As it turns out Tesla ended up picking the perfect name for its Supercharging technology: The North American Charging Standard (NACS).
General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra has announced with Tesla CEO Elon in a Twitter Spaces webcast that starting next year GM EVs will be able to use Tesla Superchargers and starting in 2025 new GM EVs will come standard with a NACS charging port.
The collaboration will expand access to charging for GM EV drivers at 12,000 Tesla Superchargers, and growing, throughout North America.
“Our vision of the all-electric future means producing millions of world-class EVs across categories and price points, while creating an ecosystem that will accelerate mass EV adoption,” said Barra. “This collaboration is a key part of our strategy and an important next step in quickly expanding access to fast chargers for our customers. Not only will it help make the transition to electric vehicles more seamless for our customers, but it could help move the industry toward a single North American charging standard.”
The Tesla Supercharger Network will be open to GM EV drivers starting in 2024 and will initially require the use of an adapter. Beginning in 2025, the first GM EVs will be built with a NACS inlet for direct access to Tesla Superchargers without an adapter.
In the future, GM will make adapters available for drivers of NACS-enabled vehicles to allow charging on CCS-capable fast charge stations.
GM will also integrate the Tesla Supercharger Network into its vehicle and mobile apps, helping drivers locate, pay for, and initiate charging at Superchargers.
Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla’s Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure, added, “Our mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. Giving every EV owner access to ubiquitous and reliable charging is a cornerstone of that mission. We’re excited to work with other industry leaders like General Motors to provide access to the Tesla Supercharger Network via the North American Charging Standard.”
GM continues to work with others in the industry to accelerate the installation of home, work and public charging as part of its Ultium Charge 360 initiative. This includes collaborations with Pilot Company and EVgo that will add more than 5,000 DC fast chargers to the nearly 13,000 existing DC fast chargers in North America, as well as the deployment of community chargers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
GM didn’t say in its news release whether those will be NACS or CCS chargers, although since those announcements were previously made, it’s assumed those will still be CCS stations.
Last month Ford President and CEO Jim Farley made a similar announcement with Musk. With today’s announcement the big three American-based EV manufacturers have committed to Tesla’s North American Charging Standard.