TESLA logo at a charging station on May 26, 2023 in Merklingen, Germany.
Harry Langer/ | Defodi Images | Getty’s paintings
Inside weeks, Ford Motor General Motors AND Tesla seem to have modified the course of electrical vehicle charging infrastructure in North America.
Tesla owners have long enjoyed reliable charging away from home at company-owned Supercharger stations, North America’s largest charging network to date. But the entire charging industry has been fragmented, and it hasn’t been easy for non-Tesla owners.
All this can soon change.
Last month, Ford announced it had struck a deal with Tesla that might allow Ford’s electric vehicles to use Tesla charging stations with an adapter – and that starting in 2025, Tesla’s charging technology would develop into standard by itself electric vehicles. It was a surprising partnership between the rivals, and on Thursday General Motors said it had struck an almost similar deal with Tesla.
So why would Ford and GM team up with Tesla, an organization long seen by investors as a threat to established automakers?
And what does this mean for electric vehicles?
Unified charging
Tesla’s superchargers use a proprietary plug design, called the North American Charging Standard or NACS, which doesn’t work with non-Tesla electric vehicles. Most other electric vehicles and charging stations in the United States use the public domain CCS (Combined Charging System) plug standard.
Currently, Tesla electric cars can use CCS chargers with an adapter, but only Tesla cars can use NACS chargers.
This means that while Tesla owners have access to the company’s quite a few and reliable fast-charging stations, drivers of non-Tesla electric vehicles that use CCS have faced a mix-up of networks and infrequently unreliable equipment.
The disadvantages of CCS are of accelerating concern to Detroit automakers, who’re ramping up production of electrical vehicles in hopes of selling their electrified models to the masses.
IN test Last yr, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley checked 675 CCS fast chargers in the San Francisco Bay Area and located that just about 1 / 4 of them were out of order. August 2022 test JD Power found similar results for CCS chargers in other parts of the country. It’s value noting that Tesla’s charging network is far more reliable.
Tesla originally built the Supercharger network to overcome potential buyers’ concerns about charging while traveling. The range and reliability of its fast-charging network was a key element in its early sale to customers who feared the switch to electric power – and has been a key element in the company’s success in the United States ever since.
In contrast, the blotchy and less-than-perfect reliability of the CCS grid has been a challenge for Ford and GM (and other automakers) looking to boost sales of their very own EVs.
Potential buyers of a Ford or GM EV might like what they experience on a test drive, but with no reliable charging network, each were at a drawback for Tesla. These latest agreements should go a great distance towards leveling the playing field for charging.
Another excuse to favor Tesla’s NACS standard over CCS: Tesla plugs are much smaller and lighter than CCS fast charging plugs, which could be a pain for older or disabled drivers.
With each Ford and GM looking to attract customers who’re latest to electric vehicles, improving accessibility is a priority.
Short cut savings
For automakers equivalent to Ford and GM, who’re betting billions on a serious transition to electric vehicles, the reliability problems with CCS chargers are seen as a possible barrier to wider adoption. GM said in 2021 that it plans to release $750 million to improve electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the US and Canada.
But then Tesla opened the NACS standard in November last yr, publishing technical specifications and alluring charging network operators and other automotive manufacturers to use the plug design.
For each Ford and GM, the change offered a shortcut – and the potential for giant savings.
“We consider we are able to save up to $400 million of the original three-quarters of the billion dollars we committed to this because we were able to do it faster and more efficiently,” Barra told CNBC on Thursday. Fast Money” after the Tesla deal was announced.
For Ford CEO Jim Farley, the deals also signal what he sees as a latest era of collaboration between automakers that goes beyond individual components.
“We [worked with other automakers] on gearboxes and engines without anyone in the ICE world noticing,” Farley said at the Bernstein Conference on May 31. “It’s going to be more on the technology side now. I believe it’s one among the most interesting latest dynamics.”
What about Tesla?
So what does Tesla get out of the deal to allow its competitors to benefit from its excellent charging network?
The electrical vehicle leader is bound to enjoy the extra revenue it receives from Ford and GM electric automotive owners each time they charge their automotive at a Supercharger station.
It would also enjoy implicit support for its technology from longtime rivals and can likely seek a stake in public subsidies for charging electric vehicles made available under last yr’s bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
But the agreements don’t mean Tesla will gain a monopoly on public charging in the US, even when all automakers eventually adopt the NACS standard.
The EV giant’s decision to make the NACS standard public means rival charging grid operators are also free to add chargers with NACS plugs – and almost actually will.
The truth is, key players are already reacting in the wake of the Ford and GM deal. Swiss electrical equipment giant ABB, a number one manufacturer of economic electric vehicle chargers, said on Friday it will soon offer NACS plugs as an option on its products. FreeWire Technologies, a California-based startup that builds fast chargers, announced similar plans following Ford’s deal with Tesla last month.
Tesla’s principal motivation – publicly at the very least – could also be even simpler.
“Our mission is to speed up the global transition to sustainable energy,” Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla’s senior director of charging infrastructure, said in an announcement announcing GM’s deal on Thursday. “Giving every electric vehicle owner access to ubiquitous and reliable charging is the cornerstone of this mission.”