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If recent news is anything to go by, the EV-charging revolution will be led by Tesla.
General Motors and Tesla announced this month that GM will integrate Tesla’s proprietary North American Charging Standard (NACS) into its EVs starting in 2025, while owners of existing GM EVs will be able to buy an adapter to connect to Tesla’s chargers next year. “Beginning in 2025, the first GM EVs will be built with a NACS inlet for direct access to Tesla Superchargers without an adapter,” according to a press release from GM.
Ford, which accounted for nearly 8% of the EV market in 2022, struck a similar deal with Tesla in May, making Tesla’s chargers the de facto standard for electric vehicles in the United States. Tesla’s Supercharger network is North America’s largest EV-charging network and will grant Ford and GM customers access to more than 12,000 Superchargers in the US and Canada.
This could be the beginning of the end for the Combined Charging System (CCS) standard that GM, Ford, and other EV players have been using. However, the Biden administration said last week that charging stations with Tesla plugs would only be eligible for federal subsidies if they provide connections for CCS chargers.
“This collaboration is a key part of our strategy and an important next step in quickly expanding access to fast chargers for our customers,” GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. “Not only will it help make the transition to electric vehicles more seamless for our customers, but it could help move the industry toward a single North American charging standard.”
The news puts Tesla, which had over 50% market share for EV sales in the United States last year, according to Counterpoint Research, in pole position going forward. Tesla’s EV sales in 2022 were higher than those of 17 automotive groups combined, according to Counterpoint.
For others in the charging space, like ChargePoint, EVgo, and Blink Charging, the news raised questions about their long-term viability. Reuters noted that the stock prices of the three smaller competitors initially dropped between 11% and 13% after the news was announced.