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> ... as the world's most valuable carmaker looks to bring electric vehicles into the mainstream. Didn't the EU tell them they had to?

crishoj 5y ago
Yes, but that doesn't exclude the possibility that Tesla had plans to open up the charging network at some point anyway.
- gostsamo 5y ago
  Well, we have a control site, a.k.a the US. Do they open it there?
  - crishoj 5y ago
    We'll see. I for one believe opening up the network will lure more customers into the Tesla fold. At the moment though, Tesla's bottleneck is still ramping up production, not landing new orders.
    - gostsamo 5y ago
      If their network is underutilized, they have an interest to open it. If their goal is to build a walled garden, they will not open it. So far the latter hypothesis matches the observations better.
      - oblio 5y ago
        Especially considering everything they do with their software + their very harsh anti-repair perspective.
  - svet_0 5y ago
    It's not a good control since there are other differences between US and EU, most notably charging connectors standards and chargers per cars (US superchargers are more crowded than EU on average).
  - panick21_ 5y ago
    In the US Tesla are the waste majority of EV, and those that are not Tesla usually can't charge anywhere close to fast enough for it to be reasonable to charge at a Supercharger. The markets are just totally different. In the EU there are lots of cars that could use the Superchargers so you can make way more money there then in the US. They always said eventually they would open it up to everybody. Its a balance between it being a selling point and making money from higher utilization.
- Reason077 5y ago
  There is no EU directive that requires Tesla to make the charging network available to non-Tesla vehicles. Just that fast charging stations must support the CCS standard, which Tesla used in Europe for years already.
yreg 5y ago
As far as I know the EU did not tell them they have to do that. If I'm wrong, please provide a source.
- thomasmg 5y ago
  I only read about the german minister of transport, Andreas Scheuer, was in talks to Tesla to open up the charging network. The source I have is here: https://ecomento.de/2021/06/16/tesla-soll-supercharger-fuer-alle-elektroautos-freigeben-scheuer/ https://ecomento.de/2021/06/16/tesla-soll-supercharger-fuer-... So, I think the logic was: eventually it will happen anyway - so it's better for Tesla to do it themselves before they are forced to, so that they can do it on their own terms. For example, so that Tesla drivers will never have to wait longer than x minutes.
  - yreg 5y ago
    I see. That's not "EU telling them they have to". That's a minister of an EU member state allegedly telling them he would like to force them to do it.
    - hef19898 5y ago
      Still the acting Minister of Transportation in the biggest EU member state. That hair splitting is showing some lack of understanding how this stuff works. I think Tesla saw the writing on the wall in the EU, which is that the EU doesn't want closed eco-systems, including payment, for EV charging. Now you can do it when forced or leap-frog that and get some positive PR from it. Plus you might be able to do it on our own terms. I highly doubt Tesla would have done it yet without some pushing from the EU.
      - yreg 5y ago
        I'm sorry, but as a non-german european citizen I really do not consider an opinion of a german minister all that important. He has zero authority to order companies what they have to do or don't have to do in my country.

crishoj 5y ago

Yes, but that doesn't exclude the possibility that Tesla had plans to open up the charging network at some point anyway.

gostsamo 5y ago
Well, we have a control site, a.k.a the US. Do they open it there?
- crishoj 5y ago
  We'll see. I for one believe opening up the network will lure more customers into the Tesla fold. At the moment though, Tesla's bottleneck is still ramping up production, not landing new orders.
  - gostsamo 5y ago
    If their network is underutilized, they have an interest to open it. If their goal is to build a walled garden, they will not open it. So far the latter hypothesis matches the observations better.
    - oblio 5y ago
      Especially considering everything they do with their software + their very harsh anti-repair perspective.
- svet_0 5y ago
  It's not a good control since there are other differences between US and EU, most notably charging connectors standards and chargers per cars (US superchargers are more crowded than EU on average).
- panick21_ 5y ago
  In the US Tesla are the waste majority of EV, and those that are not Tesla usually can't charge anywhere close to fast enough for it to be reasonable to charge at a Supercharger. The markets are just totally different. In the EU there are lots of cars that could use the Superchargers so you can make way more money there then in the US. They always said eventually they would open it up to everybody. Its a balance between it being a selling point and making money from higher utilization.
Reason077 5y ago
There is no EU directive that requires Tesla to make the charging network available to non-Tesla vehicles. Just that fast charging stations must support the CCS standard, which Tesla used in Europe for years already.

yreg 5y ago

As far as I know the EU did not tell them they have to do that. If I'm wrong, please provide a source.

thomasmg 5y ago
I only read about the german minister of transport, Andreas Scheuer, was in talks to Tesla to open up the charging network. The source I have is here: https://ecomento.de/2021/06/16/tesla-soll-supercharger-fuer-alle-elektroautos-freigeben-scheuer/ https://ecomento.de/2021/06/16/tesla-soll-supercharger-fuer-... So, I think the logic was: eventually it will happen anyway - so it's better for Tesla to do it themselves before they are forced to, so that they can do it on their own terms. For example, so that Tesla drivers will never have to wait longer than x minutes.
- yreg 5y ago
  I see. That's not "EU telling them they have to". That's a minister of an EU member state allegedly telling them he would like to force them to do it.
  - hef19898 5y ago
    Still the acting Minister of Transportation in the biggest EU member state. That hair splitting is showing some lack of understanding how this stuff works. I think Tesla saw the writing on the wall in the EU, which is that the EU doesn't want closed eco-systems, including payment, for EV charging. Now you can do it when forced or leap-frog that and get some positive PR from it. Plus you might be able to do it on our own terms. I highly doubt Tesla would have done it yet without some pushing from the EU.
    - yreg 5y ago
      I'm sorry, but as a non-german european citizen I really do not consider an opinion of a german minister all that important. He has zero authority to order companies what they have to do or don't have to do in my country.