Electric vehicles made by General Motors will be able to use much of Tesla’s extensive charging network beginning early next year.
, the largest in the nation. Farley also said Ford would switch to Tesla’s connector rather than go with the connector used by the rest of the industry. Tesla has about 17,000 Supercharger stations in the U.S. There are about 54,000 public charging stations in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy, but many charge much more slowly than the Tesla stations.
“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.” But opening access to EVs from GM and Ford, which rank a distant second and third in U.S. EV sales, will make it easier for those owners to charge while traveling. It also could rankle some Tesla owners who already are jockeying for space at some of the busier Supercharger stations, largely in California.
Mike Austin, an electric vehicles analyst for Guidehouse Insights, said GM joining the Tesla network is a huge step toward making Tesla’s connector the industrywide standard.