Let’s get right into the news from this week!
Tesla
You’ve probably heard by now but, Ford and GM announced that its new models, starting in 2025, would use Tesla’s NACS (North American charging standard) and thereby have access to Tesla’s 12,000-strong supercharger network. It’s a testament to Tesla’s dominance in electric vehicles. Ford and GM see Tesla as having such a lead that it’s not even worthwhile to create another, duplicate charging network. Tesla’s is already big enough.
The other charging companies like Blink and ChargePoint came out and agreed to adopt NACS as well. These announcements won’t contribute that much to Tesla’s revenue but it is a sure sign that these companies view Tesla as the standard. One thing I’m worried about is that after 2025, these charging stations won’t be plentiful enough to satisfy Ford, GM, and Tesla owners. On the other hand, all three of these companies, along with pretty much every charging company, is now building these superchargers and hopefully the pace of adding chargers will be faster than the purchases of electric vehicles. When you dig down a little bit, one industry that will likely benefit disproportionately is the utilities. While their margins are capped, the extra revenue from EVs will likely give them a little boost over the upcoming decades.