GM announces its electric vehicles will join Tesla's charging network

Move follows similar agreement last month between Tesla and Ford

A Tesla charger in Kettleman City, California. Reuters

General Motors will adopt Tesla's charging plug standard for its electric vehicles in North America, the company announced on Thursday, giving drivers access to the Tesla Supercharger network.

“I'm really excited to announce our collaboration with you and with Tesla – and, by the way, your team is fantastic – that we plan to adopt the North American charging standard,” GM chief executive Mary Barra said during a Twitter Spaces event with Tesla's Elon Musk.

GM said it would equip EVs with connectors based on the Tesla North American Charging Standard design starting in 2025.

Next year, current owners of GM EVs will be able to use thousands of Tesla fast chargers in North America, and adapters will be made available.

“What's even more exciting is that our existing EV customers can leverage the 12,000 Tesla fast chargers early next spring with an adapter," Ms Barra said.

"So I couldn't be more excited about what this is going to do for customers and for EV adoption."

GM's move, which follows a similar decision by Ford last month, means three of the top EV sellers in the North American market have now agreed on a standard for charging hardware.

Tesla, GM and Ford could encourage other car makers and EV charging companies to adopt the same standard, and end confusion over public charging access that industry executives see as a barrier to wider consumer adoption of electric vehicles.

“Thank goodness. North America will have a way better connector for charging cars than rest of world,” Mr Musk said on Twitter.

In after-hours trading, when the Twitter Spaces event was held, GM shares rose more than 3 per cent and Tesla's about 4 per cent.

Ford chief executive Jim Farley held a similar discussion with Mr Musk on Twitter announcing the No 2 US car maker had reached agreement with Tesla to allow its EV owners to have access to Tesla's Supercharger network in North America in early 2024.

Mr Farley told CNBC last month that GM and other car makers are going to “have a big choice to make” in selecting between Tesla's chargers and the Combined Charging System.

Reuters contributed reporting