Owners of Ford electric vehicles in the US will be able to charge their vehicles using Tesla Superchargers as of early next year
US owners of Ford EVs including the Ford F-150 Lightning pick-up, Mustang Mach-E crossover and E-Transit vans will soon be able to charge their vehicles using the Tesla Supercharger network, giving them about 12,000 new charging location options across North America.
There’s no word yet on whether a similar arrangement will be extended to local owners of upcoming EVs from Ford Australia, which has just launched the E-Transit and will release the Mach-E by the end of 2023, followed next year by the Puma EV, E-Transit Custom and one more electrified model, perhaps either the F-150 Lighting or Ranger hybrid.
However, the new deal forged between the two American automotive giants will come into effect as of the second quarter of next year, after a Tesla-developed adaptor is made available to relevant Ford owners in the US.
The adaptor is just a temporary measure, however, as Ford has announced all its new EVs will come with a North American Charging Standard (NACS) charge port as of 2025.
“This is great news for our customers who will have unprecedented access to the largest network of fast-chargers in the US and Canada with 12,000-plus Tesla Superchargers plus 10,000-plus fast-chargers already in the BlueOval Charge Network,” said Ford president and CEO Jim Farley.
“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.”
The announcement comes more than a year after Ford said it would double its F-150 Lightning production output and roughly 10 months after it brokered key battery and raw material supply deals that will help it boost its EV production to more than 600,000 units per annum by the end of 2023.
The Blue Oval later paid homage to Tesla and the lessons it had learned from its rival in terms of EV production scale and efficiency, including the use of more robots on the assembly floor instead of people.
Referring back to this latest announcement, Ford Model e chief customer officer Main Gjaja once again paid her respects to Tesla and the work it has done in establishing its Supercharger system.
“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,” she said.
“The Tesla Supercharger network has excellent reliability and the NACS plug is smaller and lighter. Overall, this provides a superior experience for customers.”
