In an encouraging development for electric vehicle owners in Delaware and other states, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that some Tesla Supercharger stations will be available to other electric vehicles.
Also, General Motors, EVgo, Pilot, Hertz BP and others are announcing new commitments to expand their networks by thousands of public charging ports in the next two years, using private funds to complement federal dollars.
According to a White House briefing paper, Tesla will open a portion of its U.S. Supercharger and Destination Charger network to non-Tesla EVs, making at least 7,500 chargers available for all EVs by the end of 2024.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law inclludes $7.5 billion for EV charging stations. The administration is also working out details on an up to $7,500 tax credit for vehicles made in North America. Delaware offers a $2,500 rebate.
Tesla chargers open to all EVs will be distributed across the United States and will include at least 3,500 new and existing Superchargers along highway corridors and Level 2 charging at hotels, restaurants and other locations in urban and rural locations. Tesla will more than double its full nationwide network of Superchargers manufactured in Buffalo, NY.
Tesla has charging stations in Delaware, primarily at Wawa stores in all three counties. A number of Wawa Supercharger locations are not listed on the Tesla site. A Royal Farms station south of Newark will also be the site of a Supercharger station. The stations have four or more charging stalls.
While electric vehicles account for about 5% of new vehicle sales, supply chain problems have limited output for automakers otther than Tesla, with many models on the expensive side. A related issue has been the lack of public charging stations.
Delaware has been adding charging stations with investments in the public and private sectors. However, even the state government is limited i n adding EVs, due to space limitations and other factors in adding chargers.
The news wasn’t a complete surprise, since Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last year the company was in talks with other automakers on using its charging system.
The stations that can charge an EV battery to 80 percent of capacity in 15 minutes, are a selling point for Tesla, which recently cut prices that led to stroner sales early this year. Tesla has a gallery at Christiana Mall and a maintenance center in Stanton.
