Ford to use Tesla charging connector in the USA from 2025

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Ford America has announced that from 2025, each Ford EV built will come with the North American Charging Standard (NACS) port installed as standard – opening up Fords for use at Tesla charging sites. 

Ford EV owners will be able to access more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across the USA and Canada.

In 2024, Mach E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit customers will be able to access Tesla charging stations via the use of an adapter.  

The news comes after Tesla announced it would gradually open its charging sites around the world to other carmakers. 

What exactly is the NACS charging system?

The North American Charging Standard was developed by Tesla and has been used on all of its vehicles since 2012. 

The connector was initially designed and created for the Tesla Model S, but has since been made available across a range of Tesla vehicles. 

But doesn’t this impact other electric vehicle makers?

Yes, it does, because initially Tesla vehicles could only charge at Tesla Supercharger stations that had the NACS plug installed as standard – this also meant Tesla stations locked out other EVs.  

However, in early 2023, Tesla designed and implemented a proprietary ‘magic dock’ system that allows the use of both NACS or CCS connectors, creating greater opportunities for other battery-electric vehicles to charge at a Tesla site. 

How does NACS affect Australia?  

The majority of electric vehicles sold in Australia are fitted with either CCS or Type 2 charge ports, which are from a European charging standard rather than one that is American. 

Unlike North America, Tesla does not sell its electric vehicles with a NACS two-pin plug in Australia. Instead, it has installed CCS-type charge plugs to its model range. This means that locally specified Teslas can be charged at locations other than Tesla Supercharger sites.

Although it sells more electric cars than any other brand in Australia, it’s highly unlikely that Tesla will adopt its NACS charging standard on local shores. 

You can learn more about different charging plug standards at the link here.