After Ford, General Motors, Rivian or Volvo and Polestar, it’s Mercedes’ turn to join the NACS coalition. Indeed, the German manufacturer has just confirmed the adoption of the Tesla connector on its future electric cars.
week after week, the “NACS coalition” as Elon Musk likes to say, never stops growing. As you may know, the boss of Tesla has embarked on a major seduction operation for a few months. The idea? Convince as many manufacturers as possible to adopt the NACS chargerTesla’s proprietary charging technology (open to all brands and charging network operators since November 2022).
Already widely used in the United States, Elon Musk aims to make NACS the number 1 charging standard in the land of Uncle Sam, to the detriment of Combo CSS. Ford was the first brand to sign a partnership with Tesla. This association inspired General Motors, which quickly concluded an agreement with the Austin firm. Other manufacturers have followed suit, such as Volvo, Rivian and Polestar.
As we mentioned in our columns on July 6, Volkswagen is currently in talks with Tesla to adopt NACS in turn. A considerable victory for Elon Musk, who would therefore count in his “coalition” the 4th largest seller of electric cars in the United States (and the number 1 in Europe).
Mercedes in turn adopts Tesla’s NACS connector
However, we have just learned that Mercedes intends to integrate the NACS standard in turn in its range of electric cars sold in the United States from 2025. In fact, Mercedes-Benz owners will have access to 12,000 Supercharger stations installed on American territory from 2024.
Note that Mercedes grid in passing the priority to Volkswagen. De facto, the brand becomes the first German manufacturer to integrate NACS ports on its future electric cars from 2025. In order to introduce a gradual transition, the manufacturer intends to initially offer current owners of EVs in CCS a NACS adapter to connect to Tesla’s charging network from 2024.
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“Our strategic priority is clear: to build the most desirable cars in the world […] That’s why we’re committed to building our global Mercedes-Benz high-power charging network, with the first sites opening this year. At the same time, we are implementing the NACS system in our vehicles, which gives drivers access to an extensive network of high-quality charging offers in North America”. writes Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz.
In addition, Mercedes took the opportunity to announce the opening of its own fast charging network. It will include no fewer than 2,000 stations (10,000 terminals) spread across North America, Europe, China and other markets. This network will be open to all electric vehicles, all brands and all charging formats.