Biden Admin Aims To Boost EV Adoption With New Charger Rules And $7.5B Fund

The Biden administration finalized standards concerning its national electric vehicle charger network aimed at making the refueling process in the United States more accessible for all brands of electric vehicles. The new rules will require chargers to be made in the USA immediately, as well as 55% of their cost be derived from U.S.-made components by 2024.

The $7.5 billion in federal funding will require companies hoping to have a piece of the pie to adopt the dominant U.S. standard for charging connectors, known as the "Combined Charging System (CCS)," use standardized payment options, a single method of identification accepted across all chargers, and work 97% of the time.

One of the more enticing aspects of the new rules is that it will make a portion of Tesla Inc.'s Superchargers available to all brands of electric vehicles. The Tesla Charging Twitter account Tweeted, "Select Tesla Superchargers across the US will soon be open to all EVs." The administration stated that Tesla plans to incorporate the CCS standards and broaden its own proprietary connectors as well.

"No matter what EV you drive, we want to make sure that you will be able to plug in, know the price you're going to be paying and charge up in a predictable, user-friendly experience," remarked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Now that the rules have been finalized, states will be able to begin making orders using federal grants and start construction of an immense charging network, according to administration officials. President Joe Biden hopes the boost to the EV infrastructure will amount to 500,000 EV chargers across the country by 2030. Currently, the U.S. has approximately 130,000 EV chargers installed, according to the White House. The inclusion of Tesla Superchargers will contribute at least 7,500 chargers available for all EVs by the end of 2024.

Part of the funding, $1.5 billion, has already been distributed by the Transportation Department, with the first round of competitive funding being opened up soon, according to Buttigieg. The target is to have 50% of all new vehicle sales to be zero-emissions by 2030, with federal agencies being directed to acquire 100% zero-emission vehicle fleets by 2035 or 2027 for the government's light-vehicle fleet.

"These new standards will make it so that you can charge an EV along major highways as easy as you can fill up the gas, and no matter what car you drive or what state you're in," stated Mitch Landrieu, White House infrastructure coordinator.