Don't despair, if you want to stream a show live at A Tesla Supercharger station but don't pay a premium connection — you may have an official alternative. Owners of Tesla electric vehicles have found Starlink satellite Internet antennas at supercharging stations, Electrek reports. It's not clear how many people are there or whether drivers will be able to get in, but the deployment includes at least Florida.
Tesla has yet to comment on the launch and is believed to have disbanded its pr team.
Starlink broadband has several possible uses in superchargers. At the very least, it can replace or supplement existing basic connections such as payment and charger status. That could help the company deploy superchargers more quickly in more remote areas. This is important when the brand wants to allow non-Tesla electric cars to charge and triple the size of its network of charging stations.
You don't need that much bandwidth (the median connection in the US is 97Mbps) to process transactions, however, it wouldn't be surprising if Tesla used a satellite connection to provide WiFi to supercharger customers. You'll usually park your car in front of the charger long enough to watch some TV shows — you can stream shows without a Premium Connectivity subscription, or use your phone as a hotspot. Network congestion could be an issue if chargers are busy, but it would be handy and potentially allow customers to use Starlink services at home.
