American car manufacturer Tesla has decided to open a number of its supercharger stations to all electric vehicles in Belgium beginning Wednesday, the company announced in a press release.
Nine fast charging stations and 141 individual superchargers are included in the Belgian pilot, making it the largest fast charging network in the country.
The stations that will service all electric cars are now those in Antwerp, Arlon, Edegem, Heusden-Zolder, Lokeren, Namur, Remouchamps, Verviers and Wavre.
Further openings across Europe
Tesla is also opening some of its chargers to all-electric vehicles – not just those in the Tesla family – in the United Kingdom, Austria, Spain and Sweden.
The expansion of the pilot to these five countries makes the supercharger network of just over 200 stations and 2,900 charging points the largest publicly accessible fast charging network in Europe, Tesla says.
A map of charging stations in Europe. Graphic from Tesla.
“Access to a comprehensive, convenient and reliable fast charging network is critical to the large-scale adoption of electric vehicles,” the company said.
“That's why we've been committed to rapidly expanding the network since the opening of our first superchargers in 2012. Today we have more than 30,000 Superchargers worldwide. Tesla drivers can continue to use these stations as they always have, and we will be watching each site closely for congestion and listening to customers and their experiences.”
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Use of the supercharging stations isn’t free: owners of electric vehicles in Belgium can purchase a monthly membership at €12.99 in order to access lower kWh rates, while non-members have access at a higher kWh price of €0.70 on average. Exact rates vary by location.
“Our goal is to learn and innovate quickly as we continue to aggressively expand the network so that eventually we can welcome both Tesla and non-Tesla drivers to every supercharger worldwide,” Tesla said in its press release.
