‘Big deal, will make big difference’: Joe Biden on Elon Musk’s plan to open Tesla’s charging network to rivals

US President Joe Biden has praised the plan by Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk to open part of its electric vehicle charging network. He said that the move is a "big deal" and will "make big difference."

"In building our EV charging network, we have to ensure that as many chargers work for as many drivers as possible," Biden said in a tweet. "To that end, @elonmusk will open a big part of @Tesla's network up to all drivers. That's a big deal, and it'll make a big difference."

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

By late 2024, Tesla will open 7,500 new and existing Superchargers and Destination Chargers, the Biden administration said on Wednesday. The administration is set to spend $7.5 billion on expanding charging infrastructure and jump-start the adoption of electric vehicles.

Such a move could help turn Tesla into the universal "filling station" of the EV era - and risk eroding a competitive edge for vehicles made by the company, which has exclusive access to the biggest network of high-speed Superchargers in the United States.

By late 2024, Tesla will open 3,500 new and existing Superchargers along highway corridors to non-Tesla customers, the Biden administration said. It will also offer 4,000 slower chargers at locations like hotels and restaurants.

This tweet is also a sign of improving relationships between Biden and Musk, who had previously complained about being ignored. In November, Biden had criticized Musk’s acquisition of Twitter Inc., saying the social media platform was responsible for spewing lies. “Now what are we all worried about? Elon Musk goes out and buys an outfit that sends and spews lies all across the world," Biden had said.

Last year in January, Musk had slammed the US President after he left out the name of Tesla in a post that talked about the future of electric vehicles in America. Tesla CEO was was miffed after the President excluded the name of the electric vehicle manufacturer in a Twitter post where he said, “Companies like GM and Ford are building more electric vehicles here at home than ever before.” Replying to his tweet, Musk had wrote the name of "Tesla" in all caps. In another tweet, he had said, "Biden is a damp Socks puppet in human form."

Tesla has 17,711 Superchargers, accounting for about 60 percent of total U.S. fast chargers that can add hundreds of miles of driving range in an hour or less. There are also nearly 10,000 "destination" chargers with Tesla plugs that can recharge a vehicle overnight. Opening up access to Tesla's network would be a quick win for an ambitious federal program to build 500,000 EV chargers by 2030, up from 130,000 currently.

(With inputs from Reuters)