Tesla to universalise US charging stations as part of $7.5 bn federal program

As a part of the universalisation of EV charging in the USA, the Biden administration collaborated with Tesla to open part of its US charging network to all Electric Vehicles. Tesla EV charging stations will be open to all under the $7.5 billion federal program for the expansion of EVs and cut carbon emissions.

The electric car maker is planning to open 3,500 new charging stations and existing superchargers along highway corridors open to non Tesla cars as well. In addition to that, the company would also offer 4,000 slower chargers at locations like hotels and restaurants.

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After opting for the competitive pricing for its car, this move to open Tesla EV charging stations for every EV will give the company an upper edge for vehicles made by the company. Currently, Tesla is the only EV company to have such a vast network of high speed Superchargers in the US.

Tesla Chief, Elon Musk gave the information by retweeting the update shared by the Tesla charging, the twitter account for all the information updates related to Superchargers.

"Tesla Superchargers almost everywhere," said Elon Musk while retweeting the thread.

Tesla Charging had tweeted, “Our US network will more than double by the end of 2024 to support our growing Tesla fleet and new EV customers.”

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Informing about the deal, USA President Joe Biden informed that the opening of a “big part” of Tesla's network to all drivers was a “big deal” that can bring a “big difference.”

In response, Tesla Chief Executive Musk said, "Thank you, Tesla is happy to support other EVs via our Supercharger network."

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US subsidy to Tesla

For opening its EV stations to rival EV makers, Tesla would be eligible for a subsidy, informed a White House official. The subsidy would also include retrofitting its existing fleet. The subsidy, if given, will be provided to the EV maker only till its charging stations are open for other vehicles with a federally backed charging standards, CCS, to charge.

As of now, Tesla had not committed to adopting CCS as its standard. But the company needs to comply with the requirements to qualify for funds.

Tesla has 17,711 superchargers, which make 60% of the total US fast chargers. In addition to superchargers, there are around 10,000 ‘destination' chargers with Tesla plugs that provide the facility of overnight charging.

Tesla's EV Charging key to build USA's EV chargers federal program

Government's push that led Tesla to open its charging stations to all the EVs, will help the US government in achieving ambitious federal program to build 5,00,000 EV chargers by 2030. Currently, the country has 1,30,000 chargers.

"Select Tesla Superchargers across the US will soon be open to all EVs," Tesla wrote on Twitter, without elaborating on when, where and how it would open its chargers. It had already planned to more than double its U.S. Supercharger network by the end of 2024, it said.

All the EV drivers need to install the Tesla app or website to access these stations. Adding non-Tesla owners may require a different plug and payment method. Just like the USA, the company had also opened some Superchargers in Europe and Australia to non-Tesla owners since 2021.

Universalisation of Superchargers, a threat to Tesla's brand exclusivity

Despite paving way for its subsidy by opening EV chargers to all the EVs, the move may erode the brand exclusivity of Tesla, believe experts.

Chris Harto, a senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports, said, "There is no doubt the $7.5 billion in federal charging investment threatens Tesla's competitive advantage. That is actually the entire point of the program."

The move may ramp up the company revenue, but it will make it difficult for Elon Musk to manage the network. The strong customer satisfaction existent due to the charging network might get impacted if the network will be open for all the EVs, said Sam Abuelsamid, who works at Guidehouse Insights.

(With inputs from Reuters)