Ford’s CEO called the decision “a huge step for our industry and for all electric customers.”
DETROIT — Everyone Ford Motor Co.’s current and future electric vehicles will have access to approximately 12,000 Tesla Supercharger stations in the US and Canada starting next spring.
Ford CEO Jim Farley and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the deal Thursday during a Twitter Spaces audio chat.
“We think this is a big step for our industry and for all electricity consumers,” Farley said.
Musk said he doesn’t want Tesla’s network to be a “walled garden” and that he wants to use it to support sustainable transportation.
“We intend to do everything we can to support Ford and make sure that Ford is on par with Tesla Superchargers,” Musk said.
Farley said Ford owners would have a cost, possibly a monthly subscription, but he did not provide specifics. Details of any financial arrangements between Ford and Tesla have not been disclosed.
First, current Ford electric vehicles will need an adapter to connect to Tesla stations, which have their own connector. But starting in 2025, Ford will switch to Tesla’s North American standard charging connector with second-generation electric vehicles, Farley said.
Ford said the Tesla connector is smaller and lighter than those used by other automakers.
Tesla Superchargers have great locations, Farley said.
“We like places. We like reliability,” he said. They will join Ford’s own Blue Oval charging station network, which has about 10,000 fast charging stations, he said.
Ford EV owners will be able to seamlessly access Tesla chargers using the Ford app, Musk said.
Tesla has about 17,000 Supercharger stations in the US. There are about 54,000 public charging stations in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy, but many charge much more slowly than Tesla stations.
The deal between Ford and Tesla is separate from a plan to open up part of Tesla’s charging network to all electric vehicles.
In February, the White House announced that at least 7,500 chargers from the Tesla Supercharger and Destination Charger network will be available for third-party electric vehicles by the end of 2024.
The conversation between Musk, who bought Twitter last fall for $44 billion, and Farley didn’t go down well embarrassing technical glitches that prompted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement Wednesday that he was running for president.
Along with Musk, DeSantis said he would seek the Republican nomination, but the chat was delayed by nearly half an hour due to disruptions. Musk blamed it on server load because so many were trying to listen.
The Farley-Musco chat had a much smaller audience than DeSantis, with about 18,000 listeners at the start.
DeSantis’ chat reached 420,000, a far cry from the millions who watched the president’s televised announcements. After eliminating the problems, the audience remained less than 500,000.
Tesla Superchargers have great locations, Farley said.
“We like places. We like reliability,” he said. They will join Ford’s own Blue Oval charging station network, which has about 10,000 fast charging stations, he said.
Ford EV owners will be able to seamlessly access Tesla chargers using the Ford app, Musk said.
Tesla has about 17,000 Supercharger stations in the US. According to the Department of Energy, there are about 54,000 public charging stations in the United States.
The chat between Musk and Farley ended without embarrassing technical glitches that prompted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement Wednesday that he was running for president.
https://www.wtol.com/article/news/nation-world/ford-electric-vehicle-owners-tesla-supercharger-network/507-59a92b39-8a14-47f6-9973-ad8e46cab884
