Tesla expands non-Tesla Superchargers to Texas and adds kWh billing in Canada
Tesla
After a few months of uncertainty, Tesla has reignited its efforts to make Supercharging accessible to a wider range of electric vehicles. The company has restarted the deployment of its unique "Magic Dock" adapter at Supercharger stations, with a recent sighting in Texas.
Earlier this year, Tesla unveiled the Magic Dock - an adapter that allows non-Tesla EVs to utilize the Supercharger network. It was introduced at select Supercharger stations in New York and California but saw a sudden halt in its deployment. The assumption was that Tesla paused the Magic Dock rollout due to its ongoing discussions with other automakers regarding adopting the North American Charging Standard.
A Paradigm Shift in Supercharging Billing in Canada
Tesla has also made a major transformation in the Supercharging experience for Canadian customers. After several regulatory hurdles, Tesla has finally switched to kilowatt-hour (kWh) billing for Supercharging across Canada. This substantial shift means that customers will now be billed based on the electricity their vehicles consume, not the amount of time they spend charging.
The decision to change the billing method came after Measurement Canada granted a temporary dispensation in February 2023, permitting charging providers to invoice customers per kWh. Despite the initial hurdles and delays due to the complex approval process, especially for providers with expansive charging networks like Tesla, the long-awaited shift finally became a reality.
Tesla owners across Canada can now benefit from the more transparent, kWh-based billing system. While the rates vary, the slowest 72kW Urban Superchargers cost under $0.30/kWh, with the rates for V2 (150kW) and V3 (250kW) stations fluctuating around $0.47-$0.48 CAD per kWh.
Implications and The Path Forward
Tesla's recent strides in Supercharging underscore the company's commitment to its customers and the broader EV community. The reintroduction of the Magic Dock represents a major step towards broadening the inclusivity of Tesla's Supercharger network, offering non-Tesla EV owners more flexibility in charging options.
Moreover, switching to kWh-based billing in Canada is a significant move towards greater transparency and fairness. It rectifies the previous time-based system that inadvertently penalized drivers of slower-charging EVs, who paid the same amount as faster-charging vehicles but received less electricity.
As Tesla continues to innovate and evolve its Supercharging infrastructure, these latest developments underline its dedication to enhancing the EV charging experience for all users. This dynamic approach benefits Tesla owners and contributes significantly to the growth of the global EV ecosystem.
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Tesla China has outlined some features in Tesla’s latest update in the region, which is version 2024.26.9. In the list of features, Tesla mentions many of the features we’re already aware of, including Automatic Emergency Braking Improvements, YouTube Music and more, but they also reveal one additional feature that’s exclusive to China. The new feature allows the new blind spot indicator to light up if there’s something in the way when you’re opening your door. The blind spot indicator is exclusive to the new Model 3 and Cybertruck, which features little red LEDs in the front speaker grills next to the mirror.
Blind Spot Door Warnings
With update 2024.26.9, Tesla says that if any vehicle door handle button is pressed on vehicles with a Blind Spot Warning Light (currently just the 2024 Refreshed Model 3 Highland and the Cybertruck), the blind spot warning indicator in the vehicle’s front speakers will illuminate.
This object detection includes cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and “other objects”. We’re not quite sure what fits into the “other objects” category, but likely things that FSD picks up on normally – including traffic cones, bollards, and other large obstacles.
According to Tesla’s description, there appears to only be a visual warning for the driver and front passenger, with nothing displayed on screen or an audible tone. We’re sure Tesla will continue to expand and refine this feature like they’ve done with various features in the past, but for now, it's only available in China. Blind Spot Door Warnings need to be enabled under Controls > Safety before this feature will function.
We’d love to see Tesla use the ambient light strip in the vehicle to warn passengers and drivers when their door is obstructed – it would be a fantastic use of a luxury feature for utilitarian safety – rather than just the single red LED inside the door speaker. Additionally, an audio warning would be excellent for those who may not see the red dot.
Tesla appears to be making progress on FSD in China, with the latest update available in the region now displaying the FSD button in the vehicle. Tesla makes no note of the change in the release notes, nor does it appear to be available in any other regions that are expected to receive access to FSD in the future.
FSD in the UI
In the Autopilot options in China, users could previously select Traffic-Aware Cruise Control or Auto Steer (Beta), however, as of 2024.26.9, the Full Self Driving (Supervised) button is now visible – but greyed out. Tapping on the option doesn’t do anything just yet, but the addition of the button could be a hint that Tesla is planning to enable the feature soon.
Underneath the Autopilot selection, Tesla also has a phrase that says, “Full Self-Driving (Supervised) needs to use an updated version of navigation maps. Connect to Wi-Fi to download” (Thanks, Luis Zhu). It’s possible the option is greyed out because the software needs updated maps to work. There are no reports yet of what happens when the navigation map is downloaded.
We previously reported that FSD was on hold in China, even after Tesla received approval to start testing FSD in China. This flip-flopping is interesting but could be due to regulatory issues between China and Tesla regarding data collection and where the data is stored. Now that the button is in the UI – Tesla is clearly confident that it either has received approval or will in short order.
It certainly appears that Tesla is going to be opening up FSD in the region fairly soon. It’ll be interesting to see if Tesla uses the same Safety Score feature they used in the U.S. when choosing drivers to beta test the program.
Elon Musk previously mentioned that FSD (Supervised) would be rolling out to global markets, including Europe and China, as Tesla received approvals from governments in those nations.
