Tesla’s Supercharger network of accessible and reliable fast chargers remains an incredible advantage over every other manufacturer in the EV industry. Other brands have taken notice, adopting the Tesla-backed North American Charging Standard en masse to get in on the brand’s strong foothold on roadside charging. As of Thursday, those chargers are officially starting to open up to cars from other manufacturers.
That starts with just one manufacturer, Ford. Drivers of Ford EVs, specifically Mustang Mach-Es and F-150 Lightnings, who already have access to an NACS adapter can now plug their cars in at Tesla-branded stations across the country. The automaker says on its website that these cars will charge at either all-EV supercharger stations or NACS stations dedicated to charging a wider variety of cars. According to that note, some specific chargers will still be available only to Tesla vehicles.
EVs built by Rivian, General Motors, Volvo, and Polestar will follow later in spring. A much wider range of manufacturers will join that group in the years to come, including the likes of BMW, Toyota, and Volkswagen. For now, EV buyers will have to use a charging adapter provided directly by their manufacturer at these stations. Eventually, manufacturers plan to build these cars with NACS charging ports directly integrated from the beginning. Around the same time, companies like Electrify America that currently offer CCS fast charging will begin to offer their own NACS-compatible charging options.
If everything goes as planned, this unification should make charging every single new EV sold in the U.S. easier in the near future. That will make EVs more tenable for new buyers and day-to-day life less of a headache for existing owners. Whether or not that works out in practice will depend on how the next two years of rollout actually go, but the integration of Fords into the Tesla system today is a strong first step.
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