Tesla and Ford today made an announcement that many Tesla the owner was scared. in one Twitter space 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 about 12,000 Tesla Supercharger stations in North America.
The move makes Tesla eligible for a share of the billions of dollars in federal funding offered to improve the electric vehicle charging experience in the US and will make life easier for Ford EV owners. However, for Tesla customers, it can means longer waiting time at charging stations—even as many people have complained about congestion at them.
“That’s what worries me – whether it might cause more congestion,” said John Sergeant, a Tesla owner in Seattle. speak the The Wall Street Journal in February. He added that even if non-Tesla products take up coveted space, “they really need to put in more turbochargers.”
It’s not that Musk didn’t indicate that day would come. A few years ago, he signaled that his automaker would finally open up its network to others. Then in February, White announced a “set of actions aimed at creating a convenient, reliable, and made-in-USA electric vehicle (EV) charging network so that great American road trips can be could be electrified,” as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure. Law’s $7.5 billion investment in electric vehicle charging.
The White House said Tesla will for the first time “open part of the U.S. Supercharger and Target Charger network to non-Tesla electric vehicles for the first time, providing at least 7,500 chargers for all electric vehicles by the end of 2024. .”
Tesla customers are waiting for Fords to charge
Today, Musk reiterated that he doesn’t want Tesla’s charging stations to become a “walled garden,” adding: “Our intention is to do everything we can to support Ford and to Ford is on par with Tesla Superchargers.”
This inevitably results in Tesla owners sometimes having to wait for Ford customers to charge their cars before them – something they’re not used to.
Current Ford vehicles will need an adapter at Tesla stations, but the company’s second-generation vehicles in 2025 will use Tesla’s North American charging standard connector.
Last November, Tesla said it would share its EV connector design with other automakers, write on its blog: “We invite charging network operators and vehicle manufacturers to place Tesla charging connectors and ports, now known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS), on their devices and vehicles.”
Ford’s Farley, speaking with Musk today, praised Tesla’s charging stations: “This is really a big deal for our customers…we love the locations, we love them. I love the reliability…It’s amazing what you and your team have done for the client. ”
Tesla customers currently using those stations will, understandably, be less excited.
