The Biden Administration is revving up it's strategy for EV expansion, announcing Tesla (TSLA) will open 3,500 new and existing Superchargers to non-Tesla owners by the end of 2024. This will give Rivian (RIVN), Ford (F), Chevrolet (GM), and other rival vehicle owners expanded options as President Biden pushes towards his goal of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2030.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg joins Yahoo Finance's Brad Smith, Julie Hyman and Brian Sozzi to discuss Tesla and the future of autonomous driving.
You can watch the full video here.
Key Video Takeaways:
0:02: I think this is a great opportunity [for Tesla]
0:48: We're trying to create that same type of simplicity [for EVs]
0:52: We really applaud Tesla for taking this step
Video Transcript
PETE BUTTIGIEG: I think this is a great opportunity. Look, Tesla has already built a very impressive nationwide charging network, and it turns out that it is relatively straightforward to connect this up in a way that other cars can use.
I don't mean to say it's easy. Going to require work and retrofits, and it's really just about the connector versus the fundamental technology involved. They have a customized connector they call the-- they call NACS. Most cars that you would buy if they're not Tesla use a standard called CCS, the Combined Charging System.
And we want to make sure that, again, same as you [INAUDIBLE] to check whether a gas station has a nozzle that's going to fit your car. You know if there's gas, you can go there and you can use it. We're trying to create that same kind of simplicity.
So really applaud Tesla for taking this step of being prepared to create these kind of connectors to bring a goal of 7,500 of their new and existing charging points up to the standard that would make them interchangeable and usable, both for those Tesla vehicles and for any other vehicle that would pull up and want to use. And when you do that, then qualifies for federal funds because, of course, we want to make sure those taxpayer dollars are going to something that can be used by anybody no matter what car you drive or what-- you know, not requiring you to be loyal to one company or another.