Tesla opens charging network to other EVs for the first time

With the current implementation, you download the Tesla app, set up your payment account, then manually select your stall number in the app to begin charging.

It costs quite a bit to have different SKUs around the world, especially when one of the SKUs is for a major market. At some point it becomes more cost efficient to just cut out some of SKUs.

California has the same effect in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_effect

Furthermore, the few times I've been to a fast charger they were mostly empty or at least not full. Most of the people at my work (who have Tesla's) also rarely visit them because you can charge pretty much everywhere. No need to for a detour if you can just charge at your destination or at home.

Granted, this is still anecdotal, but would Tesla open their superchargers if they didn't have excess capacity? I think probably not, and therefor my theory seems more likely than trying to build a charging monopoly in the country with the most chargers in the EU.

For a petrol station. There's nothing to cannibalize. They can either watch all the EVs drive past to the next charging + pit stop opportunity or accommodate those customers and have them in their shops, rest rooms, restaurants, etc. Petrol isn't their core business in any case.

Easy choice if you want the business. The rest is just economical Darwinism. Anyone driving a car for work is likely to be switching sooner rather than later; in some countries that process is already pretty far completed with e.g. leasing companies preferring evs for cost and other reasons. EV sales have hit double digit percentages in many countries and the number of countries where that is over 50% is also growing. So, easy choice for most petrol stations. More a question of when and how many than if for most of them.

It’s like saying telecoms won’t provide internet services because it might eat into SMS and phone call fees. So far that hasn’t been true - where I stay at least.

It's probably better to cannibalize your own market share than have the revenue go to a competitor.

Not only that, but their core business model is pulling a profit anyway.

Cash flow is not a particular concern for Tesla right now, they are cash-rich.

Agreed, but they do seem to have over 16 billion $ in cash and other liquid assets (per https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/TSLA/cash-flow/), and that is after all the expenses they had for the new factories. That's a lot of money to ride out a storm.

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.

There is nothing in it that requires Tesla (or any other operator) to make their network available to all makes of vehicle.

However, without an "open" charging network Tesla cannot access government funds for charging network expansion that is available to their competitors.

This is how all EU directives work. Member states are required to implement EU directives in law.

That's a minister of an EU member state allegedly telling them he would like to force them to do it.

It also makes chargers more expensive both in production cost and in maintenance, as you have to support a display and physical buttons and stuff, all that for a "legacy payment method".

Because these obscure methods of paying usually work out a lot cheaper than paying directly by credit card (usually they have a QR code with a website).

Shops at gas stations here are for buying red bull, cigarettes, and toilet paper. That's not enough "entertainment" for a longer charge.

Also, it makes monthly budgeting easier for individuals.