Automakers That Tesla Must Persuade to Embrace its Electric Vehicle Charging Plug

When it comes to the NACS plug, foreign manufacturers who sell their vehicles in the U.S. have been hesitant to embrace this technology. Instead, they have favored the Combined Charging System (CCS) plug, which is widely used in other parts of the world. However, if Tesla wants to establish dominance in the EV charging industry, it would be wise to persuade top non-domestic EV sellers in the American market, such as Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai and Kia), BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, to adopt its NACS plug. Currently, these four manufacturers hold the highest market share for non-U.S. EV sales as of January 2023.

Interestingly, convincing these brands may not be too difficult for Tesla. This is because Tesla already has around 12,000 Supercharging stations across the United States and Canada, which accounts for a significant 60% of all fast-charging stations available to U.S. drivers. What’s more, Tesla has made its NACS plug technology “open source” since last year, allowing other car manufacturers to adopt the design without any cost.

In the foreseeable future, it seems that both CCS and NACS charging plugs will coexist. In response to this, there are already adapters available that can convert CCS chargers to NACS receptacles. However, the availability and quality of adapters for the opposite conversion (NACS to CCS) are relatively limited, often with restrictions on charging speed and amperage. Fortunately, major OEMs like Ford and Rivian are introducing NACS to CCS adapters as temporary solutions until their vehicles fully embrace the NACS plug. This should lead to a wider range of high-quality adapters becoming available soon.