Volvo, Polestar Become First Foreign Automakers to Adopt Tesla’s NACS Connector
After Ford, General Motors and Rivian, Volvo today announced an agreement with Tesla, giving current and future electric Volvo car drivers access to more than 12,000 Superchargers across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
This is a first for a non-American automaker—be it from Europe or elsewhere.
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Sometime in the first half of 2024, drivers of Volvo EVs will be able to use the Supercharger network with an adapter and find charging locations through the Volvo Cars app. This includes the XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge, as well as the upcoming EX90 and EX30.
Starting from 2025, future Volvo EVs in North America will be equipped with Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging port, eliminating the need for said adapter. Drivers who wish to continue charging in the Combined Charging System (CCS) of chargers will be able to do so with an adapter provided by Volvo.
“As part of our journey to becoming fully electric by 2030, we want to make life with an electric car as easy as possible,” said Volvo CEO Jim Rowan. “One major inhibitor to more people making the shift to electric driving—a key step in making transportation more sustainable—is access to easy and convenient charging infrastructure. Today, with this agreement, we’re taking a major step to remove this threshold for Volvo drivers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.”
Which automaker will be next? Stellantis is thinking about it but has yet to make a decision. UPDATE--06/29/2023: Polestar today announced a similar deal with Tesla for existing and future customers of the Polestar 2 and Polestar 3.