DEARBOND: Ford CEO Jim Farley said Ford Motor shares jumped by more than 7 percent after the No. 2 United States automaker announced the deal allowing its electric-vehicle owners to access rival Tesla Inc’s charging stations in North America.
According to Reuters, Tesla’s Superchargers could become the standard for Eelectic Vehicle charging in the United States, but added: “With adapters and software, we do not have to make a choice right now what the standard is, but I think it’s going to play out in the free market.”
Ford shares were up 7.6 per cent at 12.25 dollars in afternoon trade, while Tesla shares rose 7.5 per cent to 197.95 dollars.
United States Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg praised the Ford-Tesla deal but told CNBC that the President Biden administration wouldn’t dictate an Eelectic Vehicle charging standard. “Tesla built an extraordinary network … For them to be part of this effort, I think, is terrific news.”
Analysts said access to charging stations is considered one of the main hurdles to broader acceptance of electric vehicles.
Farley added that General Motors and other automakers would “have a huge choice to make” between Tesla’s Electric Vehicle chargers and the Combined Charging System (CCS).
CCS is the competing charging-plug standard for DC fast charging.
GM said open charging networks and standards are the best way forward to enable Electic Vehicle adoption across the industry, and it has worked with other automakers to develop an open connector standard in the CCS, a “truly international solution” available now for fast charging.
RBC Capital Markets analysts said, “We believe the move would ultimately increase BEV (Battery Electric Vehicles) penetration in North America, and in the rising-tide-lifts-all-boats rationale, raise Tesla sales.”
Since 2012, Tesla has developed and deployed its high-speed vehicle charger, Supercharger, which can add up to 322 miles of range in just 15 minutes.
