On a Twitter spaces discussion earlier today, Ford CEO James Farley and Tesla CEO Elon Musk discussed a partnership whereby Ford EVs will gain access to Tesla’s extensive high-speed Supercharger network of over 12,000 high-speed chargers starting in 2024. Why does this matter? Tesla’s Supercharger network is widely recognized as being the most widespread and most reliable high speed EV charging network. With Ford vehicles able to access the Supercharger network, long distance driving as well as high speed charging for city residents becomes much more convenient for Ford EV owners. And the revenue gained for Tesla will allow Tesla to build out the network even further.
In the short term, Ford EVs will use charging adapters, provided by Tesla (at a nominal cost). In the long term, Ford says they will be adopting Tesla’s NACS (North American Charging Standard) charging plug for use on future Ford electric vehicles manufactured for the North American market.
Farley recounted a recent family trip out to Lake Tahoe in one of Ford’s EVs. Much to Farley’s chagrin, his kids kept pointing out all the Tesla Superchargers along the route, while Farley had to explain, “we can’t use those ones, guys.” By expanding Ford EVs’ charging options to include Tesla Superchargers, Ford EV owners will now have more than twice as many high-speed level 3 charging options as they had previously.
Tesla’s Supercharger network currently includes over 12,000 Superchargers in North America alone.
Farley stressed the importance of providing a solution to existing customers, so an adapter will be made available for existing Ford customers to access the Tesla Supercharger network. Pricing of this adapter, which will be provided by Tesla, has not yet been announced. Farley confirmed that Ford’s existing charging network, called the “BlueOval Charge Network” would continue to work for their customers. BlueOval includes a network of third party level 2 and level 3 charging providers including Shell Recharge, Electrify America, EV Connect, ChargePoint, SemaConnect, Flo, and EVGo.
Farley also complimented Musk and Tesla in their creation of an automotive platform that was fully software updatable. “It’s super hard, what Tesla has done,” said Farley. Apparently Ford is also on the path to an updatable software platform for their EVs, though the CEO did not elaborate on when that may be available in Ford vehicles.
Although Tesla owners may be concerned about the additional demand on Tesla chargers, the revenue gained from opening Tesla Superchargers up to more EV drivers should help Tesla in building out the Supercharger network further, in order to keep up with increased demand. And if this move helps hasten the country’s adoption of EVs, then this is a “win” for us all.
Got an opinion on this new partnership? Let us know in the comments.
Related Reading:
Ford CEO Jim Farley to Dealers on EVs: “You’re Either In, Or You’re Out!”
Tesla Supercharger Network Will Open to Other EVs (At Least Partially) By Next Year
Ford Electric Cars To Have Best EV Fast Charging In USA, Gaining Tesla Supercharger Access
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