General Motors has announced that starting in 2025 it will build the Tesla charge port, called North American Charging Standard (NACS), into its future EVs.
And so, with three out of the three biggest U.S.-based automakers now on board (Stellantis is based in the Netherlands), it seems that a North American charging standard has been acknowledged.
The news, which follows Ford's adoption of the Tesla charging standard announced several weeks ago, will allow GM EV drivers to tap into a vastly larger range of road-trip fast-charging options than they can today. The Tesla Supercharger network consists of 12,000 chargers today, according to GM.
GM and BrightDrop - Ultium Charge 360
GM plans to incorporate the Tesla Supercharger network into its Ultium Charge 360 Network of chargers—meaning that they will also be featured in respective vehicle and mobile apps, allowing a vastly larger set of fast-charging options for drivers of its EVs.
That very closely matches details in Ford’s adoption plan—down to the detail that existing models will gain access to Tesla’s Supercharger network starting in early 2024 with an adapter.
GM was more decisive, however, in how it plans to drop the CCS port. When Green Car Reports asked if those future vehicles might still include the two different connectors—either NACS plus the J1772 typically used for Level 2 charging, or NACS plus the Combo/CCS1 fast-charging configuration—spokesperson Sanaz Marbley replied that GM has no plans to build vehicles with both connectors.
Tesla Supercharger connector - now called NACS
Also as Ford, GM suggested that with those future vehicles it’s completely dropping the CCS port. “In the future, GM will make adapters available for drivers of NACS-enabled vehicles to allow charging on CCS-capable fast-charge stations,” it said in a release on the news.
“This collaboration is a key part of our strategy and an important next step in quickly expanding access to fast chargers for our customers," GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra said in the company's release confirming the change. "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.”
GM didn’t clearly lay out exactly when the transition will happen, although Ford said it will start in 2025 with its Gen 2 EVs—led by the T3 electric pickup and a three-row electric SUV.
Tesla charging on EVgo network
GM’s collaborations with EVgo and Pilot and Flying J travel centers add more than 5,000 North American fast-chargers, and it’s as of yet unclear whether those stations will all be built to the CCS standard or if some of them will pivot to NACS.
GM would not confirm to Green Car Reports whether future projects will all be NACS-based. But it did hint that those projects already underway might steer toward NACS. "For charging projects, we will continue to collaborate with EVgo and Pilot Flying J and our other projects will continue as planned," said Marbley. "There is precedent in the market for charging networks moving to NACS, like EVgo, and we will work with our partners to make the shift seamless for our drivers."
