SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — All Tesla electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at rest stops along the New Jersey Turnpike have been disconnected, as the company that manages the service plazas has entered the EV charging business.
State Sen. John Burzichelli, a Democrat, said drivers are caught in the middle of the struggle between Tesla and Applegreen, the turnpike service plaza provider. Applegreen manages everything but gasoline at rest stops, and now it has its own universal EV chargers.
Applegreen’s chargers have been installed at all but three rest stops along the turnpike. Chargers at the Molly Pitcher, Clara Barton and John Fenwick service areas are expected to be online before the end of the year.
“I’m not happy with where we stand today, and that’s not because I want to be active in defense of Tesla,” Burzichelli said. “Quite frankly, [Applegreen does] a wonderful job, responsible for making investments to rebuild all the rest stops. [It is] now in the electric vending business, which there’s no reason it shouldn’t be, but I don’t think we should have an exclusive relationship with regards to that.”
Last month, Tesla said on X, “Tesla always advocates for more infrastructure and co-location with additional third-party charging providers. … [The New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s] decision to remove, rather than add, critical charging infrastructure is a setback for New Jersey's EV adoption goals of 100% Zero-Emission New Car Sales by 2035. It removes Turnpike access to the most reliable (99.9% uptime), least congested (<1% waiters) and cost-effective (~30% lower $/kWh) charging.”
Fewer choices are never good for consumers, and Burzichelli said it doesn’t make much sense to dump the gold standard for EV chargers, no matter what someone may think of Tesla or its CEO, Elon Musk.
“It is a great disservice. It is a major step backward,” said Burzichelli.
In response, Tesla preemptively established chargers at several locations just off the turnpike to give drivers more options to juice up.
Burzichili said this fight isn’t over yet, and he is optimistic there will be more conversations in the coming weeks and a resolution that benefits drivers first and foremost.
KYW Newsradio reached out to Applegreen for comment but did not hear back.