The White House said that a portion of Tesla’s extensive charging network in the United States will soon be open to electric vehicles from other manufacturers.
The action is in response to the $7.5 billion government investment in charging infrastructure included in the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. One of the bill’s objectives is to increase the number of EV chargers in the United States to 500,000 by 2030, from around 130,000 presently.
According to the new plan, at least 3,500 of Tesla’s high-speed Supercharger chargers placed along key roads and 4,000 of its slower Destination chargers located at locations such as hotels and restaurants, both new and old, will feature the Combined Charging Standards (CCS) connector used by most automakers by the end of 2024. This connector will exist together with Tesla’s proprietary one.
Tesla has 17,711 Superchargers in total, accounting for over 60% of all fast chargers in the United States. The company also offers over 10,000 Destination chargers.
Drivers that use a shared charger will be able to finish the charging and paying procedure using Tesla’s app or website.
It’s worth noting that Tesla considered CCS compatibility for its European network as early as 2018, but couldn’t do the same in the United States because CCS hadn’t yet launched when the company started installing Supercharger sites here. But, the company has successfully ran a program in Europe that allows other EVs to access its charging network.