Tesla opens Australian Supercharger network to other EV brands across five NSW sites
The first of five Australian Tesla Supercharger locations are now open to non-Tesla drivers looking for a rapid charge, but there’s a hefty fee of $0.79/kWh.
Tesla’s Superchargers in North America. Image: Tesla Motors
Following the pilot program across Europe and the UK, Tesla has opened 5 supercharging sites in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) to non-Tesla vehicles - assuming they are CCS2 compatible.
The story first broke on Twitter, with the Tesla app quickly confirming that non-Tesla EV drivers are able to pay and charge at Bathurst, Dubbo, Narooma, Tamworth, Hollydene, and Narooma Superchargers:
Which cars can charge on these Superchargers?
Well, any BEV/PHEV with a CCS2 cable can now access these five sites. If you drive a Nissan Leaf or other CHAdeMO-equipped vehicle though, you’re out of luck.
How do I access the Tesla Supercharger network, and how much does it cost?
Download the Tesla app on your smartphone - you’ll need to create an account if you don’t have one already. Within the app, the home screen offers a menu titled “charge your non-Tesla”. Clicking on it allows you to access a map where you can scroll or search for open chargers:
The Tesla app shows available chargers, and gives non-Tesla drivers access to charging.
Click on the red pin, and you’ll see a menu with directions, amenities, charging fees, and the option to start charging. Pricing for non-Tesla users isn’t cheap, at $0.79/kWh, or $0.66/kWh with a $10/month subscription. For comparison, Chargefox and Evie Networks currently charge $0.60/kWh for their 350kW DC chargers and $0.40/kWh for the slower 50kWh chargers.
The subscription option looks quite appealing, with only a couple of charges required to see value for money. I scoured the terms and conditions, and couldn’t see any penalties for canceling, meaning that drivers could take out the subscription prior to a road trip, and then cancel it when not needed. The main stipulation by Tesla is that there is a maximum of five charges per site per day.
Supercharging a Tesla Model 3. Image: EV Brief Media
EV Brief’s Take
There has been wide-ranging feedback about this announcement across the internet, from critical views such as Tesla’s network should be reserved for Tesla drivers only, and that this move will create large queues at Superchargers.
Tesla owners have provided plenty of positive support, however, with many seeing this as an opportunity for the brand to continue its charging infrastructure rollout in Australia.
Personally, I think this is a great decision and is a small step towards meeting Tesla’s promises of advancing the transition to zero emissions transport, and is an opportunity to increase revenue from charging. It’s also unlikely to cause many demand issues at the charging locations, with these 5 Superchargers seeing light-medium usage.
Is Tesla Supercharging expensive for non-Tesla drivers like myself? Comparatively, yes, but the additional charging options in regional NSW are invaluable, especially in light of the sparse Evie Networks/Chargefox locations, and chronically broken chargers. The price is roughly $45 for a 10-100% charge of my Polestar; the equivalent cost of filling my former petrol Golf GTI would be around $75, assuming 450km of range and consumption of 8l/100km, and $2.10/litre for premium fuel.
Non-Tesla EV drivers are unlikely to use them in this way however; Tesla’s network will prove to be most useful in providing a reliable fast-charge top-up to get drivers to their destination, or a cheaper charging site for a deep charge.
Tesla looks to officially commence Singapore operations; Model 3 available to order
Tesla looks to be gearing up for a launch of operations in Singapore this year, with multiple roles in retail, service, parts and customer service advertised on the company’s website as at 25 January 2021. Also visible on the website’s charging location search page is a marker over Singapore showing that a Supercharger site is planned, but that the “Target opening date [is] to be confirmed”, and that “Timing and location subject to change”.
Tesla looks to be gearing up for a launch of operations in Singapore this year, with multiple roles in retail, service, parts and customer service advertised on the company’s website. Also visible on the website’s charging location search page is a marker over Singapore showing that a Supercharger site is planned, but that the “Target opening date [is] to be confirmed”, and that “Timing and location subject to change”.
