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.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
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Tesla Robotaxi’s biggest rival sends latest statement with big expansion
The new expanded geofence now covers a broader region of Austin and its metropolitan areas, extended south to Manchaca and north beyond US-183.
Tesla Robotaxi’s biggest rival sent its latest statement earlier this month by making a big expansion to its geofence, pushing the limits up by over 50 percent and nearing Tesla’s size.
Waymo announced earlier this month that it was expanding its geofence in Austin by slightly over 50 percent, now servicing an area of 140 square miles, over the previous 90 square miles that it has been operating in since July 2025.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shades Waymo: ‘Never really had a chance’
The new expanded geofence now covers a broader region of Austin and its metropolitan areas, extended south to Manchaca and north beyond US-183.
These rides are fully driverless, which sets them apart from Tesla slightly. Tesla operates its Robotaxi program in Austin with a Safety Monitor in the passenger’s seat on local roads and in the driver’s seat for highway routes.
It has also tested fully driverless Robotaxi services internally in recent weeks, hoping to remove Safety Monitors in the near future, after hoping to do so by the end of 2025.
Tesla Robotaxi service area vs. Waymo’s new expansion in Austin, TX. pic.twitter.com/7cnaeiduKY
— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) January 13, 2026
Although Waymo’s geofence has expanded considerably, it still falls short of Tesla’s by roughly 31 square miles, as the company’s expansion back in late 2025 put it up to roughly 171 square miles.
There are several differences between the two operations apart from the size of the geofence and the fact that Waymo is able to operate autonomously.
Waymo emphasizes mature, fully autonomous operations in a denser but smaller area, while Tesla focuses on more extensive coverage and fleet scaling potential, especially with the potential release of Cybercab and a recently reached milestone of 200 Robotaxis in its fleet across Austin and the Bay Area.
However, the two companies are striving to achieve the same goal, which is expanding the availability of driverless ride-sharing options across the United States, starting with large cities like Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area. Waymo also operates in other cities, like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Phoenix, and Atlanta, among others.
Tesla is working to expand to more cities as well, and is hoping to launch in Miami, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Dallas.
Elon Musk
Tesla automotive will be forgotten, but not in a bad way: investor
It’s no secret that Tesla’s automotive division has been its shining star for some time. For years, analysts and investors have focused on the next big project or vehicle release, quarterly delivery frames, and progress in self-driving cars. These have been the big categories of focus, but that will all change soon.
Entrepreneur and Angel investor Jason Calacanis believes that Tesla will one day be only a shade of how it is recognized now, as its automotive side will essentially be forgotten, but not in a bad way.
It’s no secret that Tesla’s automotive division has been its shining star for some time. For years, analysts and investors have focused on the next big project or vehicle release, quarterly delivery frames, and progress in self-driving cars. These have been the big categories of focus, but that will all change soon.
I subscribed to Tesla Full Self-Driving after four free months: here’s why
Eventually, and even now, the focus has been on real-world AI and Robotics, both through the Full Self-Driving and autonomy projects that Tesla has been working on, as well as the Optimus program, which is what Calacanis believes will be the big disruptor of the company’s automotive division.
On the All-In podcast, Calcanis revealed he had visited Tesla’s Optimus lab earlier this month, where he was able to review the Optimus Gen 3 prototype and watch teams of engineers chip away at developing what CEO Elon Musk has said will be the big product that will drive the company even further into the next few decades.
Calacanis said:
“Nobody will remember that Tesla ever made a car. They will only remember the Optimus.”
He added that Musk “is going to make a billion of those.”
Musk has stated this point himself, too. He at one point said that he predicted that “Optimus will be the biggest product of all-time by far. Nothing will even be close. I think it’ll be 10 times bigger than the next biggest product ever made.”
He has also indicated that he believes 80 percent of Tesla’s value will be Optimus.
Optimus aims to totally revolutionize the way people live, and Musk has said that working will be optional due to its presence. Tesla’s hopes for Optimus truly show a crystal clear image of the future and what could be possible with humanoid robots and AI.
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Tesla Robotaxi fleet reaches new milestone that should expel common complaint
There have been many complaints in the eight months that the Robotaxi program has been active about ride availability, with many stating that they have been confronted with excessive wait times for a ride, as the fleet was very small at the beginning of its operation.
Tesla Robotaxi is active in both the Bay Area of California and Austin, Texas, and the fleet has reached a new milestone that should expel a common complaint: lack of availability.
It has now been confirmed by Robotaxi Tracker that the fleet of Tesla’s ride-sharing vehicles has reached 200, with 158 of those being available in the Bay Area and 42 more in Austin. Despite the program first launching in Texas, the company has more vehicles available in California.
The California area of operation is much larger than it is in Texas, and the vehicle fleet is larger because Tesla operates it differently; Safety Monitors sit in the driver’s seat in California while FSD navigates. In Texas, Safety Monitors sit in the passenger’s seat, but will switch seats when routing takes them on the highway.
Tesla has also started testing rides without any Safety Monitors internally.
Tesla Robotaxi goes driverless as Musk confirms Safety Monitor removal testing
This new milestone confronts a common complaint of Robotaxi riders in Austin and the Bay, which is vehicle availability.
There have been many complaints in the eight months that the Robotaxi program has been active about ride availability, with many stating that they have been confronted with excessive wait times for a ride, as the fleet was very small at the beginning of its operation.
I attempted to take a @robotaxi ride today from multiple different locations and time of day (from 9:00 AM to about 3:00 PM in Austin but never could do so.
I always got a “High Service Demand” message … I really hope @Tesla is about to go unsupervised and greatly plus up the… pic.twitter.com/IOUQlaqPU2
— Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎 (@JoeTegtmeyer) November 26, 2025
With that being said, there have been some who have said wait times have improved significantly, especially in the Bay, where the fleet is much larger.
Robotaxi wait times here in Silicon Valley used to be around 15 minutes for me.
Over the past few days, they’ve been consistently under five minutes, and with scaling through the end of this year, they should drop to under two minutes. pic.twitter.com/Kbskt6lUiR
— Alternate Jones (@AlternateJones) January 6, 2026
Tesla’s approach to the Robotaxi fleet has been to prioritize safety while also gathering its footing as a ride-hailing platform.
Of course, there have been and still will be growing pains, but overall, things have gone smoothly, as there have been no major incidents that would derail the company’s ability to continue developing an effective mode of transportation for people in various cities in the U.S.
Tesla plans to expand Robotaxi to more cities this year, including Miami, Las Vegas, and Houston, among several others.
Tesla Robotaxi’s biggest rival sends latest statement with big expansion
Tesla automotive will be forgotten, but not in a bad way: investor
