White House says Tesla (TSLA) chargers qualify for federal funding so long as they include CCS

White House officials on Friday announced that electric vehicle (EV) charging stations that utilize Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) North American Charging Standard (NACS) will be eligible to receive billions of dollars in federal subsidies so long as they also include the national CCS charging standard connection.

The announcement follows U.S. automakers Ford and GM's announcements that they were adopting the Tesla model and integrating the NACS connections into their own vehicles, shaking up a charging industry that was seemingly drifting towards the CCS connection with the help of federal subsidies.

This is the first time the Biden administration has directly connected Tesla to its $7.5 billion efforts to build new, high-speed chargers on 7,500 miles of the nation's busiest highways.

Musk on Friday said in a tweet it would be "ideal" for Tesla chargers to only need CCS adapters to meet federal charging standards.

Tesla jumped 5% on Friday and analysts said the Ford and GM news is a big win that could make Tesla Superchargers an industry standard in the United States. GM and Ford shares rose about 2% each.

"Earlier this year, we developed minimum standards to ensure publicly funded EV charging is accessible, reliable, and affordable for all drivers, and we required interoperability to promote competition. Those standards give flexibility for adding both CCS and NACS, as long as drivers can count on a minimum of CCS," White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said in a statement.

Patterson said the goal is for every car to be able to use every publicly funded charger. "More drivers having access to more high-quality charging – including Tesla Superchargers – is a step forward," she said.

The partnership between three of the biggest automakers in the United States ensures that more than 60% of the country's EV market can access Tesla's Charging stations.

The decisions by Ford and GM have sent shockwaves throughout the industry, raising questions about the fate of struggling charging startups, as well as wonder on when/if Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) will join their long time American rivals in adopting the Tesla charging connectors.

Shares in charging companies such as ChargePoint (NYSE: CHPT), EVgo Inc (NASDAQ: EVGO) and Blink Charging (NASDAQ: BLNK) were down 10%-13% on Friday.

Shares of GM and F are up 1.52% and 1.69% respectively in afternoon trading Friday while STLA has dipped 0.40%.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]

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