The US Department of Transportation is poised to enforce new regulations that would require Tesla to open up its charging network to other electric vehicles (EVs). This move would put pressure on the automaker to adopt the Combined Charging Standard (CCS) plug design, in addition to its proprietary plug design, in order to qualify for subsidies under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program.
The Biden administration has allocated $7.5 billion for the program to support the development of charging networks across the country, as part of its goal to make EVs account for 50% of new vehicle sales by 2050.
Tesla’s charging network is widely considered the largest, highest-quality, and most reliable in the US, but currently, it only supports vehicles that use the NACS plug. The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, has indicated the company’s plan to open up the network to other plug standards.
However, there has been no official announcement yet. There is a financial incentive for Tesla to maintain its proprietary charging network, but opening it up to other EVs could make it eligible for federal subsidies.
In a letter to officials last year, Tesla suggested that its Supercharger network could qualify for subsidies if it were co-located with CCS chargers for competitors. However, this suggestion was not taken seriously by administration officials.
Now, state officials say that Tesla is taking the possibility of opening its network to other plug standards seriously. Stuart Anderson, the director of Iowa’s Transportation Development Division, stated, “We do understand that Tesla is looking to tweak their system to be more open access. So, if they do reach that point and meet those eligibility requirements, they certainly will be eligible for funding.”
