Wall Street cheered Thursday when General Motors (GM.N) joined rival Ford in adopting Tesla’s North American charging plug standard and giving GM electric-vehicle buyers access to the Tesla Supercharger network under an agreement announced on Thursday. The EV-charging agreement could have profound implications for the fast-growing market for electric vehicles in the United States and worldwide.
GM, which sells a range of auto brands, including Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac, has long been at the forefront of marketing its electric vehicle models. It sold more than 100,000 EVs in the first quarter of this year, ahead of Ford, which recorded about half as many sales. But the broader industry is dwarfed by Tesla, which sells more than 170,000 EVs a quarter.
The EV-charging partnership puts GM in the driver’s seat for how most EV owners will access charging stations in the United States. The move also challenges the Biden administration’s direction, which has required companies seeking billions in federal funds for new EV charging stations to use its rival CCS connectors rather than Tesla’s NACS chargers.
Tesla, which makes its own EV charging station equipment and cars, already has a significant lead in the US with its Supercharger network of some 17,000 fast-charging ports. In addition, its NACS plug is also smaller and lighter than the CCS connector other EV makers have adopted. That makes it easier to fit into charging port sockets on a wide range of different car models.
Under the GM-Tesla agreement, GM will equip its EVs with Tesla’s NACS connector starting in 2025. EVs will still be able to use the Supercharger network but will need an adapter. GM will make those adapters available free of charge.
The alliance between the two largest EV sellers in the United States and their allies will pressure independent EV charging networks and other automakers to adopt the CCS connector to convert or provide adapters for their stations to serve a more extensive range of vehicles. It will also significantly boost Tesla’s efforts to make its NACS connector the standard for EV charging in North America, rather than the Combined Charging System (CCS) connector that has become the dominant one elsewhere in the world.
GM and Ford will also work together to ensure a consistent experience for EV drivers traveling across the country, where long stretches of highway are underdeveloped regarding fast-charging infrastructure. GM’s CEO Mary Barra and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk announced at a Twitter Spaces event.
Despite the tumult over the agreement, GM’s shares rose more than 4% after the bell, and Tesla’s gained almost 6%. TSLA is set to report earnings before the markets open Friday. GM’s market value is about $80 billion, while TSLA is worth nearly $100 billion. Both stocks are up more than 40% this year.
