Ford’s Jim Farley today announced that in future Ford EVs, customers will be able to take advantage of native charging on the Tesla Supercharger network thanks to the addition of a North American Charging Standard port.
“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 benefits customers and overall EV adoption,” said Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer, Ford Model e. “The Tesla Supercharger network has excellent reliability and the NACS plug is smaller and lighter. Overall, this provides a superior experience for customers.”
Starting next year, Lightning, Mach-E, and E-Transit drivers will be able to use an adapter plus a software update to directly access the Tesla Supercharger network. Payment processing will be handled directly with the FordPass app, which works with nearly 10,000 DCFC stations already. The addition of 12,000 Superchargers means Ford vehicles should be able to charge at virtually any fast charger location.
“This is great news for our customers who will have unprecedented access to the largest network of fast-chargers in the U.S. and Canada with 12,000+ Tesla Superchargers plus 10,000+ fast-chargers already in the BlueOval Charge Network,” said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO. “Widespread access to fast-charging is absolutely vital to our growth as an EV brand, and this breakthrough agreement comes as we are ramping up production of our popular Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, and preparing to launch a series of next-generation EVs starting in 2025.”
Additionally, in 2025, new Ford EVs will come with the NACS connector as standard, skipping the need for the adapter altogether.
It’s unclear at this point if in 2025 NACS will be the only connector on Ford EVs, and a Ford rep told us they have nothing to announce today.
Ford is the first mainstream automaker to come out in support of the NACS port, truly opening up the nation’s best fast charging network and address one of the major concerns about buying an EV that doesn’t have a Tesla badge on the hood.
The dam has officially broken. We don’t have any inside information but we expect other automakers to soon follow suit.
