Tesla’s NACS Creating Domino Effect Among EV and Charger Makers
In a bid to accelerate the global transition to electric vehicles, Tesla last fall agreed to open its EV connector design to the world, inviting other manufacturers to incorporate it into their own vehicles.
The domino effect is now well underway. Ford was the first to announce it would integrate the new “North American Charging Standard (NACS) to its EVs starting in 2025. Then General Motors followed suit, and Stellantis is reportedly considering the move, as well.
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Charger makers also are increasingly supporting the NACS. One of them is FLO, the Quebec-based company that operates more than 90,000 DC fast charging and AC level 2 charging stations across North America.
“FLO welcomes initiatives to standardize charging hardware in North America because we believe it will help eliminate confusion for EV drivers,” said FLO Chief Product Officer Nathan Yang. “Ultimately, the increased adoption of the NACS standard relates both to its widespread use by EV drivers and the reliability of stations that currently offer NACS.”
Being a vertically integrated company means FLO has great flexibility to adopt the standards that customers prefer, he added.
FLO’s new stations, including the NEVI-compliant FLO Ultra fast charger, are already designed to support NACS cables if requested by customers or site hosts.
Canada Strikes Deal With Tesla
Meanwhile, the Canadian government is working the other way around, having recently reached a deal with Tesla to open a portion of its existing Supercharger network in the country to non-Tesla models.
More specifically, an open Supercharging route will be piloted for EV drivers between Sudbury and Ottawa later this year.
“Then, by the end of 2025, 750 charging connectors in public locations will be made available to non-Tesla EV drivers, through a combination of retrofits and new construction, of which at least 350 will be 250kW Superchargers,” Natural Resources Canada detailed. “The open chargers will be distributed across Canada, and the route will include the Trans-Canada Highway from Ottawa to Calgary.”
The pilot in Canada will add to those already underway in the U.S. (initially in New York and California), as well as Europe (15 markets), China and Australia and China.
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