BMW EVs Will Use Tesla’s Charging Port Starting in 2025
The German automaker’s Mini and Rolls-Royce brands will also adopt the standard.
The migration towards the NACS charging port used by Tesla's Supercharger network continues. Today, BMW said it plans to adopt the American electric vehicle company's plug and thereby gain access to its robust charging infrastructure in early 2025. The relevant question now is not which companies have switched to NACS, but which have not. Seemingly every major automaker has followed Ford's lead to make the switch.
Vehicles under BMW's Mini and Rolls-Royce brands will get NACS plugs as well. The company says that owners of its EVs whose cars are equipped with the CCS plug (all of them) will also be able to use the Supercharger network. In a press release, the brand didn't go as far as to say it will offer adapters to these owners, but that's the only way it's going to happen. Whether they'll be given or simply encouraged to purchase a CCS-to-NACS adapter, it's too early to tell.
Tesla Supercharger stations will begin to show up on charging station maps in BMWs soon, and both companies are working together to integrate the charging apps of each BMW brand with Tesla's network. BMW claims that by doing this, owners will be able to pay for charging without downloading anything new.
How this statement exists in the context of BMW's massive new charging station venture with several other automakers remains to be seen. (For the record, Stellantis is the only member of that alliance yet to officially endorse NACS.) The Bavarian company claims the announcement is independent of the charging station effort, but what plug ends up on those stations is obviously relevant. At this point, the dust has yet to settle on that front.
A slew of automakers have announced they're switching to NACS, but it's unclear how many newly built chargers will have the plug, and which, if any, may be retrofitted. Electrify America has announced it will build NACS-equipped stations in the near future, but other charging networks haven't been as clear.
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