Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) announced Thursday that it has finalized a partnership to use the Tesla (TSLA) Supercharger network in the US and Canada.
As soon as spring next year (2024), Ford’s electric vehicles will be able to charge at more than 12,000 Tesla Supercharger locations across North America.
Ford currently produces 2 popular EVs in the US, Mustang Mach-E SUV and the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. Both these electric vehicles are direct competitors of the Tesla Model Y and the Cybertruck respectively.
Another Ford EV is the E-Transit cargo van which will also be able to access the Tesla Supercharger network.
In the next phase of this collaboration, starting 2025, Ford will start manufacturing its EVs with Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) charge port design. Last year, Tesla opened its charge port and connector design for other automakers in pursuit of synchronizing electric vehicle charging standards in the United States and Canada.
Soon after Tesla opened the NACS design, Aptera Motors was the first company to announce its integration into its vehicles. However, Ford Motor Company is the first major mainstream American carmaker to adopt this charging standard.
This is a win-win situation for both Tesla and Ford as Tesla will get a lot of exposure to Ford owners and Ford will save billions of dollars needed to build such a charging network. Of course, Tesla will also charge Ford EV owners a reasonable charging fee, another revenue stream for Tesla.
The current production of Ford EVs has a CCS (Combined Charging System) port and connector design installed in them. Until all future Ford electric vehicles transition to the NACS, a Tesla-designed adapter will be used to charge Ford EVs at Superchargers, Ford stated in a press release.
A Tesla-developed adapter will provide Ford F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit vehicles fitted with the Combined Charging System (CCS) port access to Tesla’s V3 Superchargers. Ford will equip future EVs with the NACS charge port, removing the need for an adapter for direct access to Tesla Superchargers, starting in 2025.
Ford press release
“Tesla has led the industry in creating a large, reliable, and efficient charging system and we are pleased to be able to join forces in a way that benefits customers and overall EV adoption,” said Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer of Ford Model e.
“The Tesla Supercharger network has excellent reliability and the NACS plug is smaller and lighter. Overall, this provides a superior experience for customers,” Marin added.
Ford’s press release further explained the company’s plans to facilitate its customers with publicly available charging and overcome range anxiety:
The BlueOval Charge Network is already North America’s largest public charging network with over 84,000 chargers including access to over 10,000 public DC fast-chargers. Adding more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers creates the single largest integrated fast-charge network across the U.S. and Canada, designed to significantly reduce charge anxiety for Ford customers, with automatic routing to the nearest charger and seamless billing via FordPass.
Additionally, Ford dealers are adding roughly 1,800 public-facing fast-chargers and locations to the BlueOval Charge Network by early 2024.
Ford press release
Following the official announcement of this partnership, Ford CEO Jim Farley and Tesla CEO Elon Musk conducted a joint Twitter Space. Both automotive leaders exchanged good vibes during the discussion.
“Working with Elon and his team, I am really excited for our industry and for the Ford customers,” Jim Farley said.
“I have a lot of respect for Ford as a company and makes great vehicles,” Elon Musk replied.
Let us know what you think in the comments section below about this partnership and its long-term impact on sustainable transportation in North America.
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