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Ford has announced it is adopting the Tesla charging port standard. This will give owners of the company's electric vehicles access to a wide Supercharger network in the US.
Last February, the Biden administration unveiled its $5 billion plan to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the country. Tesla came to the rescue to help spread electric vehicles in the US. The company has shared part of its existing Supercharger network with third-party electric vehicles.
On Thursday, Ford announced on Twitter Spaces that it had become the first automaker to formalize a deal with Tesla. The automaker said its customers will now have access to more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers in the US and Canada starting in spring 2024.
Tesla uses a proprietary charger port design for its vehicles. The vast majority of electric vehicles in North America are Tesla vehicles. The company has previously urged automakers to switch to its charging port design, which together will help the spread of electric vehicles in the country. Ford owners will initially have to rely on a Tesla adapter to use Superchargers. This applies to Ford F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E, and E-Transit.
Ford also announced that, starting with the 2025 model year, it will switch from its existing Combined Charging System (CCS) port to an open-source Tesla NACS charging port. As such, 12,000 Tesla Superchargers will join the Ford Blue Oval charging station network to form a larger charging infrastructure.
“Tesla has led the industry in creating a large, reliable and efficient charging system and we are pleased to be able to join forces in a way that customer benefits and overall EV adoption,” Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer of Ford Model e, said in the release. “The Tesla Supercharger network has excellent reliability and the NACS plug is smaller and lighter. Overall, this provides a superior experience for customers.”
© 2023, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts; follow him on Twitter
About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
