The Blubber

Tesla, $TSLA, stands to earn billions of dollars a year by opening U.S. charging stations to drivers of Ford, $F, and other EVs.

ord CEO Jim Farley mentioned in a LinkedIn post that the charging partnership, which involves the use of fast-charging adapters, should "enhance the EV ownership experience" for Ford EV drivers, noting that "I’ve tested it myself and it works great."

Tesla has established a similar agreement with General Motors, announced in June, giving GM customers access to more than 12,000 Tesla fast chargers in the U.S. and Canada. GM CEO Mary Barra stated at the time that her company anticipated saving up to $400 million of a planned investment in expanding EV charging stations.

These partnerships represent a strategic shift for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has long emphasized the exclusivity of Tesla’s charging network and the company’s ability to build reliable charging locations to avoid long lines. Becoming the charging standard has required Tesla to heavily invest in technical and business development.

However, Tesla stands to benefit significantly from these collaborations.

Sam Fiorani, vice president for global forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, believes these efforts will eventually yield substantial financial benefits for Tesla, including from environmental credits and fees for charging sessions.

Currently, Tesla operates about one-third of the charging stations in the U.S. Even if adoption of battery electric vehicles slows domestically and the electric vehicle fleet is smaller than what was anticipated six months ago by the government and many automakers, "Tesla could still see $6 billion to $12 billion a year" by 2030 from its expanded charging business, Fiorani said in an email.

While Tesla may lose some customers to other brands by simplifying charging, AutoForecast Solutions said there are other reasons car buyers prefer Tesla.

"People shopping for a Tesla aren’t typically considering Kia, Ford, or Mercedes-Benz dealerships because they specifically want a Tesla," Fiorani wrote. "Competition will continue to increase, and Tesla will inevitably lose some sales to competitors, but brand loyalty means the vast majority of owners will return to Tesla with little or no comparison shopping."

Allowing other automakers to access its charging network also opens up federal funding for Tesla under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

"Tesla is not hesitant to utilize government regulations for income and has been exploring all potential revenue streams for much of its existence," Fiorani wrote.

Tesla reports charging revenue within its "Total automotive & services and other segment revenue." The company has not indicated whether it may report revenue from non-Tesla vehicle use of its charging network separately.

William Navarro Jameson, Tesla’s Strategic Charging Programs lead, mentioned in a LinkedIn post on Thursday that reaching this point with Ford has required extensive "interoperability testing" along with creating all the necessary hardware and software integrations and addressing legal matters.

"On social media, Tesla promoted the opening of its charging network in North America and circulated a link to encourage more retailers to host Superchargers at their facilities."