Electrify America Will Add Tesla’s Charging Plug
That’s curtains for CCS, folks—sort of.
Electrify America, the largest EV charging network outside of Tesla's Supercharger system, has announced it will adopt the NACS charging standard established by Tesla. It hammers another nail into the coffin of rival charging plugs that—while not gone—are rapidly losing support from the automotive industry.
The network announced Thursday that it will integrate NACS connectors into its current and future stations by 2025, broadly coinciding with the industry shift to the new standard. Unlike many carmakers however, Electrify America (and its Canadian subsidiary, Electrify Canada) will continue to offer CCS plugs to support EVs using the current charging standard. Even so, this puts CCS in a position of diminished support, similar to where CHAdeMO was in 2021 though not as severe.
Electrify America has more than 850 stations with around 4,000 charging stalls capable of up to 350-kW DC fast charging. Its chargers can be found in 46 U.S. states and Washington D.C., meaning its NACS addition will slightly improve charging options for Tesla owners already using the dominant charging standard. Tesla claims to have more than 45,000 NACS chargers installed, making Electrify America's addition small, yet still significant.
The industry shift toward NACS primarily benefits customers of legacy automakers, who gain access to the previously walled garden of Tesla's charging network. In the last five weeks, several major automakers have confirmed they will switch to Tesla's NACS plug in North America, starting with Ford in late May. General Motors, Rivian, Volvo, and Polestar have since followed suit, while Hyundai-Kia has acknowledged it is considering switching too.
Meanwhile, another large independent charging network, ChargePoint, states it has already begun its NACS transition, and that it will have operational NACS chargers by the end of 2023. It's clear Tesla's connector is finally solidifying its place as the industry standard in North America, and more automakers are expected to confirm their transitions in the near future.
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