Tesla has joined forces with some of Australia’s biggest electricity companies to strike back against plans to expand the nation’s EV charging network by using power bill increases to force all Australians to pay for the upgrade, regardless of whether they use electric vehicles or not.

Elon Musk’s carmaking colossus has penned a joint letter to authorities along with electricity providers including AGL, Engie and EnergyAustralia to warn against the plan after power companies were given preliminary approval to build 14,000 chargers on existing power poles.

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The approval is designed to fill charging gaps in regional areas and other black spots, and the companies will be allowed to recover 70 per cent of the costs by jacking up charges on electricity bills for all Australians. The federal government will pay for the remaining 30 per cent of the outlay.

According to the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), the increase in the bill will amount to $1 a year over a five-year period – but Tesla and the other signatories to the joint statement dispute that and believe the charges could be an “EV tax” that’s unfairly applied, the SMH reported.

The submission argues that the AEMC’s figures fail to show whether each charger would justify the cost by spurring on 1.5 to 3.8 new EV purchases, and that allowing the big players to enter the charging market will undermine private operators, like Tesla, who have invested in their own networks.

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“This is potentially like an EV tax on electricity bills. People who cannot afford an EV, do not own a car or will never use these chargers would still contribute through their electricity bills – the AEMC must explain why that is justified,” said Stephanie Bashir of the Next Advisory consultancy firm, which organised the letter.

Tesla said electricity network operators’ job is “not to own, control, or roll out the batteries, chargers and other equipment” and the big power companies “should not pull up a chair and play, while also owning the table, writing the rules for who gets a seat, and acting as umpire”.

Network operators like Ausgrid have previously said letting them into the public-charging market will mean better options for Aussies who can’t charge their EVs at home and lead to the provision of “faster, more affordable, and more widespread access to charging where people need it”.

In related news, Ampol has just spent $225 million to buy Evie Networks, which triples the amount of EV charging bays the petroleum giant owns and puts it ahead of Tesla as the top charger owner in the country.