Electric vehicles made by GM will have access to Tesla’s vast charging network of supercharging stations.
General Motors-produced electric vehicles will use Tesla’s charging network from the beginning of next year. Additionally, GM will use Tesla’s developed connector for charging its electric vehicles. The announcement came after GM CEO Mary Berra and Tesla’s Elon Musk had a conversation in a Twitter space last Thursday.
Last month Ford’s CEO Jim Farley joined Elon Musk in a Twitter space and announced later that Ford Motors will join the nation’s largest EV charging network of Tesla and will use Tesla’s connector as a charging plug-in for its EVs. Both Detroit automakers Ford and GM are making efforts to make Tesla’s connector the industry standard.
The owners of GM and Ford motors EVs need an adapter at first, to hook into the Tesla stations, which have their own connector. GM and Ford Motors both will switch completely to Tesla’s North American Charging Standard connector starting with new EVs produced in 2025. Tesla has around 17 thousand Supercharging stations across the US. According to data from the US Dept. Of Energy, there are 54 thousand public charging stations in the US but most of them charge an EV much slower as compared to Tesla’s supercharging stations.
Tesla’s Inc. shares rose to 6% and hit a new high this year after GM’s announcement. General Motors Co. jumped 3%, and Ford Motor Co. jumped 2%. Financial details of the agreement between the two companies haven’t been shared yet but according to GM spokesperson Darryll Harrison GM isn’t paying Tesla. He also said “Tesla will get better utilization of their network and all the new charging revenue, which will help them expand the network further,” Harrison said. “There are other opportunities both companies can take advantage of as a result of the agreement.”
Details of how customers would gain access are still being worked out. GM EV owners may have to pay a monthly charge to access Tesla’s charging network, or they could pay for each use. Current GM owners probably will need to buy the adapter, Harrison said.
GM CEO Mary Barra said “At the end of the day, we’re looking at what’s best for our customers. We aren’t the only company that comes up with good ideas.”
Tesla is the leading EV seller in the US while GM and Ford Motors are respectively the second and the third.
