Ford CEO Farley says how long it took him to think about the Tesla deal
Ford CEO Jim Farley announced his company would adopt Tesla’s North American charging standard (NACS) several weeks ago during a Twitter Spaces with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. How long did it take him to think about a deal with Tesla, a rival that has long led the EV space above all?
There was no hesitation, Farley said.
Ford will adopt the NACS connector on all of its electric cars by 2025. But next year, Ford electric car drivers will be able to connect to 12,000 Supercharger booths across North America with a simple adapter. It’s all a move that Farley says will help customers gain benefits and make the EV ownership experience easier.
“I have no problem being opportunistic when it comes to distributing my clients,” Farley said in an interview with CNBC. “Our team didn’t really hesitate because it’s good for the customers.”
Ford has its own range of chargers known as the Blue Oval Charge Network, which operates over 84,000 stalls across the country. However, the extension agreement with Tesla will help alleviate long lines and make charging options more abundant in the future.
Farley and Musk made their announcement on May 25, and he believes the deal with Tesla will benefit the growth of Ford’s Model e division, which handles all of its electric car ventures.
“Widespread access to fast charging is absolutely critical to our growth as an EV brand, and this breakthrough deal comes as we increase production of our popular Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, and prepare to launch a range of next-generation electric vehicles that starting in 2025, he said.
The agreement has catalyzed several other partnerships between Tesla and EV manufacturers, including General Motors and most recently Rivian, which announced its intentions to adopt NACS yesterday.
Other automakers like Hyundai seem to be thinking about adopting NACS, while companies like Lucid don’t seem to have any interest in adopting Tesla’s connector, at least not until changes are made.
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