By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -General Motors will join Ford in adopting Tesla’s North American charging plug standard and give GM electric vehicle buyers access to the Tesla SuperCharger network under an agreement announced on Thursday by GM CEO Mary Barra and Tesla chief Elon Musk.
GM’s move, which follows a similar decision by Ford to embrace Tesla’s charging plug standard, means three of the top EV sellers in the North American market have now agreed on a standard for charging hardware.
Tesla, GM and Ford could drive other automakers and EV charging companies to adopt the same standard, and end confusion over public charging access that industry executives see as a barrier to wider consumer adoption of electric vehicles.
GM said it will equip EVs with connectors based on the Tesla North American Charging Standard design starting in 2025. Next year, current owners of GM EVs will be able to use 12,000 Tesla fast chargers in North America, and adapters will be made available.
Musk and Barra appeared together in a Twitter Spaces broadcast Thursday afternoon. GM shares rose in late trading Thursday after Barra announced her plan to appear with Musk.
Musk said on Twitter, “Thank goodness! North America will have a way better connector for charging cars than rest of world.” GM shares rose 2% in after-hours trading.
Ford CEO Jim Farley held a similar discussion with Musk on Twitter last month announcing the No. 2 U.S. automaker had reached agreement with Tesla to allow its electric vehicle owners to gain access to more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers in North America in early 2024.
Farley told CNBC last month that GM and other automakers are going to “have a big choice to make” in selecting between Tesla’s EV chargers and the Combined Charging System (CCS).
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Joseph White in DetroitEditing by Matthew Lewis)
