With cars battling range anxiety via giant batteries, now it’s time for charging infrastructure to contribute to the cause. While some automakers seem content on waiting things out, Ford plans to attempt to win the battle by partnering with Tesla and granting Ford EVs access to the famously reliable Tesla Supercharger network.
While certain companies have made great strides in public DC fast charging, it’s still true that a Tesla is the most practical EV to own due to the proliferation and reliability of the brand’s Supercharger DC fast charging network. Since Tesla uses a proprietary connector referred to as the North American Charging Standard (NACS) in North America, it’s largely considered a proprietary DC fast charging network. While the marque has previously offered to let other automakers use its connector standard, no automaker has taken Tesla up on the deal until now.
In a statement, Ford CEO Jim Farley said, “This is great news for our customers who will have unprecedented access to the largest network of fast-chargers in the U.S. and Canada with 12,000+ Tesla Superchargers plus 10,000+ fast-chargers already in the BlueOval Charge Network,”
Ford plans to sell new EVs with Tesla-style charging sockets in North America from 2025. To fill in that gap of about a year and a half, Tesla has developed an adapter for Ford’s Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, and E-Transit EVs to go from Tesla’s NACS connector to the CCS connector seen on an overwhelming majority of non-Tesla EVs. In a press conference on Twitter Spaces, Elon Musk claimed the adapter would cost “hundreds of dollars” and “not be cost-prohibitive,” which seems largely in-line with most existing charging plug adapters on the market to go from, say, a CCS plug to the CHAdeMO socket found on the Nissan Leaf. Plus, Ford EVs aren’t expected to experience artificially-throttled charging on Tesla’s network, with the bottleneck simply being how much current vehicles’ high-voltage architecture can take.
With 12,000 Tesla fast charging stations across the United States and Canada combined with more than 10,000 public DC fast charging stations dotting the map, Ford drivers will soon have incredible access to EV fast charging. However, it’s not without precedent. Tesla already sells a CCS to NACS adapter in its web shop, which opens up continent-wide public DC fast charging to Tesla owners.
It’s not just the quantity of charging stations that will make a huge difference for Ford EV owners, it’s the quality of charging stations. While poor experiences with public DC fast chargers are all too common, Tesla’s fast charging stations tend to work consistently and have excellent uptime. What’s more, many are located in desirable locations, near places to eat, drink, and take a quick break while waiting for EVs to charge.
It’s worth noting that Ford EVs aren’t the only EVs that will be able to charge at Tesla stations. Tesla has started rolling out its Magic Dock integrated CCS adapter in select charging stations to allow CCS-equipped vehicles to charge using Tesla equipment. However, as it stands, Ford is the first automaker to adopt Tesla’s connector standard outside of Tesla.
By effectively doubling the number of DC fast charging stations its EVs can use, Ford should be able to spec next-generation EVs with smaller battery packs, potentially lowering the high cost of entry associated with most new EVs. Plus, Cory Steuben of engineering firm Munro & Associates claims “The vehicle cost savings are huge” with Tesla’s NACS connector over CCS, so the potential for a future exclusive switch to NACS could also help Ford lower production costs. Oh, and in addition to Tesla Supercharger access, Ford plans on building 1,800 public DC fast chargers of its own by early 2024, which isn’t a long time away. Is there a chance we’re witnessing the start of a cassette versus DAT moment in EV charging? It’s too soon to say, but I’d wager other automakers are taking a close look at what Tesla and Ford are doing.
(Photo credits: Ford, Tesla, Inc.)
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This is breaking news and being upated
If Elon can accept the moderate victory of Tesla becoming a charging network that might make a car or two without having a nuclear billionaire meltdown over it, yes, for the love of electrons, yes, everyone just adopt the Tesla standard.
As an engineer, it bugs me a little that basically only software is deciding the difference between 120V and 480V going into your battery. Also that they don’t have an 800V standard yet (please correct me if so, this isn’t my area of expertise). But whatever-they’re everywhere, they work, and they can charge at up to 250kW
Why doesn’t Tesla just use CCS?
