Ford Motor and Tesla have teamed up to offer Ford’s current and future customers access to Tesla’s network of 12,000 superchargers across the United States and Canada by early 2024. This announcement was made by Ford CEO Jim Farley and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces.
Ford currently offers three electric vehicles (EVs) and will now have unprecedented access to fast charging, in addition to the over 10,000 DC fast-chargers already available through the BlueOval Charge Network. Tesla, known as the leader in the EV market, produces the Model S, Model Y, Model 3, and Model X, as well as a semi-truck. Its Cybertruck is currently in production and will be available by the end of 2023. The Roadster is no longer in production.
By using a Tesla-made adapter and software integration, Ford’s EV customers will be able to access Tesla’s Superchargers, and payment will be made via FordPass or Ford Pro Intelligence. By 2025, Ford will offer next-generation electric vehicles with the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector built-in. This will eliminate the need for an adapter to access Tesla Superchargers.
During the Twitter Spaces discussion, Farley noted that driving back from a family vacation from Lake Tahoe to Monterey, his children noticed the number of Tesla Superchargers along the way: “It became obvious to me the job your team had done,” said Farley. He added that he loved the reliability of Tesla’s routing software. Musk said the two companies have been working on this collaboration for a while, and he is excited to have a “partnership with Ford.”
Ford will set up different payment options, such as subscriptions, to ensure that the adapter is not cost-prohibitive. Musk said that the goal of this partnership is to “be helpful as possible with the acceleration to sustainable transport.”
