Tesla announced this morning that it would open some of its United States Supercharger Network to competitors in an effort to not only make some of the $7.5 billion in funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law available to the automaker, but also to make EV charging more available to consumers.
Tesla officially confirmed this morning that it would open select Superchargers in the U.S. to all EVs, an unprecedented move in the company’s history. In the past, Tesla has offered an exclusive strength to its owners by offering an expansive, robust, and dependable EV charging network. It has been arguably one of Tesla’s biggest advantages, and since CEO Elon Musk said in 2021 that the Supercharging Network would be opened to competitors that year, the automaker has reluctantly moved toward that goal.
EV charging to receive $7.5 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal: White House
Now, it has finally come to fruition.
This morning, The White House confirmed the plan with further details, stating:
“Tesla, for the first time, 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 open chargers will be distributed across the United States. They will include at least 3,500 new and existing 250 kW Superchargers along highway corridors to expand freedom of travel for all EVs, and Level 2 Destination Charging at locations like hotels and restaurants in urban and rural locations. All EV drivers will be able to access these stations using the Tesla app or website. Additionally, Tesla will more than double its full nationwide network of Superchargers, manufactured in Buffalo, New York.”
Last week, it was confirmed that Musk’s late January meeting with White House staff dealt with the potential opening of the Supercharger Network. Unsurprisingly, some Tesla fans were not super pleased with the idea. Superchargers are already relatively crowded, and the admittance of other non-Tesla brands to these chargers would only make matters worse. However, this is not always the case, as Superchargers in some areas of rural America, where EVs have yet to make a significant impact on the overall automotive market, are not always completely occupied.
While the locations that Tesla will choose are still up in the air, at least 7,500 piles of the U.S. Supercharger Network will be open to all EVs, and this is a win-win for everyone. Why?
Tesla owners will still have a distinct advantage
While 7,500 of the Superchargers will be open to other manufacturers by the end of next year, Tesla owners will still be the only ones to have the ability to utilize all of them.
This freedom gives prospective EV owners the ability to have a wide variety of options in terms of which company they will purchase from. However, Tesla will still have a significant advantage because it is the only manufacturer that will allow unlimited access to any Supercharger in the United States. It is important to emphasize this fact, because while other manufacturers will have access to some of the network, only Tesla owners will have access to all of it.
It eliminates a lot of the “There is not enough charging” argument
Even in 2023, as EVs continue to grab a more significant share of the total U.S. automotive market, we still hear that there are not enough chargers to justify an EV purchase.
While home charging is an option, those who rent or are apart of a strict Home Owners Association (HOA) may not have the ability to charge at their residence. This requires more public charging options to be available to those people, and the expansion of the charging network through Tesla’s decision to open select locations to all EVs only makes this outdated argument a lot less valid.
Even still, there are plenty of other companies out there that support the other manufactuers. Electrify America, ChargePoint, Blink, EVgo, and many others help electric vehicle owners get a charge before their drives.
Tesla’s decision shows its commitment to its mission
Tesla has always maintained that its goal is to “accelerate the transition to sustainable energy.” While the company is a business, and a for-profit business at that, Tesla has disrupted the entire automotive sector by showing EV options are sometimes more ideal than others. Because of the company’s influence on consumers, legacy automakers have been working on EVs for several years, and an influx of startups have come to light, hoping to be the next big thing.
Credit: Tesla
If Tesla was not actually committed to pushing more companies to build EVs, it likely would not make this move. As previously stated, many prospective car buyers are still under the impression that EVs are not feasible because of a lack of charging options. However, Tesla’s move to work toward expanding the Superchargers to other companies is further proof that it is more concerned with putting more EVs on the road, even if they’re not Teslas, than hoarding its robust charging infrastructure to itself.
This move is completely and entirely based on Tesla’s push to bring EVs to the mainstream, as if they were not already. However, the move is a further committment to the mentality that any EV is better than a combustion engine, and whatever the company can do to help another EV of any kind get sold is more than acceptable. But, don’t be fooled, Tesla still will take necessary steps to make its EVs more appealing than others, and that is evident with its continuous and relentless development of its vehicles, making them better and better as time goes on.
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Tesla recently received its largest order for the all-electric Semi from Einride, a Swedish transport service, for 500 units, a groundbreaking invoice to receive before the first deliveries begin.
Even more remarkable, Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli said in a recent interview that he expects his company to take delivery of all 500 — the entire order — before the end of 2027. He even expects to have 75 Tesla Semi units in the Einride fleet before the end of this year.
🚨 Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli on the Tesla Semi partnership:
“If we start with the Amazon announcement that we did earlier this year, that was on the back of having gone through a proving period together with them and proving out our technology. Then we took that next step in… pic.twitter.com/oazkXjwoig
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 28, 2026
Charli said the Tesla partnership was part of a broader push, along with its earlier partnership with Amazon. Einride is assisting Amazon with the use of its Saga AI platform, which helps eliminate questions about budgeting and forecasting for logistics companies.
