- YouTuber Bjørn Nyland took his Polestar 2 to a Tesla Supercharger in Norway for the first time.
- He said charging speed and a cheap price make the Supercharger network attractive even for non-Tesla owners.
- Tesla opened its Supercharger network to non-Tesla owners at select locations in France and Norway on Monday.
An electric vehicle owner posted a video of his first time charging his Polestar 2 with a Tesla Supercharger after the company opened some of its charging stations to non-Tesla drivers in France and Norway on Monday.
The YouTuber, Bjørn Nyland, pointed out several advantages to using Tesla's Supercharger network for non-Tesla vehicles, including the charging speed and relatively low price. Nyland said he bought a Tesla subscription for 150 NOK per month, equivalent to about $17. With the subscription, his charging experience cost about 2.7 NOK or 31 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and a small idle fee — a price that Nyland said beats most charging stations in Norway.
The YouTuber also indicated a few difficulties that non-Tesla drivers could face at the charging stations. He showed two Volkswagen and Audi drivers at the station who had to park in a bus lane because their cars' charging ports didn't align with the orientation of the Superchargers. Nyland said that EVs that did not have a charging port on the same side of the vehicle as Teslas could cause more long lines and confusion at the stations.
Similarly, Nyland said some EVs might still not be able to charge at the stations as the Supercharger network only works with Combined Charging System (CCS) cables, not the fast-charging CHAdeMo connectors used by the Nissan LEAF, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, and older Kia models.
Tesla is piloting the program in Norway, France, and the Netherlands and includes about 40 Supercharger locations. Tesla initially began offering the program to non-Tesla drivers in the Netherlands in November. Only select stations are accessible for non-Tesla EVs. In Norway, the company is offering the new program at about 15 locations.
Insider's Tim Levin reported that the program could serve as an additional revenue stream for Tesla, as well as help eliminate range anxiety for electric car owners. Tesla's expansive Supercharger network makes up the majority of charging stations in the US and represents a key advantage for the electric carmaker.
In its initial announcement for the expansion of the pilot program, Tesla said it plans to "review the experience, monitor congestion and assess feedback before expanding."