– This is it. The adapter that will charge non-Teslas at Tesla Superchargers. It solves one of the EV industry's biggest problems. Kinda. Getting this thing off is a pain. I dropped the dongle, there's plastic coming off. So basically no one likes me here. Yes, I can now charge
my Ford Mustang Mach-E at over 15,000 Tesla Supercharger stalls in the US and Canada. And EVs from GM, Hyundai and more, will soon have the same access to Tesla stations. But is it really the dream? Does it work? Is it fast? Am I gonna have to pay more? To get the answers, Charger number one. Number two I attempted to charge my 2023 Mach-E at 10 different Tesla
Supercharger locations in my fine home state. It's beautiful morning in New Jersey. (funky music) All right everyone, let's do this.
I gotta blend in somehow. Test number one, the setup. All right, this is it. Ah, it's kinda heavy. The 1.6 pound adapter allows Tesla's North American
Charging Standard plug or NACS, to fit into a non-Tesla CCS port And dongle on and moment of truth. That blue is blinking. Looks like we're charging! It's just that easy.
Plug in and charge. To set that up, I had to do two things. First, install a software
update to my car. "During the update, you may not be able to lock, unlock, or enter the vehicle." (horror music) Second, set up my payment info in the FordPass app. As soon as I plug in the charger, it knows it's my account. These adapters are free until the end of June, 2024. You just have to register
on Ford's website. After that, they'll cost $230. Test two, the spots. Now, obviously Supercharger
sites were designed for Teslas, which have their Charging ports on the rear driver's side. Tesla drivers always back into the spots and use the plug on the right. The Tesla charging cord is fairly short and doesn't stretch, and the Mach-E's port is on the front driver's side. So that means I have to pull in like so.
This causes a problem. See, this charger belongs to this Tesla in this spot. This one belongs to this spot, but I had to park here to use it. That means that middle spot can't be used at all. Same deal here. If I park here, I need
to use this charger. So this charger is useless. I'm effectively hogging two chargers. It was a problem when
this white Tesla next to me couldn't charge.
And, there's a line. Somebody else is waiting
to charge right now. Ford's next generation of EVs will have that NACS port. So I asked Ford's CEO, Jim Farley if the company would consider moving the port location. – [Jim] We are committing to the standard, not just an adapter. We really like the Supercharger solution and Tesla solution technically. And that would obviously
provoke the question of, "Where do we physically put the port?" – [Joanna] The good news is that Tesla's V4 charging stations already have longer cables. There's another issue I encountered. Not every Supercharger is compatible with non-Teslas. Lemme check the car and it says," Charging station fault See manual". Good times. Only V3 and newer Superchargers that have been updated with the right software will work.
The most straightforward way to navigate to these supported chargers while in the car would be using Ford's Charge Assist dashboard app. Except the app is slow and buggy. We are at this location right now, but it says we are 15 miles away. When I asked Farley about
Ford's lagging software, he said – [Jim] There are certain things like charging, where we have to do really well ourselves. We have to do better. – [Joanna] Until then, your best bet is to use Tesla's smartphone app to find Ford supported Superchargers and then punch in the address to Google or Apple Maps in the car. Test three, the speed. When I charged my Mach-E, which has an extended
range battery option, from 20% to 80% at an EVgo, it took 43 and a half minutes. It cost $39 and 27 cents. At a Tesla Supercharger, it took 36 minutes and
cost $25 and 20 cents.
Well, it's not an apples
to apples comparison in terms of charge time. Charging a Tesla Model Y long range from 20% to 80%, took 32 minutes and cost $19 and 20 cents. Yes, rates are higher to charge a non-Tesla at a Supercharger. If you wanna get the same
price as Tesla owners, you need to pay Tesla $13 a month for a Supercharger subscription. So what did we learn from all of this charging today? We learned that this dongle is a pretty good deal. Even with the parking issues and the inability to charge
at all Superchargers- fingers crossed. Nope. The speed, the breadth and ease of use of Tesla's network is a game changer. We're charging. And one of my biggest worries that Tesla owners would be pissed about my arrival, wasn't a thing. At least not this early. – Nothing should make us to feel like, "No, you are Tesla, you this and that-" Same thing as a person. "You are an American, I am not.
"Or you are Muslim, "you're Christian, you are black, you're white." No, nothing should be matter. – [Joanna] So yes, one not so small dongle, one big leap for EV Charging. Now it's accurate. (playful music).