Tesla Gets $3 Billion Boost Thanks to Partnerships With GM and Ford

Electric car giant Tesla has received a $3 billion boost thanks to deals inked with two of the biggest U.S. automakers, General Motors and Ford.

General Motors and Ford have agreed to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) for their electric vehicles, making it the primary network in the country, per a Friday (June 9) report from Reuters. This move is a significant win for Tesla, as its charging network is more widespread and considered more reliable than the alternative combined charging system (CCS).

Tesla’s agreement with GM, announced on Thursday (June 8), follows its tie-up with Ford, announced on May 25, which added more than $200 billion to Tesla’s market value. According to Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman, “Pressure is now mounting on other carmakers to join the party and the U.S. government who have pledged billions to build out networks … we could see Tesla’s tech become the industry standard,” the Economic Times reported.

GM CEO Mary Barra said, per Reuters, that there is a “real opportunity here to really drive (the NACS) to be the unified standard for North America, which I think will enable even more mass adoption.”

In the same report, Danni Hewson of AJ Bell said, “Tesla’s been one step ahead in this game and with other operators trying to play catch up they were already at a disadvantage.”

While Tesla’s stock jumped nearly 7% on Friday, shares of charging companies such as ChargePoint Holdings, EVgo, and Blink Charging fell between 7% and 10% in heavy trading. Wedbush Securities estimated that Ford and GM combined could add $3 billion to services EV charging revenue for Tesla over the next few years.

Companies in a variety of industries have been gearing up to meet the needs of the growing number of electric vehicle drivers.

For example, Walmart announced in April that it is expanding its electric vehicle charging capabilities by building its own EV fast-charging network at thousands of Walmart and Sam’s Club locations across the U.S. — adding to the almost 1,300 stations it already offers at 280 locations.

A month earlier, in March, 7-Eleven said it plans to build one of the largest electric vehicle fast-charging networks offered by a retailer, adding stations across its 7-Eleven, Speedway and Stripes stores.

In the realm of commercial fleets, FLEETCOR acquired cloud-based electric vehicle charging software platform Mina in February to give it a solution for commercial fleets in the United Kingdom that captures, calculates and pays for at-home charging of business-use vehicles.