I recently drove from Maine to Utah and back. I do not have an electric vehicle, but with thoughts of getting one in the future, I observed electric vehicle chargers at various service areas on interstates. In most cases, Tesla chargers were the only ones available or, at best, greatly outnumbered chargers for other brands of electric cars. The latter case was true at the Kennebunk service area.

If the goal is to reduce the use of fossil fuels, it should be simple and easy to charge any electric vehicle, so all electric vehicles should be designed to use the same exact charging devices. Having one set of chargers for Teslas and another for Fords, etc., is just plain stupid policy, and the government should either arbitrate a plan for all vehicle manufacturers to use the same electric charging technology, or mandate such a policy.

Perhaps since Tesla appears to already have lots of infrastructure nationwide, other car companies could be convinced to pay a licensing fee to Tesla for their charging technology. Or perhaps this licensing fee money could be a payment to Tesla from the infrastructure bill.

Advancing the adoption of electric vehicles in the U.S. would benefit greatly from a one-size-fits-all, simple way to charge any and all cars and trucks. (This reminds me of the Betamax-VHS conflict when videotapes first appeared.) We should all make this suggestion to our legislators as soon as possible.

Janet Redfield
Lincolnville

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