Ford Asks EV Owners to Stop Using Its Free Supercharger Adapter

Ford recently sent out free charging adapters to help EV customers transition to Tesla’s NACS “Supercharger” standard. The automaker now says that some of these adapters are faulty and must be replaced.

The NACS adapter flaw was disclosed to affected EV owners earlier this week. Drivers who receive a notice should stop using their free NACS adapter immediately. Replacement adapters will be shipped the week of October 28th at no cost. This is an automatic process, so Ford asks that affected customers update their home address in the FordPass app before October 28th.

“As a part of ongoing testing, your adapter has been identified by Ford to have a potential issue that may result in reduced charging speeds over time, and in some cases, charge port damage. As such, Ford does not recommend using the adapter initially supplied to you with any vehicle from this time on, and we will be sending you a replacement.”

Faulty NACS adapters could damage an EV’s charging port and result in reduced charging speeds, according to Ford. However, this flaw only affects a small portion of CCS-to-NACS adapters sent to EV owners. Ford has not issued a formal recall for the faulty adapters, and customers who do not receive a notice from the company may continue using their free adapter.

Note that these adapters are manufactured by Tesla, not Ford. Similar Tesla-made adapters were also sent to GM and Rivian drivers, though the “faulty adapter” problem appears to only impact Ford customers.

Automakers recently agreed to make Tesla’s NACS the industry-standard EV charging system in the United States. Free charging adapters ensure that older non-NACS EVs can access Tesla’s Supercharger network (and other chargers that do not accommodate CCS charging). Other networks, such as ChargePoint, will continue offering CCS charging alongside NACS.

Source: Ford via InsideEVs