DETROIT – Ford Motor Co. is partnering with Tesla on a charging initiative for current and future electric vehicles, the automaker’s chief executive announced Thursday, in an unusual tie-up between the two rivals.
Under the deal, current Ford owners will have access to more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across the US and Canada starting early next year. And, Ford’s next-generation EVs — expected by mid-decade — will include a Tesla charger, allowing owners of Ford vehicles to charge without an adapter at Tesla Superchargers, making Ford among the first automakers to connect to the grid.
Farley said the company is “absolutely committed” to a US charging protocol that includes Tesla’s plug-in port, known as NACS.
The beginnings were between Ford CEO Jim Farley and Tesla CEO Elon Musk having a live audio chat on Twitterspace. They come as Ford tries to match Tesla’s sales in the segment or one day produce all-electric vehicles.
While Tesla still dominates the EV sector by some distance, Ford ranked second in U.S. sales of all-electric vehicles last year, with sales of 61,575 electric vehicles.
Tesla has previously discussed opening up its private network to other EVs. White House officials announced in February that Tesla had committed to opening 7,500 of its charging stations to Tesla EV drivers by the end of 2024. Already in the US, the company’s chargers are widely used and made compatible with Tesla EVs.
On Tesla’s first quarter shareholder floor, the company announced that it has approximately 45,000 Supercharger connections at 4,947 Supercharger stations worldwide. The company does not disclose the chargers by country or the revenue from the devices. It includes revenue from supercharging stations in the “Services and other” segment.
The Twitter Spaces incident between Farley and Musk marks the latest interaction between the two executives, who have a unique rivalry. Although their companies are in direct competition, each has expressed admiration for the other.
Musk, who heads Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter, has repeatedly praised Ford as a historic American company, praising its ability to avoid bankruptcy, unlike rivals General Motors and Chrysler during the Great Recession.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
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