General Motors to follow Ford’s path and adapt to Tesla’s NACS Supercharger network, unlocking access to over 12,000 Supercharger stations nationwide.
After a rather surprising announcement regarding Ford EVs gaining full access to Tesla’s Supercharger network, it seems GM will follow suit soon. Indeed, Mary Barra, GM’s CEO, wishes the automotive giant to have an all-electric future by releasing products in various categories and at a wide range of prices. She, of course, also acknowledges the importance of charging point compatibility, an essential factor in creating a suitable ecosystem to accelerate mass EV production; thus, the decision to switch to the NACS (North America Charging Standard) port over other alternatives.
This collaboration is one of the most important points of GM’s strategy to quickly expand access to fast chargers globally to its customers, significantly simplifying the transition to EVs and bringing the industry to a single charging standard. Currently, GM has its own EV charging network called the Ultium Charge 360 program providing 134,000 charging points nationwide, and updating them to be compatible with Tesla‘s network will only help move the industry toward NACS.
Still, like Ford, GM won’t fit its EVs with NACS ports until 2025. But those who own current and 2024 MY will still have access to Tesla’s Superchargers through an adaptor. As of now, there are currently five port types used globally — J1772 type 1, Mennekes Type 2 Connector, CCS1, CHAdeMo, and Tesla’s Supercharger — with CCS1 being the most popular model and currently used by GM. Safe to say, unifying manufacturers to a single port would sure be much more convenient and definitely required to support the world’s transition towards EVs.
Arguably, Tesla’s Supercharger network is arguably the best charging network available, especially considering that several third-party/non-Tesla chargers often have reliability issues. But while the conversion to NACS is a wise move, it’s quite a bummer for senior automakers who now have to rely on a younger EV manufacturer to provide a proper charging solution — we’re hoping for a bit of competition in this realm, to be honest. Although, there’s no denying the convenience brought by this move will be a win for consumers in the long run.
