Ford telling some customers to stop using Tesla-made NACS adapters

When Ford announced that it would make its cars and trucks compatible with the Tesla Supercharging network, there was a question of how the actual connection would be facilitated. As part of the deal, Tesla would actually be providing the adapters to Ford to give away – or eventually sell – to customers.

The rollout of these adapters has been pretty slow, especially in addition to Rivian also pulling from the pile of available adapters to send to customers. Recently, though, it appeared things have been improving.

That is, until some customers opened their email and found this message waiting for them. Ford customers are being asked to not use their NACS adapters until Ford can send them a replacement unit. The current adapters, at least in some cases, could reduce charging speed and even damage the charging port. That seems like a suboptimal situation to us.

The email advises customers to make sure they have up-to-date mailing addresses in the FordPass app so they can be promptly mailed a new one, but in the meantime they’re being told to use other charging stations to avoid use of the adapter.

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There are some third parties who are making NACS-to-CCS adapters for sale, and it’s been rumored that some OEMs might source theirs from multiple sources to avoid the production hang-ups that have plagued the “official” adapter from Tesla. One would hope that in this case, Ford would also do the same.

The full email message text is attached.

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.

Please check FordPass^® or the in‑vehicle Public Charging app for other charging options within the BlueOval Charge Network^™ while we expedite your replacement adapter.

Ford will supply a replacement adapter in the coming weeks and provide return instructions to send back your existing adapter – both at no cost. It is imperative that we receive all adapters affected to reduce the risk of potential vehicle damage.

For further information, please call Ford’s customer contact center at 1 (800) 392‑3673. For instructions on how to update your account information in FordPass, click here.