In a pay-walled article in Friday’s E&E news (eenews.net/energywire/stories/1061307785), a new charging network made up of existing or forthcoming chargers would be partially funded by Ford Motor Company for the benefit of Ford EV owners. The network would allow Ford customers to charge at over 12,000 locations, nearly three times the size of the Tesla network. The network will be free for the first two years to purchasers of Ford EVs. The network will include fast chargers that deliver about 47 miles of range in 10 minutes for the forthcoming Ford electric SUV.
In addition to incorporating the networks of Greenlots (Shell) and Electrify America (VW), the plan brings in Amazon.com to facilitate installation of residential chargers at the homes of Ford EV owners. The structure of the plan (handing out charger passes to Ford owners) may conflict with California’s recent rule to require charging networks to accept credit cards. Ford acknowledges that it may eventually need to open the network to drivers of other car manufacturers. This implies some level of proprietary use that does not presently exist for chargers provided by Electrify America, for example. Presumably this will be sorted out prior to the release of pure electric Fords in 2020. Environmental groups generally lauded Ford’s plan for easing the transition to electric fueling. Other manufacturers, such as GM, are also lining up or creating charging networks.
Compiled and summarized by Gordon Rodda
