In a shocker move today, Ford announced that, starting next year, all their electric vehicle owners will have total access to Tesla’s 12,000 superchargers across the U.S. and Canada. Come 2025, new Ford EVs will be decked out with Tesla’s NACS charging port, allowing them to plug right into the Supercharger, eliminating the need for any adapters to connect to Tesla’s supercharger.
This bombshell is set to make NACS the new North American charging standard. Truth be told, that’s been part of Tesla’s plan all along. NACS, which stands for North American Charging Standard, is based on Tesla’s supercharger tech. It can handle AC charging and DC fast charging up to 1MW—half the size of today’s standard CSS plugs.
Tesla opened up NACS’ design and specs late last year and has been pushing standards groups to adopt their standard as the industry standard.
So what’s GM thinking now?
“To speed up the switch to EVs and successfully transition to an all-electric future, we’ve gotta improve charging infrastructure,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s CEO. “We’re thrilled to team up with Musk and Tesla to give our Ford EV owners access to their charging network.”
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According to Ford’s plan, the adaptation process willoccur in two stages. Starting in Spring 2024, Tesla’s adapter will provide access to V3 Supercharger stations for Ford electric vehicles. Then, from 2025, all future Ford electric vehicles will come equipped with the Tesla standard NACS charging port, making it easier for owners to connect to Tesla’s charging network.
Drew Baglino, Tesla’s Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Energy Engineering, tweeted his welcome to Ford’s adoption of the Tesla standard and included a comparison image of the two charging interfaces. This partnership will benefit both companies and their customers, as it will expand the charging options for Ford electric vehicle owners and enhance the reliability and accessibility of Tesla’s supercharging network.
Auto guru Sandy Munro weighed in, saying, commented that this news is a significant milestone in the transition from gasoline cars to electric vehicles. “This news is more important than both Ford and Tesla individually. Today marks the end of the reign of gasoline cars. Congratulations to Tesla and Ford for their bold moves.”