Access to Tesla’s charging network, which is operated by the company and is quite extensive, is among the most practical aspects of purchasing a Tesla. By putting Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) port in its cars, one of the Detroit Three will take full advantage of Tesla’s plan to let other car companies use that network. Tesla has been clear that this is what it wants to do. Thursday, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, and Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, held a joint Twitter Spaces event to reveal that the Blue Oval will be switching to NACS. Starting in spring 2024, Ford F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E, and E-Transit cars will be able to use more than 12,000 Tesla chargers. This will almost triple Ford’s current network of 10,000 DC fast chargers across the United States. Since a few years ago, Tesla has been happy to let other car companies use its charging infrastructure. Tesla began allowing electric cars (EVs) not manufactured by Tesla to use the home charging points it installed at the beginning of this year. The company plans to let other car makers use 7,500 charging points, of which 3,500 will be DC fast chargers. On the other hand, the relationship between Tesla and Ford will be different. Instead of waiting for Tesla to make new equipment, Ford thinks that its current electric vehicles with a CCS charge port will be able to use Tesla’s chargers with an adapter. But the adaptor is just a short-term option. Ford says that its next-generation EVs, which could start with its most recent “T3” project, will have a built-in NACS port beginning in 2025, just like Tesla cars. Ford will also make it easier to pay for fast charging by letting cars pay for fill-ups through the FordPass app, just like Tesla cars. To be clear, Ford’s statement does not mean that future cars will no longer have a CCS port. It does, however, mean that all new Ford EVs will come with a NACS port. A Ford spokeswoman told The Drive that the company is now building cars with the NACS connection, but she needed to find out if it would completely replace the CCS connector. According to the source, Ford may keep both in future models, opening up a new world of ease without needing adapters or turning away from an entire standard in favor of another. Keeping both ports would make Ford’s production costs go up, so it’s important to point out that it needs to be clarified if that option will win. Even though most people were happy to hear about the partnership, some property owners have not been friendly to their new neighbors. Many Tesla owners were worried that letting Ford cars charge at their stations would make the already crowded fast chargers even worse. But Tesla has already said it wants to move some of its superchargers, so the worry seems unfounded primarily. Considering how much money Tesla could make in this situation is also essential. The electric car company will make more money as more EVs charge on its network, just like a gas stop makes money from all kinds of cars. This should also remind you that Tesla promised in 2017 that its Supercharging network “would never be a profit center.” But as the rising demand for EVs from other automakers changed, Tesla’s responsibility to make money from other sources? In this case, the people who win are the consumers. Now, Ford customers will have access to even more public charging sites. Perhaps even more important, it will be easier for customers to pay for charging. When Ford is the first car company to use NACS, other car companies will likely try to do the same. Either that or Blu-ray and HD DVDs for electric cars are coming soon.
