Tesla to Open EV Charging Network to Rivals in Federal Program

0:00

/0:00

1×

Facts

• As part of its $7.5B program to build 500k electric vehicle (EV) chargers by 2030, the White House announced Wednesday that Tesla agreed to make at least 7.5k chargers available to all EVs by the end of 2024.¹
• To qualify for program funding, participating manufacturers must make and assemble the chargers in the US, and all manufacturing processes for any iron or steel charger enclosures or housing must also occur domestically.²
• The White House program, approved under the tax credit funding of the 2021 Inflation Reduction Act, will also require that at least 55% of all charger manufacturing components be made in the US by July 2024.³
• As the White House wants all chargers to be accessible to all EV types, Tesla, which already has a national network of 17.7k fast chargers, will have to ensure compatibility with a federally backed combined charging system (CCS).⁴
• By the end of next year, Tesla will make 3.5k new and existing Superchargers available along highway corridors, with the rest being Destination Chargers at locations such as hotels and restaurants in urban and rural locations.¹
• This comes as the US Treasury Dept. recently made more EVs eligible for tax credits of up to $7.5k under new vehicle classification definitions. Companies such as EVgo, Pilot, and Hertz have also pledged to expand their charging networks in the next two years.⁵

Sources: ¹NBC, ²TechCrunch, ³Wall Street Journal, ⁴Reuters and ⁵New York Post.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Express.co.uk. After spending so much time attacking Elon Musk and his businesses — particularly regarding the new Twitter CEO setting the Hunter Biden story free — Pres. Biden has now begged his billionaire nemesis to help him fulfill his administration's green energy infrastructure plans. It seems that the man who actually builds things for America is winning the war of words with Mr. Build Back Better.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by Raw story. As the Biden admin. and the American people look for ways to go green, their efforts have been hindered for years due to a lack of charging adapters to connect to Tesla's chargers. In order to benefit from federal funding, however, Elon Musk has finally agreed, albeit begrudgingly, to produce universal EV chargers instead of hoarding his technology for Tesla buyers only.

Predictions