Tesla earlier this year opened up its Supercharger network to outside automakers, although it has only committed to opening 3,500 current and future charging stalls to non-Tesla EVs. To-date, the automaker has only opened a handful of stations to non-Teslas.
Musk said the price for adapters for Ford EVs starting next spring would not be “cost-prohibitive,” and likely be in the “hundreds of dollars” range.
What remains unclear is how exactly Ford’s current third-party network of roughly 84,000 chargers, including 10,000 fast-chargers, would interact with Ford EVs built with the NACS charge port starting in 2025. A spokesperson said it’s expected the third-party charging stations would eventually offer plugs that would connect with NACS ports, although it’s unclear who would pay for it.
“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,” Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer, Ford Model e, said in a statement. “The Tesla Supercharger network has excellent reliability and the NACS plug is smaller and lighter. Overall, this provides a superior experience for customers.”
Developing appreciation
Farley said he developed an appreciation for Tesla’s charging network while on a family vacation last year.
“My kids kept looking at me and going ‘Hey dad, there’s another Supercharger, can we stop there?’ and I was like ‘No, we have to go here behind this other building,’” he said. “It became obvious to me the job your team had done and what it means to customers.”
Musk and Farley, who had as many as 21,000 listeners on their Thursday evening announcement, said they’d continue to explore ways to collaborate to increase EV adoption.
The tie-up is notable given the pair’s sometimes-chippy past.
Farley and Ford are known to take jabs at Musk and Tesla in speeches, on Twitter and in commercials.
For example, when the company launched its BlueCruise driver-assist technology, Farley tweeted “we tested it in the real world, so our customers don’t have to,” a shot at Tesla’s AutoPilot technology.
Musk clapped back with a video snippet of the movie “Tommy Boy,” featuring Farley’s late cousin, the comedian Chris Farley.
One of Ford’s recent commercials made fun of those who “fly away on their own personal space ships when things get hard,” a reference to Musk and other billionaires’ attempts at commercial space companies.
