Ford Hands Tesla a Big Win in VHS Versus Betamax

May 29, 2023

If the charging networks carmakers have relied upon don't step up their game, Tesla's connectors may well win out.

A Ford Mustang Mach-E sport utility vehicle plugged in during last year's New York International Auto Show.

Keith Naughton

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Hours before Tesla Inc. and Ford Motor Co. announced their surprise charging partnership, Ford's chief executive officer offered his take as to why the US has been so slow to adopt electric vehicles.

The problem isn't the cars, but the plugs that power them, Jim Farley said during a Morgan Stanley summit last week. Survey after survey show that America's patchwork of often shoddy chargers is the biggest obstacle to consumer acceptance of EVs.