Note that many reputable news sources are reporting Singapore’s first Supercharger is likely to be located exactly on the pin; that is at the Singapore Island Country Club. Our take is that this is a general location marker, and Tesla would be unlikely to place the company’s first rapid charging site within the grounds of a private club, off limits to the public.
Tesla’s website shows that Singapore is a planned future Supercharging location.
The Tesla model 3 can also now be ordered in Singapore, in Standard Range Plus and Performance specifications. Tesla’s website quotes a date of “mid 2021” for deliveries of either model, and is available from SG$S112,845 (SR+) and SG$154,845 (Performance), excluding Certificate of Entitlement (COE) which can cost between SG$40-50,000 at today’s rates. The COE gives vehicle owners the right to own and operate a vehicle for ten years, and is purchased through an open bidding system, though if you purchase a new vehicle, the dealership generally handles the acquisition of the COE.
Tesla’s Model 3 is eligible for significant government concessions in Singapore.
Interestingly, Tesla’s website shows that the Model 3 is eligible for two sizeable discounts on the country’s Additional Registration Fee (ARF). There’s a SG$20,000 EV early adopter incentive, and a SG$20,000 Vehicle Emissions Scheme (VES) rebate. These discounts make the Model 3 incredibly competitive with other sports sedans in the market.
At this stage, The revised Model S and Model X remain off limits for Singaporeans to order.
Although Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has, in the past been rather uncomplimentary of the Singaporean Government’s attitude towards not only electric vehicles generally but his company, Singapore now has a mandate to eradicate internal combustion engined vehicles on its roads by 2040. This government support means that Singaporeans will soon have not only policy certainty around zero emissions vehicles, but an increased rollout in charging infrastructure, as well as potential rebates on the cost of vehicle registration.
Tesla’s Model 3 will be available to Singaporeans by mid-2021.
Reducing vehicle emissions will be crucial in achieving the island-state’s overall goal of peak emissions of 33 million tonnes by 2050, given the heavy reliance on gas, coal and oil for energy. There are about 600,000 privately owned cars on the road in Singapore, with EVs numbering about 1,100 (that’s only 0.18%).
With the zero emissions mandate, recently raised petrol duties, no minimum registration fee and the 10 year validity of the mandatory Certificate of Entitlement, some analysts are predicting that Singapore has the potential to produce a market for a minimum of 50,000 electric vehicle sales per annum.
![Tesla proposes world's largest V3 supercharging site in Santa Monica, with 62 stalls [updated]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5237a580e4b09510ca448d5e/1614734780645-GO2LYM2CUIYEGNE5DO1O/V3-Vegas.jpeg)
Tesla proposes world's largest V3 supercharging site in Santa Monica, with 62 stalls [updated]
Tesla has lodged a submission with the City of Santa Monica Planning Commission to build the world’s largest supercharger across two sites at 1401 & 1421-1425 Santa Monica Boulevard. Currently an open air carpark, the site is around a 30 minute walk to downtown Santa Monica.
[Update] - The City of Santa Monica Planning Commission approved the project, five votes to two, after a three hour long discussion.
Tesla has lodged a submission with the City of Santa Monica Planning Commission to build the world’s largest supercharger across two sites at 1401 & 1421-1425 Santa Monica Boulevard.
Currently an open air carpark, the site is around a 30 minute walk to downtown Santa Monica and Santa Monica Beach, and conveniently located for employees of the nearby Amazon Studios, Naughty Dog and Red Bull headquarters.
Currently open-air parking, 1421 Santa Monica Blvd may be home to the world’s largest supercharger site. Image: Google Maps
Planning submission details
The cover letter to the City of Santa Monica proposes obtaining approval for each lot independently. The proposed project consists of 36 V3 superchargers with PV solar canopies for the western lot at 1401 Santa Monica Blvd, and 26 V3 Superchargers plus restroom facilities for the eastern lot at 1421-1425 Santa Monica Blvd.
