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Don’t despair if you want to stream a show at a Tesla Supercharger but aren’t paying for Premium Connectivity — you might have an official alternative. According to Electrek, Tesla EV owners have spotted Starlink satellite internet dishes at Supercharger stations. It’s not yet clear how many there are or if they’re accessible to drivers, but the deployment at least includes Florida.
Tesla hasn’t commented on the rollout and is believe to have disbanded its PR team.
There are multiple possible uses for Starlink broadband at Superchargers. At the least, it could replace or supplement the existing connections that handle basics like payments and charger status. That could help the company deploy Superchargers faster and in more remote areas. That’s important when the brand hopes to allow charging for non-Tesla EVs and triple the size of its station network.
You don’t need that much bandwidth (the median US Starlink connection is about 97Mbps) just to process transactions, though, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Tesla used the satellite link to provide WiFi to Supercharger customers. You’re typically parked at a charger for long enough to watch some TV episodes — you could stream shows without a Premium Connectivity subscription or using your phone as a hotspot. Network congestion could be a problem if the chargers are busy, but it would be convenient and potentially sell customers on Starlink service at home.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Engadget.
