Ford CEO started NACS movement by first approaching Tesla

Ford CEO, Jim Farley revealed that he reached out to Tesla CEO, Elon Musk to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS) for Ford vehicles to access thousands of Superchargers across North America.

In May last year, Ford announced an agreement with Tesla to adopt NACS for existing and upcoming vehicles. The current-gen Ford electric vehicles come with a Combined Charging System (CCS).

In a recent interview with State of the Charge on YouTube, Farley said that he talked to Musk about adopting the NACS system.

The contract was finalized within two weeks of the initial discussion. Ford and Tesla worked together on the adaptation process. That includes software and hardware testing and synchronization at a Supercharger.

Ford said it planned to switch to native NACS port in vehicles released in 2025. In the meantime, the company has opened NACS support for F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E. Both of these EV owners also get a free charging adapter.

This free CCS to NACS adapter is available to claim until June 30, 2024, and after that, it can be purchased for $230 including estimated tax and shipping.

Farley added that both sides have collaborated on testing the charging adapter for these vehicles.

Charge port location:

The host also asked the Ford CEO about the current issues with charging cable length and whether the company wants to switch the charging port location in upcoming Ford vehicles.

Farley indicated that Ford would not limit its Tesla NACS adaptation to the “standard only” and would adjust the charging port location.

“The really big change happens when we switch standards and that will of course include a relook at our location,” said Farley.

The host also asked about the next Ford vehicle release with the first NACS inlet but Farley remained mum to hype the launch until next year.

NACS Movement:

Following Ford, all of the major car makers have adopted the Tesla NACS adapter for their new release starting in 2025. You can check the full list of NACS partners here.