Ford is giving owners of its electric vehicles more time to order a free fast-charging adapter that allows them to replenish their cars’ batteries at Tesla Supercharger stations across North America. Initially, the deadline to get the Tesla-made NACS to CCS adapter was set for June 30, but that date came and went with a lot of Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning owners not getting anything in the mail as promised.
Get Fully Charged
Just one approved adapter
While there are a number of third-party charging adapters that would allow non-Tesla EV owners to fast charge at Supercharger stations, none of them are approved by Tesla. The only one that got the nod of approval is the one made by Tesla for Ford, General Motors, Rivian and all the other automakers that are offering one for free or for a small fee.
As originally spotted in June PCMag and then more recently by Forbes, the official cutoff date to order a complimentary adapter for Ford EV owners has been extended to August 31. After that day, people who want the Tesla-made DC adapter will need to pay $230 to get one from Ford. And as Ford Authority has noted, the adapter has faced "supply constraint" issues since at least April, so all of this will hopefully give customers waiting to charge at Supercharger stations a bit more grace.
General Motors and Rivian are also offering adapters to owners of their EVs to make it possible for them to recharge at Tesla Supercharger stations across the United States and Canada, either free or at a reduced cost.
Ford was the first major automaker in the United States to strike a deal with Elon Musk’s Tesla that enabled access to the over 15,000 Supercharger stalls in North America for non-Tesla EVs. The move significantly expanded charger availability for owners of cars like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit and was quickly followed by similar deals made by General Motors, Rivian and just about every other automaker that sells EVs in the U.S.
Currently, however, no other manufacturer offers the North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug on its vehicles from the factory except Tesla, which is why non-Tesla EV owners need an adapter to charge at Superchargers. The unit offered by Ford, GM and Rivian is actually made by Tesla and it’s the only adapter approved for use. However, the rollout has been slower than expected.
In January, Ford said that reservations would be “starting soon” before deliveries started to a small number of EV owners. The June 30 cutoff date was made official soon after, with further confirmation from Ford in May that the date was on track. Evidently, that may not have been the case; hopefully, Blue Oval EV owners will get theirs sooner than later.
Are you waiting on your Ford NACS adapter, or do you have knowledge of why these delays are happening? Feel free to reach out and chat with us at team@insideevs.com.
