Ford's Blue Oval Charging Network Gets a Splash of Red

Ford to adopt Tesla's charging infrastructure, but with some caveats

DEARBORN, MI – The Ford Motor Company and Tesla Motors reached an agreement today that will give Ford EV owners access to the Tesla Supercharger network by the spring of next year.

The move comes as a means to accelerate EV adoption and expand accessibility by enlarging the Blue Oval's Charge Network. This will open the door for current customers of Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and the E-Transit to charge at an additional 12,000 charging locations operated by Tesla.

However, it seems that it isn't as simple as Tesla introducing the Magic Dock at its Supercharger locations. Instead, Ford's existing EV customers will have access to a dedicated CCS-to-NACS adapter designed by Tesla to be fully compatible with their Superchargers. Starting in 2025, Ford will replace the CCS port with a NACS port as standard equipment on its next-generation of EVs.

While Tesla announced back in November 2022 that it would open up the Supercharger network to other EVs and make NACS available to other OEMs, Ford appears to be the second automaker to take up the EV-leader on that offer; Aptera Motors announced last year that their upcoming EV will include the NACS port on their upcoming EV.

While this partnership expands access to charging, it also knocks some competitors down a peg, namely Electrify America, implying a lack of confidence in the national charging network.

However, the greater concern is whether this change in charging port standard will elevate to the level of causing another EV charging standard war.

Will it lead to other manufacturers also adapting the plug that Tesla uses? What are your thoughts?