German minister in talks with Tesla over sharing supercharger network

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's transport minister is trying to convince Tesla to open its network of superchargers to other carmakers to make it easier for drivers of electric vehicles to charge.

Andreas Scheuer told German newspaper Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung there were some technical issues to resolve but he expects to reach a solution, adding the goal was to make sure consumers can access charging stations across brands with a single payment system, ideally via smartphones.

"I am in direct talks with carmakers such as Tesla to make sure the existing infrastructure, for example Tesla's Superchargers, will be open to other manufacturers," he was quoted saying.

Tesla currently operates more than 1,000 charging spots in Germany.

Expanding the infrastructure necessary to drive mass adoption of electric vehicle has been a challenge in Germany, with various carmakers and utilities launching separate initiatives.

In total, Germany has about 40,000 public charging spots currently, according to energy industry group BDEW.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)