New Delhi: The Volkswagen Group has announced that the company will adopt Elon Musk-run Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS).
The German automobile giant said late Tuesday that future vehicles in its portfolio of brands, including Audi, Porsche and the group’s Scout Motors — will get the NACS charge port built-in starting in 2025 in the US, reports Morningstar.
According to Volkswagen, the agreement with Tesla would provide customers with access to more than 15,000 Tesla rapid-charging stations in North America, known as the Supercharger network.
It also mentioned more than 3,800 fast-charging outlets are already available to customers through Electrify America and Electrify Canada, a joint venture of Volkswagen and Siemens.
Moreover, the report noted that the companies are exploring adaptors for existing owners as well.
In May 2023, Ford announced that its EV owners would soon have access to approximately 12,000 Tesla chargers, initially via an adapter.
Beginning in 2025, Ford’s next generation of EVs will be integrated with Tesla’s charging port known as the North American Charging Standard.
Since then, major automakers, including GM, Rivian, Honda, Mercedes, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, and, most recently, Subaru have announced plans to use Tesla’s charging standard. Lucid, a lesser premium EV manufacturer, stated in November that it would use the Tesla’s charging standard.
In February, the US administration revealed new initiatives to install 5,00,000 electric vehicle chargers on US roads by 2030 under its $7.5 billion plan, and as part of it, Tesla has committed to opening up 7,500 of its charging stations to non-Tesla vehicles by the end of 2024.
–IANS