Rival automakers Ford and Tesla have come to an agreement wherein the latter will allow Ford electric vehicle (EV) owners to access Tesla’s over 12,000-strong supercharger network throughout North America by early next year.
This partnership between the two automotive giants means that Ford is the first major automotive manufacturer to adopt Tesla’s proprietary charging technology. Likewise, this gives Ford access to what is essentially the largest supercharger network in the United States.
This also resolves the issue regarding access to charging stations, something that has prevented the acceptance of EVs by the wider market.
How Will This Work?
According to the agreement’s stipulations, a Tesla-developed adapter will give Ford EVs equipped with a Combined Charging System (CCS) access to Tesla V3 Superchargers.
In turn, Ford will equip future EV models with Tesla’s proprietary charging standard which will make a separate adapter unnecessary come 2025.
Access for All
According to Tesla founder and chief executive Elon Musk, this agreement with Ford is in keeping with his company’s drive to share its charging technology and other innovations with other automakers in order to serve the public better.
For his part, Ford chief executive Jim Farley expressed his admiration of Tesla’s network locations, the reliability of the charging technology, and how easy the connector is to use.
To date, Tesla’s charging network has a total of 17,711 superchargers, making up 60% of the total number of fast-charging stations in the United States. These can add up to several hundred miles to an EV’s driving range in an hour or even less.
