Elon Musk informed Norwegian officials that Tesla plans to open its supercharger network to other electric cars in September of 2022.
You might worry that millions of other electric cars are going to start clogging up the Supercharger sites here in the US. Don’t worry yet.
First of all, Tesla has sold most of the electric cars that can accommodate D/C fast chargers anyway. And secondly, it’s not anywhere near as easy in the US. In Europe, all the Teslas are equipped with a CCS charging port.
So the Superchargers in Europe are already physically compatible with other brands of electric cars in Europe. I’m confident that Tesla will make sure that they’re adequately compensated for charging the other cars so that the income can be applied to increasing the number of Superchargers and maintaining the ones already in service.
Here in the US, Teslas use the proprietary Tesla connector for home charging and supercharging. So far, no one makes an adapter capable of allowing a Tesla Supercharger to charge a car with a CCS or CHADEMO D/C fast charger. There’s no point in making one since a Tesla Supercharger will refuse to charge any car that’s not on its own network. That also goes for wrecked Teslas that have been rebuilt. Once a Tesla is marked as no longer in service, it’s deleted from the Tesla network, and Superchargers won’t recognize it or charge it up. You can use level two charging on a wrecked and rebuilt Tesla, but a Tesla loses a lot of its utility if you can’t supercharge it.
Conversely, Tesla sometimes sells an adapter that allows you to use a CHADEMO D/C fast charger to charge up a Tesla. I say sometimes because I tried to buy one from the Tesla store earlier today. I was told that it’s out of stock, but that they’ll email me if they get any more in stock. It’s a bit pricey, but considering that it transmits a lot of electric current and that it has to work in all kinds of weather, heat, rain, snow, ice, it’s understandable that it will be costly. There may come a time when I’m low on electrons and closer to an Electrify America car charging site than to a Tesla Supercharger. So I want to have one of these adapters in my trunk. Oddly, the Tesla store does sell two rather expensive Tesla to J1772 adapters even though a less expensive one comes included with each Tesla. Those adapters work only with level 2 chargers.
Looking toward the future, I can see a possibility that Tesla may want to open up the United States Supercharger network to other electric vehicles, but they’ll have to either sell adapters themselves or license the patent for the proprietary Tesla adapter Supercharger system so that other companies can make the adapter. The adapters would need to connect a Tesla Supercharger to a CHADEMO or CCS equipped automobile. There would need to be appropriate compensation to Tesla so that the network could keep growing and continue supplying electricity.
Frankly, I look forward to the day when there are plenty of places where electric cars can recharge at D/C fast chargers, and all cars can use all recharging stations.
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After a post on X, Tesla has confirmed that it recently exported its 1 millionth car from Giga Shanghai. That’s a massive number of vehicles from a factory that only opened in December 2019.
Since Q3 2021, Giga Shanghai has been responsible for producing over 50% of global EV production – with the single exception of Q2 2022 – where production fell to about 40% while the factory was retooling. That’s a jaw-dropping figure for a single factory.
1 Million Exports
Giga Shanghai produces Teslas for practically the entire world, including the European, Australian, Chinese, and other Southeast Asian markets. For now, it also produces cars for Canada; however, an upcoming tariff could change this.
Giga Shanghai also celebrated the shipping of 100,000 vehicles to Australia with the 1 million vehicles exported mark. While the majority of vehicles end up in Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia are still massive markets for Tesla.
Going forward, Giga Shanghai, with its continued expansions, will be at or above 1 million vehicles produced per year. A good chunk of these vehicles stay within China, while the rest are exported. Tesla sells on average 40 to 80,000 cars per month in China, depending on the season, with an average of 90,000 cars produced per month in 2024 so far.
Automated Production
This is all thanks to Giga Shanghai’s 95% automated production line. Giga Shanghai is likely one of the most automated and advanced factories in the world, a testament to Tesla’s manufacturing and engineering expertise. Giga Shanghai produces one vehicle every 40 seconds.
We’re looking forward to seeing how Tesla’s expansions and factory innovations continue in the coming months and years.
Giga Shanghai operates a 95% automated production line, enabling a cycle time of less than 40 seconds! From taking 2.5 years for the first million cars to be produced, the second million was done in just 12 months 🚘🪄 pic.twitter.com/IF1w27AFPr
Tesla’s last app update, version 4.37.1, introduces support for critical alerts on the iPhone. These alerts are designed for emergency situations and will override standard notification settings, including the mute switch, Focus modes, and Do Not Disturb. This ensures that owners are notified when immediate action is required, even if their phone is set to silent.
How to Enable Critical Alerts
Activate Dog Mode: Open the Tesla app and turn on Dog Mode.
Main App Screen: After activating Dog Mode, go back to the main section of the app.
Enable Critical Alerts: A new option called Critical Alerts will appear under Live Camera and the quick action icons (Tip: You can add up to 5 quick actions). It’ll state, “Grant permissions to receive critical notifications.” Tap it, and you’ll see a system dialog asking for permission to allow critical alerts for the Tesla app.
Confirm Permission: Choose to allow the Tesla app to send critical notifications, which will grant the app special privileges for sending urgent alerts.
This new feature is likely intended for situations where Dog Mode needs to be turned off unexpectedly. For example, if the vehicle’s battery drops below 20% or if the temperature inside the cabin rises or falls drastically outside of your set temperature, the Tesla app is expected to send a critical alert to the owner, ensuring they are informed right away.
What Are Critical Alerts?
Critical Alerts are a type of iOS notification available only to approved apps, which must meet specific criteria set by Apple. These alerts are designed to be used in emergencies and bypass all standard notification restrictions. This means that regardless of whether your phone is silenced or in Do Not Disturb mode, the alert will play a sound and appear prominently.
By adding support for Critical Alerts, Tesla is prioritizing the safety of pets who may be left inside the vehicle with the expectation that Dog Mode will keep conditions safe. This change makes the app more reliable for alerting owners when immediate attention is needed, ensuring they are always kept informed—even when their phone’s settings would typically prevent other notifications from coming through.