Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the company's Supercharger network will be opened to other EVs later this year. This will be a big win for those who do not own a Tesla.

This follows reports that Tesla has promised this in Norway in exchange for financial incentives from the government. Unfortunately, details on what will be done are not yet known.

Tesla operates its own EV charging network out of necessity more than anything else. When the first Tesla Roadster was launched in 2008, there was no market for electric vehicles and public chargers did not exist. To survive, Tesla built its network from the ground up.

As Musk points out, no connector standards existed, so the company developed its own charging cables that could handle both low and high voltages. This is why Tesla vehicles (at least in the U.S.) do not use the same CCS fast chargers as most other electric vehicles.

It is not clear how the availability of superchargers will be expanded. Tesla in Europe uses the same Type 2 CCS fast charging ports as other automakers, which makes them easier to handle in Europe. [Thanks to this law, any older EV can be connected to a Tesla Supercharger with no problem. Unless it is an older EV like the Nissan Leaf, which still uses the CHAdeMO charging port.

Musk confirmed that the expansion will eventually be rolled out to all countries, but this could be a problem in the US. Tesla in the US still uses its own Tesla charger, which means other cars will not be able to plug in so easily. Tesla could add a CCS cable to the Supercharger, but that will take time.

Tesla sells an adapter that allows Tesla owners to plug the CCS cable into its own port, but it does not appear to be available in the US. However, offering an adapter that does the reverse from Tesla to CCS may be a short-term solution to allow non-Tesla cars to juice up with Superchargers.

Nevertheless, non-Tesla EVs may be subject to some restrictions. It could be in the form of slower charging speeds or higher prices. Until Tesla explains, we will not know for sure.

Whatever happens, it is good news for countries, including the US, where third-party charging networks are not particularly well developed. The availability of more EV charging stations, even fast EV charging stations, is an important step on the road to electrification.

This is because range anxiety still exists, and making people aware that there are plenty of places to fast charge is the perfect way to allay their fears and get them behind the wheel of an EV.