GM and Tesla partner on EV charging network, following Ford

Detroit – general motors A crosstown competitor would follow Ford Motor Partners with Tesla to use North America’s leading charging network and technology for electric vehicles.

Under the deal, GM vehicles will have access to 12,000 of its vehicles Tesla Fast-charge devices with the Detroit automaker’s EV charging adapter and app, starting next year.

GM, like Ford, will also begin installing a charging port used by Tesla known as NACS, or North American Charging Standard, instead of the current industry standard CCS, in its electric cars starting in 2025.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau Thursday that as a result of the deal, the automaker expects to save up to $400 million from a previously announced $750 million investment to build EV charging.

Partnerships with two major Detroit automakers are a big win for Tesla and its charging technology. It is expected to add pressure on other automakers – as well as the US government Investing billions In building an electric vehicle charging network – to adopt Tesla technology.

Wall Street analysts hailed the Tesla-Ford deal as a “win-win” when it was announced last month. Shares of GM and Tesla both rose about 3% during after-hours trading on Thursday.

Deal It was announced by Barra and Tesla CEO Elon Musk during a live audio discussion on Twitter Spaces. This comes as General Motors ramps up production of its fully electric cars in pursuit of Tesla-level sales volumes in this segment.

It also represents a stark reversal in GM’s strategy. Weeks ago, when Ford announced its own partnership with Tesla, GM was working with engineering organization SAE International to develop and improve an open conductor standard for CCS.

“I think we have a real opportunity here to push this to be the unifying standard for North America, which I think will even enable mass adoption, so I couldn’t be more excited,” Barra said during the discussion, which lasted less than 10 minutes.

Adding to the partnership’s curiosity between competitors: Twitter Spaces was Barra’s first tweet since Oct. 27, because she stopped using the social media platform when Musk became its owner. GM also stopped advertising on the platform at that time.

A General Motors spokesperson said Thursday that its brands and some executives continue to use Twitter but that the company has not resumed any advertising on the social media platform. It’s “possible” that the company will eventually bring back the ad, Barra told CNBC after discussing Twitter, as it is looking for a new lead marketer and “reimagining” its marketing.

The GM-Tesla deal, like the Ford deal, is likely to be beneficial for both companies. It is expected to more than double access to fast chargers for GM and Ford customers and increase usage of the Tesla network.

Tesla says it has approximately 45,000 Supercharger Connectors worldwide at 4,947 Supercharger stations. It does not separate the company from the number of companies located in the United States. The US Department of Energy reports that the country has only about 5,300 CCS fast chargers.

Tesla previously discussed opening up its own network to other electric vehicles. White House officials announced in February that Tesla committed to opening 7,500 of its charging stations to non-Tesla EV drivers by the end of 2024.

Musk said Thursday that Tesla owners will not prioritize the company’s chargers, calling it a “level playing field” for electric vehicle owners.

“The most important thing is that we’ve seen the electric car revolution,” Musk said.

General charging of electric vehicles is a major concern for potential buyers, and no automaker other than Tesla has succeeded in building its own network. Instead, these automakers advertised partnerships with third-party companies that often proved unreliable and frustrating for owners.

Most motorists in the United States log miles from home to nearby locations. But EV buyers who want to take longer road trips, or who don’t have access to a garage with a charger, often worry about accessing reliable public charging.

CNBC channel Laura Kolodny And John Rosevear Contribute to this report.