Despite requests for extra time to re-engineer and test the connectors, Texas authorized its plan to require businesses to use Tesla's technology in EV charging stations in order to be eligible for federal money. Other states are eagerly watching Texas' decision, which is a step ahead for Tesla CEO Elon Musk's plans to make his company's technology the U.S. charging standard. Texas is the largest recipient of a USD 5 billion program intended to electrify U.S. highways.

 

As some states begin to distribute the monies, Tesla's efforts are already being put to the test. The company received numerous projects in Ohio last month, but none in Pennsylvania's first round of funding, which was revealed on Monday. Federal regulations mandate that businesses offer the competing Combined Charging System (CCS), a U.S. standard that the Biden administration prefers, at a minimum in order to qualify for the money.

 

However, before allocating the federal monies at the local level, each state may add its own standards on top of CCS. A number of automakers and charging firms have embraced the technology as a result of Ford Motor and General Motors' statement just over two months ago that they intended to adopt Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS).

 

Sources claim that Texas, which will receive and use USD 407.8 million over five years, intended to require businesses to use Tesla plugs. Similar measures have been discussed in Washington State, and Kentucky has already made it mandatory. Another significant receiver of funding, Florida, suddenly changed its plans, announcing that it will enforce NACS one year after the technology's formal recognition by standards organization SAE International, which is now studying it.