Ford EV owners soon can charge on Tesla's network

Owners of Ford electric vehicles now can use much of Tesla’s charging network in the U.S. and Canada, but there’s a hitch.

They’ll need to get an adapter that Ford will provide for free, although the company won’t start shipping those until the end of March.

Last May, Ford became the first automaker to reach an agreement with the Austin, Texas-based Tesla to charge on its network, which is the largest and most well-placed in the U.S.

Tesla has more than 26,000 plugs and nearly 2,400 Supercharger stations across the U.S. and Canada. Ford said its owners will have access to about 15,000. Tesla fast-charging plugs are located strategically along travel corridors. Ford owners won’t be able to use some older Tesla plugs.

Most other automakers followed Ford in joining Tesla’s network and agreeing to switch to Tesla’s plug, called the North American Charging Standard, which is smaller and easier to use than the current plugs on most other EVS sold in the two countries.

Ford said adding the Tesla plugs will double the size of the network that can be used by Ford EV owners. There are nearly 166,000 Ford EVS in the U.S.

Ken Williams, director of charging and energy services, said a top concern of its EV owners is charging, even though they charge 80% of the time at home.

“We wanted to make sure we are meeting that need,” he said.

Ford is offering the adapters for free to the owners, who can sign up on the Ford. com website to reserve them from Thursday to June 30. The company will provide one free adapter per vehicle.

Redwood's Electronic Arts cutting about 5% of workforce

Electronic Arts is cutting about 5% of its workforce, or about 670 employees, as layoffs in the technology and gaming sector continue after a surge of hiring in recent years.

The video game maker said in a regulatory filing that its board approved a restructuring plan that includes the layoffs, as well as closing some offices or facilities.

The Redwood City company had 13,400 workers globally as of March, 31, 2023, according to a filing.

“While not every team will be impacted, this is the hardest part of these changes, and we have deeply considered every option to try and limit impacts to our teams,” said CEO Andrew Wilson. “Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths to transition onto other projects.”

Outback parent closes 41 of its `underperforming' restaurants

Fans of Outback Steakhouse may be surprised to see their local restaurant permanently closed after the chain’s parent company abruptly shut down dozens of locations around the U.S.

Bloomin’ Brands revealed in an earnings call last week that it closed 41 “underperforming locations” across the brands it owns, including Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming’s.

The closures hit Outback Steakhouses the hardest, the company said in the call.

Bloomin’ said it closed the locations because of a “variety of factors,” including sales, shrinking customer traffic and financial investments that were too costly to improve the locations. Plus a “majority of these restaurants were older assets with leases from the ’90s and early 2000s,” according to Bloomin’ CEO David Deno.

The company didn’t release a closed restaurants. list of

Oprah Winfrey exiting board of Weightwatchers, donating stake

Oprah Winfrey is leaving Weightwatchers board of directors and donating all of her interest in the company to a museum.

Winfrey, who told People magazine in December that she was using a weightloss medicine, has served on the company’s board since 2015. She will not stand for reelection at Weightwatchers’ annual meeting in May.

WW International said in a regulatory filing that Winfrey’s decision “was not the result of any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices.”

The size of its board will go from 10 to nine members following its annual meeting, the New York company added.

Winfrey said that she will donate her interest in Weightwatchers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.