Tesla (TSLA.US) is opening up its "Fast Charging" to Ford and General Motors owners, expecting to generate up to $12 billion in revenue by 2030.

Starting from Thursday, owners of Ford's electric vehicles Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning can finally use Tesla's electric vehicle supercharging stations for charging. Ford CEO Jim Farley stated that this partnership involves using fast charging adapters and should "improve the ownership experience for Ford electric vehicle owners." He also noted, "I have tested it myself, and the results are very good." William Navarro Jameson, the head of Tesla's strategic charging program, stated that in order to achieve this goal with Ford, a lot of "interoperability testing" is required, as well as creating all necessary hardware and software integration, and resolving legal issues. He said, "In the past 18 months, too many pieces of this puzzle have been put together." General Motors (GM) has also reached a similar agreement with Tesla. In June last year, GM announced that it would join Tesla's electric vehicle supercharging network, allowing its customers to use over 12,000 Tesla supercharging stations in the US and Canada. GM CEO Mary Barra stated at the time that the company expects to save up to $400 million in its plans to build electric vehicle charging stations. For a long time, the lack of density in the charging station network in North America has been seen as one of the bottlenecks hindering the growth of electric vehicles. This is because North America has two charging protocol standards, CCS and Tesla's proprietary NACS standard. In terms of usage by manufacturers, the CCS standard is more common as it is the charging standard for all car manufacturers except Tesla. However, the problem is that all CCS standard charging stations combined are not as numerous as Tesla's NACS standard charging stations. Currently, Ford and GM electric vehicle owners will need an adapter that can connect to the NACS standard port in order to use Tesla supercharging stations. However, starting from 2025, electric vehicles produced by Ford and GM will directly use the Tesla NACS standard and will no longer require an adapter. With Tesla striking partnerships with Ford and GM, this marks a strategic shift for Tesla CEO Musk. Musk has long been touting the exclusivity of Tesla's charging network and the company's ability to establish reliable charging stations that don't require long waits. Collaborating with other companies is expected to benefit Tesla greatly. Vice President of AutoForecast Solutions Sam Fiorani stated that these efforts will ultimately bring huge economic benefits to Tesla, including environmental credits and charging fees. Fiorani added that while making charging easier may lead to some customers defecting to other brands, there are other reasons why customers flock to Tesla. He said, "People who buy Teslas generally don't cross-shop at Kia, Ford, or Mercedes-Benz dealerships because they just want a Tesla." "Competition will continue to intensify, and Tesla will inevitably lose some sales to competitors, but loyalty to the Tesla brand means that the vast majority of owners will return to Tesla with little or no comparison." Under the US "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act," allowing other automakers to use Tesla's charging network also provides Tesla with some federal funding. Fiorani stated, "Tesla is not afraid to leverage government regulations to increase revenue. For most of its existence, the company has been trying to find all possible sources of income."