Charging options for electric vehicle drivers in Central Texas and nationwide are set to expand, as Austin-based Tesla partners with legacy automakers Ford and General Motors.
The latest partnership, which was announced Thursday by
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and GM CEO Mary Barra on a Twitter Space, further sets up
Tesla's infrastructure to potentially be the standard for electric vehicle
charging stations in the United States.
The announcement follows a similar deal announced by Ford
last month, with both companies announcing plans to switch Ford vehicles'
charging ports to be the same type that Tesla uses.
"In order to drive EV adoption, we need to have a
robust charging infrastructure," Barra said. "I think we have a real
opportunity here to really drive this to be the unified standard for North
America, which I think will even enable more mass adoption, so I couldn't be
more excited."
Under GM's deal, GM vehicles have access starting next year
to Tesla charging stations nationwide using an adapter on GM's charging app.
Starting in 2025, GM will also be manufacturing its new vehicles with a
charging port currently used by Tesla vehicles, known as the North American
Charging System, or NACS. GM has been using the current industry-standard
Combined Charging System, or CCS, ports in its electric vehicles.
Tesla drivers have been able to use existing CCS chargers
with a Tesla-made adapter that fits over Tesla charging plugs. Barra said
customers would still be able to use CCS chargers with the use of an adapter
after the switch to NACS. Farley also said existing Ford chargers will work
going forward.
"This gives us a huge opportunity to, to do something
that's better for customers and to drive it to be the standard," Barra
said.
Under Ford's deal, existing Ford EV owners would gain access
to 12,000 Tesla Superchargers in the U.S. and Canada starting in early 2024.
The vehicles would use an adapter to access Tesla chargers and charge using
Ford's app. Ford currently has about 10,000 EV chargers.
In a Twitter Space last month, Ford CEO Jim Farley said
second-generation Ford electric vehicles will be outfitted with NACS plugs, and
he estimated that about a year after that the adapters will be rolled out.
Farley did not give the price of the adapter, but he said it would be
"affordable" and could include a subscription option.
"This is a really big deal for our customers,"
Farley said. “We think this is a huge move for our industry and for all electric
customers."
Musk said at the time that it was very exciting to be in
partnership with Ford, and that he wants the Supercharger network to be
supportive of vehicle electrification and sustainable transportation at large.
Most electric vehicle drivers charge their vehicles at home,
but carmakers and electric vehicle charging companies have their own charging
stations at such places as grocery stores, malls, and rest stops. Tesla has a
nationwide network of thousands of chargers that can currently only be used by
Tesla vehicles. Ford and GM also have their own charging networks, but not at
the same scale.
"I think this is going to be just a really
fundamentally great thing for the advancement of electric vehicles in North
America," Musk said. "The most important thing is that we advance the
electric vehicle revolution."
The partnerships represent a major endorsement for Tesla and
its charging technology, taking a step closer toward standardizing a charging
type for North American vehicles.
Tesla is still the leading seller of electric vehicles in
the United States by far. But the deals also come as an EV price war heats up,
and as federal incentives for electric vehicles become available under the
Inflation Reduction Act.
Both partnerships are expected to boost the use of Tesla's
network, while it could also more than double access to fast chargers for GM
and Ford, and it could add millions of new drivers to Tesla's charging network.
Dan Ives, an industry analyst with Wedbush Securities, said
the partnership is a big win for Tesla and a smart move by GM, and said he
views Ford's deal similarly.
"This is a great poker move by Tesla to monetize its
supercharger network," Ives said.
In a note, Ives estimated the two partnerships could add an
additional $3 billion in revenue for Tesla in the next several years.
Ives said Tesla "essentially owns" the domestic
charging station network, and said the partnership is a smart move for both
Ford and GM to lay the groundwork for a successful EV transformation.