Telsa and Ford today announced that many You’re here owners dreaded. In a Twitter The spaces talkTesla CEO Elon Musk and his counterpart Jim Farley said that starting next spring, all current and future Ford electric vehicles will have access to approximately 12,000 Tesla Supercharger stations in North America.
The move helps Tesla qualify for a share of the proposed billions of federal dollars to improve the electric vehicle charging experience in America and will make life easier for Ford EV owners. For Tesla customers, however, it could mean longer wait times at charging stations, although many have already complained about congestion.
“That’s the only thing that concerns me – if it might add to the congestion,” John Sergeant, owner of Tesla in Seattle, said THE the wall street journal in February. He added that even without the non-Teslas occupying the coveted spaces, “they really need to install more superchargers.”
Not that Musk didn’t indicate the day would come. He reported a few years ago that his automaker would eventually open up his network to others. Then in February, the White announced a “set of actions to create a convenient, reliable, made-in-America electric vehicle (EV) charging network so that the great American road trip can be electrified,” as part of bipartisan infrastructure. Law’s $7.5 billion investment in electric vehicle charging.
The White House said Tesla would open a portion of its U.S. network of superchargers and destination chargers to non-Tesla electric vehicles for the first time, making at least 7,500 chargers available for all electric vehicles by the end of 2024.
Tesla customers wait for Fords to charge
Musk reiterated today that he doesn’t want Tesla charging stations to be a ‘walled garden’, adding: ‘We intend to do everything we can to support Ford and ensure that Ford is on a equal footing with Tesla superchargers”.
This will no doubt force Tesla owners to sometimes wait for Ford customers to charge their vehicles before them, something they are not used to.
Ford’s current vehicles will need an adapter at Tesla stations, but its second-generation vehicles in 2025 will use Tesla’s standard North American charging connector.
Last November, Tesla announced that it would share its EV connector design with other automakers, write on his blog“We invite charging network operators and car manufacturers to install the Tesla Charging Connector and Port, now called the North American Charging Standard (NACS), on their equipment and vehicles.”
Ford’s Farley, speaking to Musk today, praised Tesla’s charging stations: “It’s a really big deal for our customers…we like locations, we like reliability. It’s pretty amazing what you and your team have done for the clients.”
Tesla customers who now use these stations, understandably, have less to be excited about.