Automakers Scramble to Adopt NACS
On June 8th, automaker General Motors became the second major company to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard connector - exactly two weeks after Ford made history by being the first legacy automaker to do so.
Tesla’s partnership with GM is almost exactly the same as the one Ford negotiated: GM will get access to Tesla’s North American network of over 12,000 supercharger locations immediately - using adapters to allow the currently CCS-equipped vehicles to charge. By 2025 though, GM plans to have all new vehicles made to use Tesla’s NACS by default.
And - just like with Ford - Tesla will be providing GM with their app API, allowing GM’s vehicle and mobile app users to search for nearby Tesla superchargers along with other charging locations.
Tesla’s charging technology is more powerful and less clunky than the current standard - the Combined Charging System, or CCS. That older system was an attempt to standardise the charging methods of electric vehicles across the world.
But whereas the CCS was developed while electric vehicles were still only an afterthought by most of the big automakers, Tesla developed their NACS tech to ensure electric vehicles were as easy to use as a gas-powered car. Anything less would defeat the purpose - which was to make electric vehicles more accessible, and end our dependence on fossil fuels.
Inevitably, this has ended up with Tesla holding the patent for the best charging tech in the world - and a cohesive network of supercharging stations to support their customers. Luckily, Tesla is interested in sharing.
The benefits to Tesla are obvious - if their standard gets picked up by the large car companies, it will force the government to officially swap the clunky old CCS of the NACS - making Tesla a boatload of money in the process.
All the other companies would have to go through Tesla to use their design - and even if Tesla doesn’t get paid for sharing the design, it’s still their product that’s being used as the standard. And just opening up their network stands to make the company over $5 billion according to some early estimates.
It cannot be overstated how important this is. In our video discussing Ford’s adoption of the NACS at the end of May, we said that this was just the beginning of a wild scramble to adopt the clearly superior charging tech - and that Ford had opened the floodgates. What we couldn’t predict is just how quickly other companies like GM would get to the negotiating table.
Because it’s not just automakers that are rushing to Tesla’s doors.
EV hardware and software maker EverCharge announced on June 10th that they would be adopting the NACS across their entire network. In a similar move, both XCHARGE and Blink Charging have moved to adopt the Tesla standard across their networks. XCHARGE for instance has more than 40,000 stations across 25 countries; while Blink operates charging services across the US. And those are just some of the big names - many smaller charging companies are reaching out to sign up for Tesla’s NACS.
And it’s these companies that - while not having as much political weight as GM or Ford - really show that it’s only a matter of time until the NACS is adopted worldwide. Having other charging networks pick up your tech is like having companies like Shell adopt your particular brand of gas - meaning Tesla just multiplied the reach of their vehicles, and got paid for it.
But with this avalanche of success, inevitably comes some stumbling blocks.
The first is that not all competitors are lining up to adapt to the superior tech. Companies like Electrify America pose a bit of a problem, as they often have deals with automakers which secure customers who use the CCS standard - as well as some less-used options like the CHAdeMO and J1772 adapter types.
Electrify America for instance, has deals with their parent company Volkswagen, Audi, Harley Davidson, Hyundai, and Lucid Motors - which allows customers from those companies to use their chargers at discounted rates - or for free.
Adding to that, Electrify America diversified early and placed their charge terminals in places like mall parking lots, and secured deals with companies like Walmart and Target to place their stations at those locations as well.
Tesla and its supercharger network is direct competition, and Electrify America may not run as many charge stations - but they have the benefit of being in bed with a lot of powerful companies - and they could choose to fight Tesla on this takeover of the charging scene.
The other major roadblock is the notoriously slow speed of government adoption of new technology. In response to the overwhelming support of the NACS over the past two weeks, the White House responded with a statement that basically said the government will not be changing their rules on requiring CCS compatibility to qualify for the new infrastructure tied to the Inflation Reduction Act.
And that’s disappointing for sure, but the administration does have a good point: There are a lot of CCS equipped vehicles in circulation. It would kind of defeat the purpose of creating a new, nation-wide infrastructure for electric vehicles that excludes over a third of the current users.
Besides, Tesla already has the Magic Dock adapters that let CCS vehicles use their charging stations, so this isn’t really a blocker for NACS adoption by the industry - just a setback for changing the standard. At least for the next half-decade or so.
Regardless, this is a gigantic win for Tesla, who have managed to all-but-kill the old charging standard in the space of about two weeks - while putting them squarely on the throne. Long live the king.