The Semi, as well as Tesla’s production and subsequent delivery of the units to Einride, will help the company “to have a good supply of vehicles that we can deploy on the [Saga AI] platform,” Charli said. “Tesla is also a relationship we’ve had for a while, and as the Tesla Semi deliveries are firming up, we decided to do a larger commitment to that and deploy that on our platform.”
In its initial announcement, Einride said it anticipated taking delivery of the trucks over the next two years, but now it appears the company is expecting all 500 units within the next 16 months.
Built at a dedicated factory in Sparks, Nevada, the Tesla Semi has been perhaps the biggest and most intensive testing process the company has ever had for a single vehicle model. For the past several years, Tesla has been working with many companies, most notably Frito-Lay and PepsiCo, to gain knowledge on the performance on regional routes.
Tesla plans to launch the Semi officially on September 24, five months after production started ramping.
Additionally, drivers have said they are happy about the Semi’s performance and that its numerous safety and productivity features have made their jobs and routes much easier.
Tesla Cybercab is using a unique strategy for picking up the correct rider, which is a crucial part of ride-hailing to ensure people end up in the right place and are charged the correct price.
Cybercab will utilize an RGB strip in its front light bar that will illuminate in a variety of different colors to mark itself.
This identifying mark will also appear in the Robotaxi app, giving riders in the same location a notable distinction in an effort to avoid any confusion regarding who should get in each vehicle.
🚨 Tesla is using different light bar colors to help riders understand which vehicle is theirs
Pretty cool strategy pic.twitter.com/eGMpEMeRpc
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 27, 2026
Other ride-hailing services use similar strategies: Lyft and Uber rides are recognizable through driver identity, vehicle type and color, as well as license plate. Waymo will display the rider’s initials on top of the vehicle, letting them know that the specific vehicle for them has arrived.
Tesla’s strategy is unique and interesting, but there are some flaws. Cybercab’s main purpose is aimed toward being an autonomous ride for all, including those who have disabilities like being blind or even color blind.
Tesla will likely have something in the pipeline for those who cannot see colors or have limited vision. There will definitely be multiple ways to identify which vehicle is the one that “you” specifically ordered.
Cybercab is set to start giving public rides next Thursday, September 3, in Austin, as it announced a dedicated event last week and invited many members of the Tesla community.
Additionally, members of the public will be invited as well. Tesla has been offering employee rides in Cybercab for nearly two months.
Tesla has said goodbye to one customization option for its vehicles: the wrap service it launched several years ago.
After launching an in-house wrap service in August 2020 for the first time in China. In the U.S., it launched in October 2023. Tesla continued to expand the program and adjust it with better pricing and fewer options for the Cybertruck.
By December 2023, it was giving owners of the Model 3, Model Y, and the Cybertruck the opportunity to give their vehicle a fresh look with a vinyl wrap.
Tesla revamps in-house vinyl wrap service with better pricing
It was only available in five locations: Costa Mesa, Oceanside, Santa Clara, West Covina, all in California, and Seattle, Washington.
However, Tesla made some big adjustments to its shop, and the wrap service is officially gone:
Tesla has made a LOT of changes to its online shop recently — price increases, price cuts, new options, and several products being removed entirely.
Some of the biggest increases are wheel covers. 👀
📈 PRICE INCREASES
• 2017-2023 | Model 3 Aero Wheel Cover — Style: Refresh…— Phoenix Self-Driving 🐦🔥 (@PhoenixFSD) August 25, 2026
Wraps are very popular across the Tesla lineup, especially since the company offers relatively few colors. Many choose to wrap their Teslas with interesting colors, patterns, or even finishes, turning their cars from glossy to satin or matte.
However, Tesla’s wrap service was so limited geographically that it never really had a chance to get off the ground or compete with local shops. Every area in the United States is now overflowing with detailing shops, mobile detailers, and other automotive specialists, many of whom perform wrap services.
Tesla’s service was confined to the Pacific time zone and only spanned across two states. It was never going to be something Tesla was a major competitor in, nor was it going to disrupt the wrapping industry. Now that the program has ended, it seems pretty ideal to believe it was always going to be a short-term thing.
Along with the wrap service, Tesla removed several other products, but nothing too crazy. The Model 3 Door Pocket and Cupholder Liners, the Model S 19″ Magnetite Wheel and Winter Tire Package, Model X/Y Ski/Snowboard Carrier for Hitch Rack, Tesla’s Electric Summer Party Tee, and the Electric Summer Tee were the other items the company totally eliminated from its online shop.
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