Electric vehicle charging solution provider ABB E-mobility announced Friday plans to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector to its charging products “as an option.”
Leading American automaker Tesla responded to ABB’s Twitter announcement, officially welcoming the company to the expanding NACS family.
Notably, the announcement came after news emerged about Ford’s decision to partner with the Tesla Supercharging network and later equip its EVs with the NACS. More recently, General Motors also announced the same plans.
How would it work?
As mentioned, ABB North America will introduce Tesla’s NACS as an option to its portfolio, ultimately strengthening its leading position in the industry.
Still, the company noted that it will still offer other standards such as CCS, MCS, and CHAdeMO.
Interestingly, a Twitter user
@TPaintjob replied to the company’s official Tweet, asking if the NACS will “be a retrofit to current stalls or will you only add to new installations, or do you have a plan to do both in phases?”
ABB North America answered that they will “incorporate the NACS connector into our products once the testing, design, and validation steps are complete.”
NACS adoption
For context, the Tesla charging connector combines AC charging and up to 1 MW DC charging in a compact package. Tesla noted that NACS is half the size, twice as powerful, and has no moving parts compared to Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors.
Tesla’s NACS uptake has been expanding recently. Last month, America’s second leading automaker, Ford, announced that it would soon adopt the NACS for its next-gen EVs.
Another American automaker GM followed it more recently, saying it would join the NACS family.
In the meantime, Ford and GM can access the Tesla Supercharging network via the company’s own Magic Dock.
See Also:
- Ford EVs to have access to Tesla Superchargers in 2024
- GM secures access to Tesla’s vast Supercharger network
- Tesla Supercharger persists in being the most reliable infrastructure against competitors
- Tesla launches Non-Tesla Supercharger Pilot program in Australia
- Select Tesla Superchargers to provide recharging to non-Tesla EVs in Australia
EV fans have also applauded ABB’s announcement on social media. Some even speculate that the EV charging service would probably be the first of many companies to use Tesla’s North American Charging Standard.