The White House encourages Tesla to use federal funds for its chargers

On June 9, the White House said electric charging stations using Tesla’s standard plugs would be eligible for billions of dollars in federal subsidies as long as they include the U.S. charging standard connection, CCS, as well. 

The announcement follows the decision by Ford and GM to adopt the Tesla charging model, known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS). This is the first time the Biden Administration has directly connected Tesla to its efforts to spend up to $7.5 billion to build new high-speed chargers in some 7,500 miles of the nation’s busiest highways. 

White House spokesman Robyn Patterson said, “To ensure that public-supported EV charging is available, dependable, and inexpensive for all vehicles, we created minimum requirements earlier this year. We also mandated compatibility to encourage competition.”. He continued, “Those specifications permit the installation of CCS and NACS, provided that drivers may rely at least on CCS.” 

However, the fight between competing standards will raise costs for consumers and vendors. Since Tesla’s network is the largest for fast charging in the U.S., the partnership among the three biggest automakers ensures that more than 60% of the country’s EV market will have access to Superchargers. 

According to Jonathan Levy, Chief Commercial Officer of EVgo, the business will continue to “serve all EV drivers no matter what fast charging connector they use” and is collaborating with NACS suppliers to address users’ demands.

E-mobility by ABB North America, a significant supplier of EV chargers to operators, fleets, and retailers, announced that its products, which the company is currently creating and testing, will have a NACS connector option as well.

To enable non-Tesla vehicles to use its Superchargers, Tesla has been investigating the usage of CCS connectors.

Tesla adapters may qualify for federal funds after the Biden administration changed its rules last week to state that customers will receive federal subsidies to purchase proprietary adapters if they are compatible with a permanently attached CCS connector.