Tesla has announced a new membership model for all Supercharger network customers, opening up its discounted fast charging rates to more electric car drivers.
Since 13 April, all electric vehicle (EV) owners (Tesla or non-Tesla) can access lower rates with Supercharger Membership, and the monthly membership cost has been slashed from £10.99 to £8.99.
Tesla owners will automatically benefit from this discount, while non-Tesla EV drivers can opt to join the membership for the first time and take advantage of these lower rates.
Tesla Supercharger Membership is now open to non-Tesla EV owners, who’ll now be able to benefit from the same cheaper kWh charging rate as Tesla owners. Membership cost has also been reduced – for all EV owners who are already signed up, or sign up from now on – to just £8.99 a month
Tesla has 1,400 Supecharger sites across the UK and Ireland, 42 of which are open to non-Tesla drivers.
477 chargers are available across the 42 sites – from Fort William to Cardiff or Kettering – where other brands of EV can now charge on the cheap.
Until this announcement from Tesla, non-Tesla EV drivers would have to pay a higher kilowatt-hour price for charging than Tesla Supercharger members, but EVs with CCS charging could still top-up at these sites.
And on top of the £2 per month cheaper charging rates, Tesla is now offering all EV drivers (Tesla or not) a newly introduced annual membership plan option.
Drivers of electric cars can pay a fixed £90 sum a month to save themselves around £18 a year on Supercharger membership – a 16 per cent discount compared to monthly membership.
Last year Tesla unveiled its V4 Superchargers, which allow customers to use a contactless car payment system on the terminal, and to view live pricing on the digital screens built-in to the charger.
Drivers using V3 Superchargers will still need to use the Tesla app.
Tesla Superchargers can add up to 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes, helping people top-up very quickly on long distance drives.
42 Supercharger sites with 477 chargers across them are open to all CCS-compatible EVs, and this is set to increase in the near future
Tesla’s new V4 Superchargers can be used by all EVs. They have contactless card payment, and screens with live pricing
The app must also be downloaded to version 4.32 before customers can benefit from the new lower membership rate.
Tesla drivers’ access to the Supercharger network – the largest fast-charging infrastructure globally – has long been seen as an envious perk to EV owners, with lower fast and rapid charging rates a pull of the Elon Musk-owned EV brand.
Tesla has also said it’s planning to add more Superchargers in the near future, as well as opening more sites up to non-Tesla EVs.
