A host of car manufacturers may follow Ford’s lead in partnering with Tesla to gain access to the electric carmaker’s expansive network of Superchargers across the United States.
The deal between Ford and Tesla will see the former send adapters to owners from next year allowing their EVs to be charged through the Tesla Supercharger network. In 2025, Ford will then start to produce EVs with the Tesla charging port, officially known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS), replacing the current Combined Charging System (CCS) port.
Tesla currently has approximately 17,000 charging stations across the United States and Ford’s EV owners will gain access to 12,000 of them from next year. This is significantly more than the 3,500 charging connectors that Tesla has opened up to the general public so it can qualify for federal funding to expand the Supercharger network.
“We’re all shocked that Ford has announced this,” chief executive at consulting firm EVAdoption, Loren McDonald said. “But now that Ford has made the decision, it’s easier for everyone else. The ice has been broken and now the dominoes can fall.”
Tesla’s Supercharger network remains the industry standard, has more charging points across the U.S. than all non-Tesla charging networks combined, and is loved for its ease of use and reliability.
Read: Tesla’s Supercharger Network Opening To All Brands Won’t Meet Growing EV Charging Demand
Speaking with Auto News, McDonald added that Ford’s partnership with Tesla “is an indictment of the other major charging networks in America” and could prompt other brands to follow suit. As the old adage goes, if you can’t beat them, join them and it seems apparent that Ford doesn’t think the likes of Electrify America, EVgo, and ChargePoint can establish networks to rival that of Tesla.
“This is an indicator that Musk is actually serious that he wants to see greater adoption of EVs,” McDonald added. “Musk isn’t stupid. He clearly doesn’t see that this would negatively impact Tesla. Overall, he thinks that all boats will rise.”
