Tesla has had a string of EV charging victories in recent weeks, with Ford, GM, Volvo, North Starand Rivian are all announcing plans to use the company’s charging connectors for their vehicles. But there are still some notable holdouts – though that could change dramatically in the coming days.
Volkswagen, one of the world’s largest automakers, with brands such as Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche and Lamborghini under its umbrella, said in a statement that it is in talks with Tesla about installing ports in its EVs that are compatible with the Tesla plugs. The statement followed news that Electrify America, the operator of the company’s EV charging station, would soon begin adding Tesla charging plugs, known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS).
“We welcome access to additional charging infrastructure for our North American customers”
“We welcome access to additional charging infrastructure for our North American customers and are always striving to improve the charging experience through open standards and seamless interoperability,” said Michael Steiner, a member of VW’s expanded board of directors responsible for development at VW. the Volkswagen Group, in a statement.
Adding VW to the growing NACS coalition would certainly be a feather in the hat for Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The automaker is currently the No. 4 seller of electric cars in North America, behind Tesla, Ford and GM, and is the largest auto company in Europe. If VW took over NACS, other European brands such as BMW and Mercedes would likely follow.
But while Tesla’s outlook in Europe is improving, the outlook in Asia is still evolving. Toyota, which rivals VW in terms of annual sales, has yet to comment on the industry’s shift to Tesla’s charging standard. Company spokespeople did not respond to multiple requests for comment The edge.
Musk, for his part, believes that Toyota should take the plunge. In a recent tweet responding to a story about the poor charging performance of the Toyota bz4X, Tesla’s CEO said the Japanese automaker should “join the NACS coalition!”
Nissan has also yet to confirm whether it is considering using NACS for its future EVs. The Nissan Leaf is one of the few EVs still using the first-generation CHAdeMO chargers, before the rest of the industry moved to the Combined Charging System (CCS). The Nissan Ariya, the company’s next-generation electric car, uses CCS.
Meanwhile Hyundai told Reuters recently that it is currently evaluating whether to use Tesla’s charging plug. Tesla Superchargers are not yet fast enough for Hyundai and Kia’s 800-volt electric vehicle charging systems, which the companies say is a bottleneck.
The last remaining major automaker would be Stellantis, which owns brands such as Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, Fiat, Peugeot, Maserati and Ram. Company told Reuters it’s also considering adding Tesla’s NACS outlets to its future vehicles, though a deal has yet to be announced.
Sure, Musk certainly seems to hold all the cards at this point. Increasingly, the question is not if the rest of the industry will join the NACS coalition, but when.
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