The two US automotive manufacturers that have been under constant shouting matches over the past two years have seemingly mitigated their hostile relationship recently. Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, commented when the two CEOs of the two companies had a talk on Twitter that Ford’s EVs will be able to use Tesla’s Superchargers starting from next year.
Having just announced that EVs will be sold online in the future, Ford has now further commented that its EVs will start using Tesla’s Superchargers, and that the shouting matches between the two companies are no longer a thing.
Without revealing details on the partnership, Farley did however point out that all existing EVs of Ford, including Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, and E-Transit, will be able to utilize Tesla’s Superchargers using a converter starting from next year.
“Ford’s next-gen EVs will be internally equipped with a NACS charger starting from 2025”, commented Ford, meaning that they no longer require a converter when using Tesla’s Superchargers.
Tesla doesn’t actually mind opening its largest charging network in the world to other automotive manufacturers as its target is to further popularize EVs. Rebecca Tinucci, Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure at Tesla, commented that the company welcomes Ford users in marching a sustainable and mobile future together.
This change has two major advantages for Ford. First, Ford could allow its users to access the largest charging network in the world without allocating a significant extent of cost. Despite being limited to only the US and Canada regions right now, expansions to other regions in the future will not be a problem as long as the charging specifications are identical.
In addition, Tesla changed its charging specification to NACS (North American Charging Standard) last year, and is regarded as the most reliable and concise design within the industry. An adoption of such specification would conserve cost and weight, as well as accomplish a more agile appearance on the whole.
After Tesla announcing an access to its chargers since the end of 2022, startup Aptera is the only company with adoption, and most major manufacturers are on the fence. Ford’s humbling could indeed introduce additional incentives for users.
(Cover photo source: Ford)