Last year, Ford revealed its decision to use the Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS) for EV fast charging, which will give its drivers access to Tesla’s Supercharger network. Now, Ford is providing more information on how this will work.
Initially, in May 2023, Ford announced that owners of its existing electric vehicles (which use the Combined Charging Standard or CCS instead of NACS) could charge at Supercharger stations using an adapter. Today, Ford has announced that this adapter, developed by Tesla, is now available for order. EV owners can get one free adapter per vehicle through Ford’s website until June 30th. If they don’t get it within this window, the adapter will be available for purchase at a price of $230. Ford is also planning to build new vehicles with NACS connectors soon.
In a briefing to Digital Trends and other media outlets, it was explained that the adapter fits over a Supercharger’s connector and then plugs into the vehicle. Ford assures that its vehicles will charge at their maximum speeds with the adapter. The adapter includes an interlock device to prevent it from being unplugged while in use, and a latch that can stop charging if the adapter disconnects from the Supercharger. Additionally, built-in temperature sensors help prevent overheating.
Ford customers won’t be able to use every Supercharger station immediately. Only V3-and-newer Superchargers will be compatible, and not all of these will be accessible to Ford drivers right away. Despite this, Ford claims that 15,000 Supercharger stations in the U.S. and Canada will be available, exceeding the initial estimate of 12,000 and reflecting the expansion of the Supercharger network since last year’s announcement.
These additional Supercharger stations will more than double the approximately 13,000 stations already available on Ford’s Blue Oval Charge Network, which is a collection of third-party public charging stations that Ford customers can easily access. Like other Blue Oval Charge Network stations, Superchargers, along with their pricing, will be listed in searches on the Ford Pass app or in-vehicle charging locators. Customers will be able to plug in and start charging easily using either Ford Pass or the Plug and Charge protocol.
Since Ford announced its plan to adopt the Tesla NACS connector and use the Supercharger network, most other major automakers have decided to follow suit. However, Ford is the first to implement its plan, even though it is starting with adapters for now.