A site plan for the 62 stall Tesla Supercharger
A Megapack placed on the western lot will power the facility with a power rating of 1,264 kW and 2,529 kWh. Supercharger cabinets will be spread across both sites, and located behind fencing.
Parking spaces will vary in width across both sites, ranging from 8’-6” (2.58 metres) to 11’-1” (3.37 metres) wide; the largest spaces are presumably designed to accommodate Tesla’s upcoming Cybertruck.
Tesla’s cover letter to the City of Santa Monica Planning Commissions
Tesla’s commitments to the site
As part of the project’s proposal, Tesla has promised that adequate on-site public safety and product integrity is top priority, and that weekly, monthly and quarterly maintenance checks will be carried out.
Presently the world’s largest Supercharger is located in Shanghai, with 72 V2 stalls. The Santa Monica Planning Commission is set to vote on the project on Wednesday March 3, 2021.
A V3 Supercharger site in Las Vegas. Image: Tesla Motors
Source: https://www.smgov.net/departments/pcd/agendas/Planning-Commission/2021/20210303/a20210303.htm Thanks to listener Jennifer for the tip!
Tesla End of Year Wrap Up
The electric vehicle market is booming, despite COVID-19 putting the brakes on the auto industry generally. Of course Tesla has become a darling of investors, with the company seeing a 50% share price increase since the announcement in early November that the automaker was entering the S&P 500.
The electric vehicle market is booming, despite COVID-19 putting the brakes on the auto industry generally. Of course Tesla has become a darling of investors, with the company seeing a 50% share price increase since the announcement in early November that the automaker was entering the S&P 500. Not since Yahoo and the dot com boom in the late nineties have we seen such confidence in the future of a company.
Tesla isn’t one to slow down for the holiday season, and with a final production and deliveries push expected, Gigafactories across the world under construction, charging infrastructure and vehicle updates, we look at the news this week, and what we can expect to see in the new year.
Sales & Deliveries
North American and European sales of Model 3 and Y remain strong, and the company has apparently met (admittedly low) Model S and X targets for the year, and has halted production for these vehicles.
Tesla sales are strong in China, and this is the market that will help push Tesla to its 500,000 unit goal in 2020. Indeed, many analysts and commentators believe Tesla will surpass this target. With over 20,000 ‘made in China’ Model 3s sold in November, that demand looks set to continue through December, just as the Model 3 was recently awarded Number 1 electric vehicle in China by owners in a recent Net Promoter Score (NPS) index survey. Any concerns around battery availability have subsided, as Tesla’s Chinese production recently moved to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries from supplier CATL.
In Q4 2019, Tesla delivered 112,000 vehicles. Tesla has been ramping production in Q3 and Q4, and Rob Maurer of Tesla Daily has projected just over 24,000 units of Model 3 in production from Giga Shanghai in December. His other projections include:
53,000 Model Y units produced in Q4;
58,000 Model 3 units produced in Q4;
19,000 Model S and X units produced in Q4;
530,000 total units produced in 2020
Tesla needs 181,000 deliveries worldwide to achieve the 500,000 unit annual target. Watch Tesla Daily’s Q4 prediction video below:
Factories
As was expected, construction of Giga Texas is powering forward, with the skeleton and roof of the facility already under construction, and the first phase of the project due for completion in 2021.
Over in China, Tesla completed the Model 3 and Model Y production lines in record time, and new single-piece body castings have been spotted at the factory, suggesting Tesla’s new ‘Gigapress’ casting machines are now online.
Tesla certainly isn’t resting though, and it appears the company is continuing to expand the production facility east of the current footprint:
Meanwhile, over in Germany, Giga Berlin is also charging full steam ahead, with ‘Gigapress’ casting machines arriving at the factory, and external walls being erected, despite a number of hold ups due to permits, environmental concerns and missed payments. Again, Tesla is expected to commence operations on time if not earlier, with production tests due for July 2021, some 13 months after construction on the site began.
