Tesla and Ford Announce Surprising Charging Station Partnership

Chris Teague
by Chris Teague

Ford hasn’t been shy about its ambitions to overtake Tesla as the leading EV producer in the U.S., but the two companies aren’t as angry with each other as you might think. Their chief executives recently sat down for a chat on Twitter Spaces and made a surprise announcement that has generated strong opinions from all corners of the automotive world: Ford EV owners will gain access to around 12,000 North American Tesla Superchargers starting next year.


Jim Farley and Elon Musk coming together is a surprise, but the benefits for Ford owners from such a partnership are hard to ignore. They can access Tesla’s superior charging network and don’t have to rely solely on unreliable, fragmented public charging stations run by a number of companies. Ford owners will need an adapter to access the chargers, but next-generation EVs will have Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) built-in.


Tesla will gain access to federal funding as part of the deal, but its owners aren’t as excited. Though its charging experience is generally far better than others, Tesla’s Supercharger network is already strained with high demand and sometimes long waits for a spot.


The good news for Tesla shareholders – and perhaps bad news for impatient owners – is that the automaker doesn’t plan on stopping with Ford. The company has invited other automakers to install its NACS charging ports in new EVs. It has already opened a portion of the Supercharger network to outside EV brands, so the system is about to become considerably busier.


[Image: Tesla]


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Chris Teague
Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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