FORD SHARES JUMP MORE THAN 7% ON TESLA SUPERCHARGERS DEAL

Ford Motor Co. shares jumped by more than 7 per cent on Friday after the No. 2 U.S. automaker announced a deal allowing its owners to gain access to rival Tesla Inc. charging stations in North America.

Ford chief executive Jim Farley told CNBC on Friday that Tesla’s Superchargers could become the standard for EV charging in the United States but added: “With adapters and software we really don’t have to make a choice right now what the standard is, but I think it’s going [to] play out in the free market.”

Ford shares were up 7.2 per cent at US$12.20 on Friday afternoon, while Tesla shares were up 5.4 per cent at US$194.68.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg praised the FordTesla deal on Friday but told CNBC that the Biden administration would not dictate an EV charging standard. “We’re not going to put winners and losers in terms of what standard prevails,” Mr. Buttigieg said. “Tesla has built an extraordinary network … For them to be part of this effort I think is terrific news.”

Access to charging stations is considered one of the main hurdles so far to broader acceptance of electric vehicles, analysts have said.

Mr. Farley added General Motors Co. and other automakers are going to “have a big choice to make” in selecting between Tesla’s EV chargers and the Combined Charging System (CCS).

CCS is a competing charging plug standard for DC fast charging.