The Biden administration has announced new initiatives in its $7.5 billion plan to install 500,000 EV chargers on US roads by 2030. As part of the plan, Tesla has committed to opening up 7,500 of its charging stations to non-Tesla vehicles by the end of 2024. The new charging stations will be a mix of existing Superchargers and new Level 2 Destination Charging stations. Tesla will also expand its US Supercharger network by 300 per cent.
To receive funding, companies must adopt the Combined Charging System (CCS) used in the US and offer smartphone-friendly payment options. Tesla currently uses proprietary chargers but has committed to adding the CCS standard.
Other EV manufacturers and charger manufacturers, including GM, Ford, ChargePoint, and Hertz, have also made commitments to install public chargers. GM plans to install up to 40,000 Level 2 stations and a coast-to-coast network of 2,000 350 kW fast chargers. Ford will install DC fast chargers at 1,920 dealerships by January 2024, and Hertz plans to install thousands of BP’s Pulse chargers in US cities.
The first tranche of funding from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program will be delivered to states in the coming weeks. The ultimate goal of the plan is to convert half of all new US vehicle sales to zero emissions by 2030. With over 130,000 public chargers serving more than three million EVs on the road, there is still a long way to go to meet that target.