In Europe, those Teslas use CCS.
Because European governments have regulations that require Tesla to use CCS.
Yes, they require CCS because they want to have one standard. Charging plugs should be standardized.
There is NO good reason for Tesla not to use CCS in the US, too.
Good for Ford for now I guess. But, now they are tied to their competitor’s proprietary network. A competitor run by an unpredictable autocrat. Feels risky.
Also, now we end up going down the rabbit hole that probably ends up with two connectors. A standard accross EU and US and Tesla. Kinda like Apple. But even Apple is finally realizing it’s a wasted effort.
Wake me when they announce the cost of charging. I’ve considered the Mach E but unfortunately all the commercial charging networks other than Tesla are charging rates that are cost equivalent or more than simply buying gasoline for an SUV of similar size.
The charging network is currently Tesla’s greatest advantage. Are they going to give that away by charging the same rates to Ford owners, or will they charge a premium to non-Tesla vehicles? If they charge a premium, how much will it be?
This is what really matters. Access is nothing if the cost is prohibitive.
Most EV drivers charge primarily at home (I have fast charged my Leaf ~15 times in 4 years/50K miles). Fast charging is often more expensive than gas, but it is intended to be used occasionally. I pay $0.12 per kwh to charge my Leaf at home. That translates to $0.025 per mile, which is far lower than fuel costs for a Prius.
If you can charge at home, EVs are cheap. If you can’t charge at home, I would not recommend buying an EV.
On average, people do 85% of their driving miles within 100 miles of home, so with home charging, I’m not too worried about paying a little more for <15% of my miles. Current pricing for non-Teslas at the handful of Tesla Superchargers that allow them, now, is ~$0.10/kWh higher than Teslas. It’s a minuscule difference unless it’s your “daily” charging method.
Tesla’s current rates for non-tesla’s are $0.40/0.50kwh depending if you’re a “member” or not. Electrify america has a similar setup, and I believe their rates are $0.36/0.48kwh.
So pretty competitive as of now. If Ford is integrating the HW, I’d suspect that Fords will get better rates? Who knows.
Superchargers are still cheaper than gas. They’re $.36-56/kwh on average from my west coast to Chicago road trip this winter. Still cheaper than gas, easily.
I don’t know that I agree that it’s cheaper than gas, but it may depend on your area. I have a PHEV in Michigan. I get at most, about 3.5 miles per kwh and get at least 35 mpg on the interstate. I need 10kwh to offset a gallon of gas, so electric costs would be $3.60-$5.60 to equal a gallon. I find around me that 45 cents is a typical rate per kwh for fast-charging. Gas around me is currently around $3.30 a gallon. At home, where I charge for 12 cent off-peak per kwh, it’s a no brainer that electric is cheaper (even my on-peak rate of 24 cents is cheaper), but a big reason I like PHEV’s better is that on a road trip, I find gas to be cheaper, and much more convenient than public charging. The PHEV is still offsetting 80-90% of my overall gas usage. If you don’t need to exceed your range often, an EV might still be a great choice. I love that there are options, and I’m still waiting for a PHEV truck option so I can offset even more gas use in my household.
The commercial charging networks are charging, at minimum, $0.36 per kwh. Usually more. The last two stations I stopped at were charging $0.48 and $0.56 per kwh.
Even at the best commercial price of $0.36, I would save money using gasoline instead because it takes about 3 kwh to go a mile. $0.12 per mile is the approximate best cost using commercial chargers. If gas is $3.60 per gallon, then $0.36 per kwh is roughly equivalent to 30 mpg. My PHEV gets 42 mpg or more on gasoline.
Home charging is the real bargain. I pay $0.14 per kwh. That’s about equal to getting 80-90 mpg when gas is $3.60 per gallon. I also have no fee charging at work.