FSD pricing and updates
Tesla’s autonomous Full Self Driving package is set to become a cash cow for the company, with the billions in R&D dollars spent set to be recouped over the next few years. Previously available as a stand-alone option before or after delivery for a cost of $10,000, Tesla announced 2021 will bring a subscription pricing model for owners who wish to pay for the option in instalments.
Tesla has also just released its holiday 2020 update, as part of Firmware 2020.48.25. There are some notable changes mentioned in the release notes including:
“The driving visualization has been refreshed and now offers a larger visualization to allow drivers to view more details of the road surroundings. The next turn will now appear above the visualization if the navigation turn list is covered by another app.”
“Schedule departure can now precondition your battery and cabin even when your car is unplugged. To account for different utility rate plans, you can now set the time when your off-peak rates end to save on charging costs. To access, tap SCHEDULE from the climate control or charging panel when parked.”
“Supercharger pins on your touchscreen will now display the number of available stalls at charging sites. Quickly search for nearby amenities by tapping an amenity icon on the Supercharger popup display.”
Teslarati has a full rundown of software changes listed here
Superchargers
Can electric vehicles from brands other than Tesla now charge at Tesla Superchargers? Not quite. Marques Brownlee asked Elon Musk on Twitter “Why don't more electric car makers take up Tesla on their offer to use the Supercharging network? Incompatible tech? Hidden fees? Pride? There's gotta be a good reason.” to which Elon Musk replied: “They are, although it’s kind (sic) low-key. Tesla Superchargers are being made accessible to other electric cars.”
Naturally, the internet went crazy, though you won’t see Porsche Taycan owners at a Supercharger any time soon. Tesla is focused on rolling out Superchargers for its customers, installing the high-speed Tesla-only chargers in more locations, and updating more Supercharger sites from 150kW version 2 models to 250kW version 3 models. Construction of Tesla's Supercharger factory in China appears to be ramping up too, and has a 10,000 unit per year production goal.
S&P 500 Inclusion
The big news this week is the inclusion of Tesla into the S&P 500 club; a move that many have signalled since Tesla achieved four straight profitable quarters in July this year. According to the Wall Street Journal, shares have surged some 70% since the announcement of the company’s addition in November.
Tesla’s listing on the stock market benchmark represents the biggest company ever to join the S&P 500, and its USD$650 billion market capitalisation figure means Tesla is the sixth largest publicly listed company in the United States.
1990 to 2020: Largest Companies Added to the S&P 500
Elon Musk appeared extremely grateful on Twitter, Tweeting on December 22 “Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make Tesla successful. My heart goes out to you.”
Tesla is now the world’s most valuable automaker, with huge growth potential and some serious competitive advantages in the market place (more on that below).
The Street has just named Tesla as its ‘number one stock of the year’, with 12 of 16 panellists agreeing Tesla stood above Zoom Video, Moderna, Amazon and Netflix (numbers two to five respectively)
Image: The Street
What about Tesla Energy?
The growth of Tesla Energy is part of the reason many investors see so much future potential in the company; while solar and household battery growth has been slow over the last few years, Q3 and Q4 2020 were good quarters for the business, and Tesla energy looks to have generated around $1.85 billion in revenue for the 2020 calendar year.
According to The Motley Fool, During Q3 2020, Tesla shipped 759 megawatt-hours (MWh) worth of batteries, an 81% increase from Q2's 419MWh. That’s a higher rate of growth than Tesla’s automotive business, which saw shipments for Q3 at 139,593 units, a sequential increase of 54% over Q2's 90,650 units.
We can expect to see more grid-scale battery projects boosting the energy business in 2021; recently a number of large projects utilising Tesla Powerpack and Megapack technology have been completed, including Yorktown New York’s 490 MW Tesla battery, and an upgrade of an additional 50 MW added to the Hornsdale battery in South Australia. Construction commenced in October on the 182 MW (730MWh) Moss Landing battery in California, which consists of 256 Megapacks, and will be able to power every home in San Francisco for up to six hours according to Tesla.
