Tesla being charged.
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- Ford stock jumped on Friday after it inked an agreement to lets its EV owners use Tesla’s charging stations.
- All Ford electric vehicles will be made with the same charging port as Tesla beginning in 2025.
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the deal will help ensure that Ford is on “equal footing” in competing against Tesla.
Ford stock surged 3% on Friday after the company announced a surprise deal with Tesla that will allow its electric vehicle customers to use Tesla’s charging stations beginning in 2024.
The deal will help solidify Tesla’s charging port as the standard across electric vehicles, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said it would put Ford on “equal footing” in competing against Tesla in the EV space.
“It is certainly the Tesla intent to make this a seamless and positive experience for Ford owners,” Musk said in a Twitter Spaces interview on Thursday.
“We’re really pumped up about working with you to make our customers’ lives better,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said. “And we’re really thankful for your partnership.”
Under the terms of the deal, beginning in 2024 Ford electric vehicles will be able to charge their cars at 12,000 Tesla Supercharger stations across North America. And by 2025, all next generation Ford electric vehicles will use the same charging port that Tesla does, removing the need for an adapter to be used at Tesla charging stations.
For now, owners of the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, and E-Transit Ford vehicles can access the Superchargers via an adapter and software integration, with payment being processed via FordPass.
The deal helps remove a key barrier for Ford to increase the appeal of its electric vehicles, as Tesla’s charging network has long been seen as a competitive advantage against other EV makers as there’s no other uniform network that rivals Tesla’s scale.
“Widespread access to fast-charging is absolutely vital to our growth as an EV brand, and this breakthrough agreement comes as we are ramping up production of our popular Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, and preparing to launch a series of next-generation EVs starting in 2025,” Farley said.
With Ford pinning its future on electric vehicle, ensuring its customers increased access to charging stations appears to be crucial to its success.
