The State of Wyoming and the federal government are embattled over where the State should place electric vehicle infrastructure.
Despite the news that broke last month that Wyoming was considering banning EVs instead of gas vehicles as many other states have, Wyoming may be far less “anti-EV” than one would think. And perhaps in the best showing of this, according to EnergyWire, the State remains staunchly in support of placing EV infrastructure. Still, the federal government currently denied its proposed location of chargers.
The directive set by the Biden Administration, as early as 2021, was clear — EV chargers should be placed every 50 miles along U.S. interstates, ensuring that Americans are never too far from a charger for their vehicle. In concept, this sounds like a good idea, but representatives in the Wyoming State Legislature believe it is counterintuitive.
Wyoming is an incredibly unique state, with its vast tracts of open land and numerous examples of natural beauty; it is the pinnacle of a state people love to visit but not live in. Hence, the State of Wyoming proposed that EV chargers be placed in locations where most Americans want to go, en route to national parks, state parks, and the mountains that bring thousands of visitors. However, if one were to take a look at a map of the State, none of the locations the State listed are easily accessible from an Interstate, such as I-80 or I-90.
In September of last year, Wyoming’s plan was rejected, as the government remained entrenched in the idea of placing chargers every 50 miles, going as far as threatening to cut funding for other projects in Wyoming. But in perhaps the most cowboy response the federal government has received in the past 100 years, Wyoming didn’t seem to care.
Wyoming wants to phase out sales of EVs by 2035 to “ensure the stability” of the oil & gas industry
According to Alternative Fuels Data Center statistics, Wyoming has 81 EV charging station locations, more than only Alaska (57), North Dakota (78), and South Dakota (73).
It should be noted that Wyoming’s EV charger plan still does include the placement of some EV chargers along Interstates, and in fact, Wyoming is currently in the process of constructing seven of them. However, the State has declined an equal number of chargers, meaning numerous proposed charging locations, both proposed by the feds and not, will not receive funding.
The Department of Transportation was not immediately available to comment to Teslarati regarding the situation in Wyoming.
That takes us to today, with Wyoming still hopelessly embattled and the Department of Transportation’s Pete Buttigieg remaining silent on the issue. In the meantime, the number of all EV chargers in the State (including those placed by Tesla) can be counted on your fingers and toes.
While some Wyoming residents seem interested in the prospect of EV ownership, or, as pointed out by EnergyWire, currently own EVs, they remain hopelessly without the necessary infrastructure or a solution on the horizon.
What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!
News
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner probably just secured more locations
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles dominated the company’s global usage rankings after just one year, proving the concept is more than just a one-off novelty location that will fade away.
The performance could incite the company to build more locations, something that CEO Elon Musk has hinted at for some time.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner delivered 21.2 GWh of energy in its first year of operation, the company’s head of Charging, Max de Zegher, revealed on X. Of the top 10 most utilized Supercharger locations in Tesla’s global infrastructure, the Diner in Los Angeles was the most used by drivers, and it wasn’t particularly close:
Tesla Diner opened exactly 1 year ago. Inspiring that futuristic places like this exist.
It’s our highest usage Supercharger in the world: 21.2 GWh delivered in a year, 1.6k sessions/day.
Top 10 Superchargers by energy delivered: https://t.co/9YvJ8lw696 pic.twitter.com/koB3AUJHws
— Max (@MdeZegher) July 21, 2026
On its launch day one year ago, nobody was too sure what the Tesla Diner would be about. It seemed like an interesting concept, and considering it had been in the works for years, it was a highly anticipated launch that many were looking forward to.
Based on its success, we could see additional Diners with Superchargers built throughout the United States, and potentially beyond. Musk has said on several occasions that the company would be willing to bring the Diner idea to more markets.
Tesla makes major change at Supercharger Diner amid epic demand
Of the markets that Musk has mentioned, both Palo Alto and Austin have come to be perceived as ideal selections. However, there are no concrete plans as of now to build new Supercharger Diners anywhere; the location on Santa Monica Boulevard will remain the exclusive spot to pick up Tesla-inspired eats, at least for the time being.
Investor's Corner
Tesla short sellers win big after shares fall after earnings
Tesla short sellers won big following the company’s massive fall on Wall Street after it reported subpar Earnings on Wednesday.
Tesla short sellers collected about $4.12 billion in single-day profits on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. Shares fell as much as 15 percent during Thursday’s session. It closed as one of the worst days for Tesla on Wall Street in the past three years.
Investors sold off the stock after Tesla said it would aggressively direct its spending toward AI and its Optimus robot project. The company had record revenues, which were driven by one of the strongest quarters in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history.
However, it missed EPS estimates by reporting just $0.33, a far cry from the $0.53 analysts expected.
S3 Partners reported that about 3 percent of Tesla’s outstanding stock is sold short. Managing Director at S3, Ihor Dusaniwsky, provided the short seller’s potential profit, as well as another figure: shorts have likely had paper gains of $8.92 billion this year, as Tesla shares are down 30 percent in 2026.
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla has burned short sellers many times in the past, but the company’s latest Earnings Call was a chance for those skeptics to taste some payback. Although the company gave some very transparent information regarding future projects, the rollout of Robotaxi, Optimus, and Semi, many investors took their profits on Thursday.
Notable short sellers like Michael Burry have been transparent about their skepticism around Tesla shares. Burry just revealed three weeks ago that he had opened up a new short on the stock, stating he shorted Tesla shares at $416.22. “Happy it jumped back to this level,” he said in a blog post.
At the time of publication, Tesla shares were down about 3 percent and the stock was trading at $309.92.
News
Tesla door handle saga gets its latest chapter and a big change is coming
Tesla’s long-standing saga regarding its door handles and a manual release has entered its latest chapter, and as a result, a big change is coming.
On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) denied Tesla’s petition that was seeking a defect investigation into roughly 180,000 Model 3 vehicles for an issue involving the emergency mechanical door release.
🚨 The NHTSA denied a petition from Tesla that would have thrown out concerns regarding its door handles.
NHTSA said Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect warranting an investigation. The agency said a rulemaking process would be a better strategy. pic.twitter.com/j6PzUBM1mT
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 24, 2026
NHTSA said that Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect in the door handles or their emergency releases. Instead, the agency determined that it would rather solve the issue of the lack of labeling or location of emergency mechanical door releases and the federal safety rules that govern them.
Essentially, the NHTSA wants to create and enforce rules that would require automakers to make emergency door latch releases more clearly labeled in a car. Despite a Tesla having manual door releases on all four passenger doors, many people do not know they exist or how they work.
Tesla addresses door handle complaints with simple engineering fix
In recent times, Tesla has faced some criticism involving its door handles, specifically because some occupants have reported that they are unable to exit their vehicles after losing power. The door handles on a Tesla are electronically operated, but in the event that the 12V battery dies, there is a manual release that can be used.
The NHTSA only identified a single complaint involving the mechanical door releases: a 2022 Model 3 owner said the release was concealed and unlabeled after the vehicle lost power after a front-end collision. It has also already started to create a separate rulemaking process to make emergency door-egress systems more obvious.
It should be noted that all Teslas have mechanical emergency door releases, but they are placed in various locations as the vehicles have aged and been redesigned from year to year. Refer to the safety manual for your vehicle if you have any confusion about where the emergency releases are and how they work.