Ford electric vehicles can now use the Tesla Supercharger network
Ford announced last May that it would be the first automobile manufacturer to use the NACS charging port popularized by Tesla for its future vehicles, in addition to making the network of Superchargers of the Californian company. 9 months later, Ford announced that owners of Mustang Mach-E and of F-150 Lightning across Canada and the United States can now order their free adapter. Once they receive the adapter, they can also start using Tesla’s Supercharger network.
Ford thus becomes the first automobile manufacturer to make its vehicles widely compatible with the Tesla charging network, which increases by 15,000 the number of stations accessible with the Blue Oval charging network integrated into the brand’s vehicles, for a total of 28,000 charging stations in North America.
The adapter, which resembles the one already found at Tesla stations equipped with the “Magic Dock”, is designed to only support DC type fast charging with a maximum voltage of 1000 volts, and can carry 500 amps for a period of 10 minutes, after which the intensity of the current delivered will drop to 300 amps. This means it will be able to deliver full charging performance for current Ford vehicles.
Customers will only have access to V3 Superchargers, leaving Tesla owners exclusive to V2 or V4 type chargers. Additionally, Tesla is restricting access to certain V3 chargers to Tesla owners, for various reasons that have not been disclosed.
Enable charging
It will be possible to identify compatible terminals using the FordPass application, or through the BlueOval charging network integrated into the central screen of vehicles. Moreover, the latter will receive an update via cloud so that the newly accessible terminals are considered by the vehicle, particularly when planning journeys. Optionally, the navigation applications Apple Maps (for Apple users) and Google Maps (For Android users)
Additionally, owners will need to use “Charging Assistance” — soon to change its name to “Public Charging” — to start charging, as Tesla’s V3 Superchargers do not have a payment terminal, unlike Tesla’s V3 Superchargers. other operators. According to Ford, this system, which is called “Plug and Charge”, simplifies the use of the terminal and resembles that offered by Tesla in its vehicles.
As for charging prices, during the technical call which aimed to give the details of this news, Ford simply said that they will be comparable to those of Tesla stations which allow the use of the Magic Dock. For example, for the Deep River station in Ontario, the rate is $0.82 per kilowatt hour (without subscription), which is among the highest in Canada. There are no annual fees.
Current Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning owners have until June 30 to order their free adapter on the site Ford. Starting July 1, it will be sold at a price that has yet to be determined for the Canadian market. Adapters will ship towards the end of March. For e-Transit owners who wish to take advantage of this possibility, a visit to the dealership will be necessary to update the vehicle.