“Tesla has developed an adapter for Ford’s Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, and E-Transit EVs to go from Tesla’s NACS connector to the CCS connector seen on an overwhelming majority of non-Tesla EVs. ”
Sooo, what’s to stop other non-Tesla EV owners from buying this adapter and using the Tesla Superchargers? Will they be chipped somehow so they only work with Fords, or something?
I think it’s software. Ford will implement tesla software on their vehicles and other automakers just won’t have it downloaded. So the connector may work fine but the car won’t accept the charge
Could a patent lawyer comment on the irrevocability of Tesla’s release of NACS to other manufacturers? It’s not like the boss of Tesla is known for his capriciousness or anything…
Tesla released all of their patents almost a decade ago and never revoked those — hopefully a good indication that NACS will remain a standard.
Once you can be seen to have stopped defending a patent, it dies.
However…having a charger work with steadily new models of vehicle, apps, payment methods, etc. requires constant technical partnership and transparency of the type that would require a real DNA change at TSLA.. Ford experiences on TSLA network are already….different than those of TSLA natives.
I think you’re thinking of trademarks there, not patents. While a period of non-enforcement may make punitive damages somewhat harder to claim in practice, it doesn’t necessarily invalidate a patent like it does a trademark.
Does this mean Ford EVs will have only NACS ports, or will they have NACS and CCS ports? It would be ideal to have both to avoid using adapters. The ports are small so space wouldn’t be an issue. I doubt it would be prohibitively expensive to have both.
I am not a fan of Tesla’s vehicles, but I am a huge fan of the supercharger network. A NACS equipped Ford is very appealing to me. This is a great idea.
Ford said that they will also offer adapters for the future Tesla plug versions so they can still use CCS, so I believe they will only have Tesla plugs in the future.
That was my assumption, but it seems like a missed opportunity. The biggest challenge for EVs is the difficulty of public charging. Why not simplify the process by offering both ports? Charging will eventually be standardized, but in the meantime, offering multiple ports seems like a cheap way to make life easier for EV drivers.
Because besides the hardware is different, the signalling and software handshakes are different. We are in the era, that hardware can be much less complicated than software.
We are also talking about Ford here, right now they shouldn’t complicate things.
My understanding is that NACS and CCS initiate charging similarly, unlike CHAdeMO. If you can make it work with a $175 adapter, the software can’t be that different.
Even if it increased the cost of the vehicle by $500, I think it still would be worthwhile to have both ports. EVs are expensive. Requiring an adapter seems like an odd way to save a few dollars.
I have a Tesla and have an adapter for CCS fast chargers. I’ve used it without issue a couple of times when I was staying near a CCS charger. I’m guessing it would be much cheaper for the car manufacturer to give you an adapter instead of adding a second port.
My concern is that adapters can be lost. Think of how many used cars come without the original owner’s manual. The manuals are supposed to stay in the car, yet they always seem to disappear. I figure the same thing would happen to adapters. Inconvenience is a big barrier to EV ownership for a lot of potential buyers. Manufacturers should make the effort to make EVs as easy to use as possible given the current level of technology.
I’ve driven EVs for almost 10 years. I’m guessing you don’t own a an EV because I have never lost charge adapter in those 10 years. It is a basic item for an EV and much closer to a car key than an owners manual. I don’t remember the last time I looked in my owners manual but I use the charge adapters at least once a week.
I own two EVs.
I’m curious why you need to use an adapter to charge your vehicle. Are you referring to the charging cable itself? Those are easy to keep track of. I’m mostly concerned about a small plastic thing that allows you to convert a CCS plug to a NASC plug (google “Tesla to CCS adapter”). Those are much smaller and easier to misplace, particularly if you are not using it regularly (i.e. if you charge at home or use public chargers that do not require an adapter).
