The recent move by Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F) to grant its customers access to Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) electric-vehicle charging network has caused significant waves in the industry. This decision has sparked discussions about the need for a standardized charging infrastructure across the United States and has also cast uncertainty on the future of struggling charging startups.
The deal, announced last month, outlined plans to provide drivers of Ford vehicles in North America with access to over 12,000 Tesla Superchargers, starting in 2024. Under the deal, Ford will distribute Tesla adapters to customers and starting in 2025 will equip future EVs with NACS. It was not clear whether those adapters will be available to other automakers' customers.
According to industry executives, investors, bankers, and analysts, the agreement places pressure on other companies, as well as the President Joe Biden’s administration to fall in line or spend more to up their games.
"Tesla's head start in the space and Ford's buy-in ... will require companies who have invested in other technologies to pivot, which will be an expensive proposition," said analysts at SS&C ALPS Advisors.
The agreement with Ford gave a big boost to Tesla's popular and reliable North American Charging Standard (NACS) and dealt a blow to smaller players using the rival Combined Charging System (CCS). Tesla CEO Elon Musk hopes that teaming up with Ford, the second-largest seller of EVs in the U.S., will help make Tesla's technology the standard in North America.
The Biden administration has yet to comment, but Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNBC after the Ford-Tesla deal that the administration was "not going to pick winners and losers in terms of what standard prevails." He added the industry will eventually converge on one system but that adapters would allow cross-usage.
The U.S. government previously set aside $7.5 billion in federal funds to push companies to adopt CCS as part of Biden's plan to tackle climate change by converting 50% of all new U.S. vehicle sales to EVs by 2030.
Tesla adopted the CCS standard in Europe under pressure from regulators there, and is gradually opening a portion of its U.S. network to vehicles using CCS to potentially qualify for subsidies.
However, the limited charging infrastructure of CCS has held back EV adoption. Numerous complaints have emerged, pointing out the inefficiency and occasional malfunctioning of the CCS system. This has made potential buyers worried about getting stuck on the road with nowhere to charge their electric vehicles.
Some companies are already making plans to adopt Tesla's technology, but a lack of a national standard could cause more headaches, industry officials said.
"We are now probably locked in to having two separate charging standards co-existing for the foreseeable future," Consumer Reports analysts said.
Shares of F and TSLA are down 0.40% and 0.18%, respectively, in premarket trading on Tuesday.