Ford will use the Tesla connector for its cars in the US

Ford has announced his intention adopt Tesla’s connector for its electric vehicles destined for North America. The transition from the standard CCS 1 connector used until then will take place from 2025, on the manufacturer’s new electric vehicles intended for the US and Canadian markets. Once the changes are made, Ford car owners will be able to charge Tesla’s charging network, which is the largest in the continent.

In North America as in Europe, there is a standard called CCS that adds, to put it simply, to a slow charge connector two pins intended for fast charging. It’s a clever design, as it reused an existing standard, but it’s also bulky and not very elegant. In turn, Tesla started selling electric cars before the emergence of this scale and the manufacturer created its own connector. It has the advantage of managing fast and slow payments with a single feature and thus becoming more complex.

This connector has been proprietary for a long time, but Tesla decided in the summer to open it up to all car manufacturers who wanted it, naming it the North American Charging Standard (NACS) for the occasion. Elon Musk’s company had published the technical specifications of the connector, as well as the logic necessary for its good performance, especially in superchargers. In fact, the goal was not selfless, it was above all to open its fast charging network to other manufacturers and thus develop Tesla’s electric energy segment.

Tesla recommends that its charging connector be standard in the United States

One can however wonder if another manufacturer will accept Tesla’s offer. Even if CCS is less common in the United States than in Europe, where it is the de facto standard for most fleets and even in cars that carry the T, the fact remains that it is the standard used by all other manufacturers. . Ford confirms, however, that this may change in the future.

The game is yet to be played and there is no telling that the Tesla-designed connector will be the American standard. However, Ford is getting heavier and it will probably snowball. The supercharger network is an important advantage in the US, more so than in Europe where we now have a large number of fast charging stations from other brands. Customers who do not want a Tesla but want to take advantage of this benefit will be able to go to Ford. What motivates GM and others to pursue such a plan?

Oddly enough, this is another Tesla decision that could cripple its connector. In fact, the manufacturer has created ” MagicDock in the US, a CCS connector that plugs into its housing connector in some mains chargers. This addition allowed him to open several stations last March, but his plan is to open many more thanks to this device. We think that the Texan company would also like competing cars to use its connector, this will facilitate this opening which also meets the requirements of the US government for subsidies.

From 2024, Ford will provide all its customers with a CCS to NACS adapter to connect its vehicles already on the road to a supercharger. It will be necessary to wait until 2025 for Ford vehicles to come out of factories with Tesla connectors instead of CCS. Changes that will be limited to the United States, vehicles sent to Europe, including a future SUV designed in cooperation with Volkswagen, will all remain on CCS.