Evidently it is a Tesla thing. For about 1/2 the destination chargers I have used at hotels or businesses are J1772 instead of Tesla (NACS) so I have a J1772 to NACS in my cars and I have a CCS type 1 to NACS which I have used a few times for fast charging. I just leave the adapters in the trunk. They are small and don’t take up much space. I never worried about adapters when I had my 2013 Nissan Leaf because I never took road trips with it due to the very low range, poor quick charging performance, and terrible chademo infrastructure.
Interesting. I own a Leaf and a Livewire so I haven’t had to deal with adapters for routine charging (I forgot that Tesla needs an adapter to use a J1772). I could see them being easy enough to keep track of if you use them frequently.
this is wild! Seemingly great news…
Is it? I thought CCS was becoming the standard across the world. Now this is going in the opposite direction? How is this better?
Yeah, that’s my thoughts. I’ve been expecting the Tesla standard to get regulated out, like it did in Europe, especially now that they’re starting to put CCS connectors on some Superchargers. This is absolutely a step in the wrong direction.
Actually there are 2 variants of CCS. CCS 1 is North America, CCS 2 is Europe, Australia etc, basically where electricity has more than 1 phase is common. European ones have extra pins and make it not really compatible with CCS 1. CCS is a standard but it is not the same across the world.
Think about NACS and CCS is like Lightning vs USB C.. NACS came out first, higher chargning speeds, more elegant solution from one company vs CCS that are designed by committee.
A car company… Did a sensible thing?
One big challenge for Tesla with their Magic Dock connector (as well as most non-Tesla cars using Tesla’s portable adapter) is that it doesn’t account for most non-Teslas having their ports in an inaccessible spot. Tesla’s chargers have short cables, since all their cars’ ports are in the rear left side. Ford’s cars have it front-left, so can only reach the plug if they are in an adjacent spot. I guess if the near-term Ford adapter builds in a length of cable, that would solve it (although a little inelegantly).
Ultimately, as they continue to expand more of their charging stations to non-Teslas, they will need to find a way to get their cables to extend so as to solve this.
This is true, but the v4 Superchargers that Tesla is just starting to roll out have longer cables, so that will help. Maybe they’ll come up with a solution for v3 and earlier though. Hopefully Ford brought that up in negotiations.
Of course, the best solution is for manufacturers to put charging ports in a standardized place, like gas cars(that aren’t Chevys) kind of mostly are.
{ laughs in front fender hole }
This is extremely good news provided Ford actually goes through with it. The “NACS” is much better than CCS.
This is a huge story. NACS, the Tesla connector, is much better than CCS as far as packaging goes. Tesla may now be less likely to roll more magic docks out if it can get automakers on board with NACS in the US. I bought a Tesla for the charging network, now I will consider Ford EVs when they come equipped with NACS.
Tesla still has to install CCS plugs to get federal funding for new stations, but you may be right that they’ll be less likely to retrofit magic docks to existing stations.
They walked away from the funding. They don’t want retrofit payment machines on all their chargers as mandated, which I think is wise.
https://electrek.co/2023/03/14/tesla-walks-away-public-funding-superchargers-payment-system-integration/
Payment integration is going to be pretty critical to making EVs work for most people. You shouldn’t need separate accounts with all the different charging companies to travel. If the companies with CCS connectors add the ability to pay with a credit card, it’s going to help the push to make CCS the standard.
If you want to see NACS become the standard, they should add payment systems. If you want Tesla (and now Ford) to sell more cars because of access to that charging network, it could be a boost for a bit, but who knows for how long.
Do you own an EV? I do and charge at public chargers. Credit card readers have proven to be one of the most unreliable and least secure ways of activating a charging station. I have apps on my phone for all the popular local chargers and they work great. https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/11/electric-vehicle-charging-credit-card-fraud/
I have had bad luck with the apps. From my experience, the apps seem to have trouble communicating with the chargers. Part of it might be my lousy phone (I have a 5 year old iphone) or poorly maintained chargers. I have found it much easier to use a credit card.
That’s different funding, which amounts to a few million dollars in California vs several billion of available funds from the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which Tesla hasn’t walked away from.