we don’t have further details to share at this time.” Tesla’s website still says that EVs from Volvo, Polestar, and General Motors will get access to the network in spring 2024. But they’ll need adapters to use it, as new cars will only have the right ports later on.
It seems like the delay might not affect all brands. General Motors (GM) still seems to be sticking to the original timeline. Sanaz Marbley, who works at GM, said that the adapters for their cars would be “available to purchase through […] GM vehicle brand apps later this year.” But she didn’t give a specific date. She told the media, “I think spring 2024 is accurate.” Spring ends on June 20, so there’s not much time left to meet that deadline.
Rivian, another carmaker, got access to the Supercharger network earlier this year. They’ve already started giving out adapters to owners of their R1T and R1S cars. We don’t know why there might be a delay in giving access to the Supercharger network.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, recently let go of two senior executives, including Rebecca Tinucci, who oversaw charging infrastructure. Although some of the laid-off team members were rehired, it’s possible that Tesla is now focusing more on improving existing Supercharger stations than on letting other carmakers use the network. Or maybe these carmakers are facing challenges in connecting to the network. We’ll have to wait a few more weeks to see if Supercharger access is on schedule.
