Ford (F) has officially rolled out charging adapters for electric vehicles, allowing users to connect their cars to Tesla (TSLA) Superchargers in the US and Canada. Current Ford EV customers can reserve a free charger through June 30th. After that it costs $230.
Yahoo Finance reporter Pras Subramanian joins the live show to discuss his experience with the adapter and what this means for Ford owners going forward.
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Editor’s note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino
video transcript
Josh Lipton: Starting today, Ford EV owners will be able to access Tesla’s Supercharger network using an adapter. Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian looked into this firsthand and joined us to find out more. plus.
Pras Subramanian: Yes, this was shocking news when it was announced a year ago when Elon Musk discussed the deal with Jim Farley on Twitter Space. And today is the first day you can actually use the adapter. So I went to a Tesla Supercharger location in New Jersey. And they provided an F-150 Lightning here for me to test the process.
There are some videos showing the actual adapter itself and how it was actually made and designed and manufactured by Tesla for use in this vehicle. Basically what happens is that you connect it to a Tesla charger and then you can connect it to an F-150 or a Ford EV. Charging will begin immediately. There is no app. No, you have to prepare yourself. This must be entered. I need to find a charger. No, it works as seamlessly with Ford as it does with Tesla.
This is really great. Once you set up your account with FordPass, everything else is fine. It seemed relatively easy to use. This adapter is quite heavy. And, look, this is an advantage for Ford, which is the first automaker to use this, to have access to this network. I think this is a competitive advantage that many people would actually want to consider when they don’t want to buy a Tesla. But they want to use that charging network.
– Going back to yesterday’s discussion with Akiko Fujita, how long does it take to charge a Ford, and is it different from the time it takes to charge a Tesla at the same station?
Pras Subramanian: It basically depends on the car’s ability to accept high voltage charging, but it’s the same. And lightning makes it possible. It will be as fast as any other car based on system voltage. That should be fine.
– got it. Good to know. Plus thank you, I appreciate it. I love the footage of Plath doing it.