It’s finally happening: Tesla is opening its Superchargers in the U.S. to other electric vehicles.
It’s a part of a Biden administration’s plan to improve the EV charging network in the U.S., made public on Wednesday. The plan includes building a national network of 500,000 EV chargers “along America’s highways and in our communities,” and have EVs make up “at least 50% of new car sales by 2030.”
An important part of the plan is Tesla, which will make “at least 7,500 chargers” available for all EVs by the end of 2024. Out of that number, 3,500 will be new and existing 250 kW Superchargers along highways, while the rest will be Level 2 Destination Chargers, such as those you find in hotels and restaurants, in “urban and rural locations.”
Tesla has also promised to more than double its network of Superchargers in the U.S.; the company currently boasts more than 1,660 Superchargers in the U.S. according to supercharge.info.
Tesla started opening its Supercharger network to other EVs in Europe in 2021, and the company promised to open up in the U.S. as well, but hasn’t yet started doing so. Part of the issue is the charging standard; Tesla uses a proprietary connector in North America, but it will add support for CCS connectors, which are the dominant standard in the U.S. and Europe, to its Supercharger stalls.
More EV charging stations planned nationwide
Other EV and transportation companies are joining in, too. For example, Hertz and bp are building a network of EV fast chargers in the U.S. Mercedes-Benz, together with ChargePoint and MN8 Energy, will deploy more than 400 charging hubs with more than 2,500 publicly accessible fast chargers in the U.S. and Canada. General Motors has partnered with FLO to install up to 40,000 public Level 2 EVE chargers in local communities, and Ford has committed to installing at least one public fast charger with two ports at 1,920 of its dealerships by January 2024.
The plan is part of Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed in 2021, which includes a $7.5 billion investment in EV charging infrastructure. There’s no word on how much funding goes to Tesla or other individual companies named in the new plan.