Tesla Solar has been bubbling away for a few years now, and the company’s energy products have become on average 30% cheaper than the US average primarily due to their online business model. By reducing ‘soft costs’ or non-component costs of each system, customers are able to purchase customised packages that suit their homes, and can even pay off the installed system through a subscription program.
Many in the industry believe that Tesla Energy can generate revenue equal to that of the automotive side of the business, and that it’s just a question of scaling up production, and expanding subscription-based solar and battery systems outside the United States.
What else could possibly happen in 2020?
Well now that you mention it, according to Reuters, there’s a little something called ‘Project Titan’ that the Cupertino tech giant Apple is working on. It’s an electric vehicle that has been in the works since 2014, and part of the secret vehicle’s competitive advantage will apparently be a new battery design that could “radically” reduce the cost of batteries while maximising range.
Gene Munster from Loup Ventures doesn’t see Apple’s entry into personal mobility as a threat to Tesla’s market share; Munster stated that the firm believes traditional automakers are Apple’s target.
Loup Ventures predicts that electric vehicles will account for close to 30% of all auto sales by 2025, with one third of that market to be dominated by Tesla.
Elon Musk dropped quite the Tweet today, stating that during the company’s Model 3 design and engineering phase, he approached Apple to see if Tim Cook was interested in acquiring Tesla: “During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value). He refused to take the meeting.”
How different the automotive and energy landscape could have been…
What’s in store for 2021
So what will next year bring? Like many investors (myself included), Tesla experts see exceptional growth for the company, based on strong demand for electric vehicles generally, and increasing market share in key markets such as China. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives believes China’s demand dynamic in the EV market will disproportionally benefit Tesla, and that the Chinese market could account for over 40% of Tesla’s sales within eighteen months.
Gali from Hyperchange demonstrates that Tesla has already figured out how to build electric vehicles profitably, with a gross margin figure of 23 percent. He sees a lot more growth potential on a profit per car basis, as the company focuses on software, and begins to recoup costs associated with the research and development of the Full Self Driving software. Gali is projecting a gross profit amount of $2.5 billion for Q4 2020, $2.7 billion in cashflow, and he expects capital expenditure to increase to $4-$6 billion per year from 2021 as Tesla pours more money into factories.
Model Y sales and deliveries are expected to get off the ground early in 2021, and with the Cybertruck Gigafactory due for completion mid-year, 2021 could be the year that Tesla brings the first mass-market electric pickup truck to consumers.
Tesla also unveiled its new 4680 battery cells in September, and the new tabless cells are expected to offer exceptional thermal and electrical efficiency. These cells are expected to be at the core of Cybertruck and Semi performance and efficiency, and while Tesla has these cells currently deployed in prototypes, the company lacks a facility to manufacture them at scale.
One of Tesla’s main goals is terrawatt-hour (TWh), or one trillion watt hour scale battery production, and the company has a manufacturing goal of 3TWh by the year 2030. Elon Musk has also used Twitter to suggest Tesla may be able to manufacture 20 million vehicles a year by this date:
Clean Technica has an excellent article on Tesla’s future that delves deeper into the above, however any future light commercial vehicles from the company are notably absent. With Rivian, Arrival and other manufacturers seeing this segment as a growth market for EVs, I wouldn’t be surprised to find Tesla leveraging their expertise to manufacture delivery vehicles.
2020 has been a difficult year for the automotive industry, but I am cautiously optimistic that Tesla’s battery and vehicle roadmap will play out in their favour, and that we will continue to see the company scale and grow at a rapid rate. Say what you like about Elon Musk; Tesla is now much bigger than one man, and the company has driven the global automotive market rapidly towards electrification and zero emissions transportation.
