WHITE HOUSE BACKS INDUSTRY EFFORT TO STANDARDIZE TESLA'S EV CHARGING PLUGS

The White House is lending its support to an auto industry effort to standardize Tesla's electric vehicle charging plugs for all EVs in the United States, part of a broad effort to stimulate their sales to help combat climate change.

More than 1 million EVs have been sold in the United States in 2023, a record, but that pace still lags behind sales in such countries as China and Germany. One key reason is that the limited availability of charging infrastructure across the country has been a widespread concern for many would-be buyers of EVs and has held back their sales in the United States.

Tesla, the leader in the EV market, operates the largest network of fast-chargers. And many of its Supercharger stations are in prime locations along highly traveled corridors, where other charging stations are sparse.

This week, SAE International, formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, confirmed as a new standard Tesla's North American Charging Standard connector. That connector, known as NACS, links Tesla's EVs to the company's network.

In June, the automotive organization had said it would set standards for Tesla's EV charging plug to try to allow it to work with all EVs.

The new standard "ensures that any vehicle or charging equipment supplier or manufacturer will be able to use, manufacture, or deploy the connector and expands charging access for current and future EV drivers across the country" the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation said in a statement.