Tesla’s electric charging network has always been popular with electric car enthusiasts. However, Elon Musk’s “superchargers” are now gaining recognition from an unlikely group: other car companies. General Motors, Ford, and Rivian have all announced partnerships with Musk in recent weeks, allowing consumers with autos from rival brands to use Tesla’s national network.
Appearing with Musk on Twitter Spaces, General Motors’ CEO Mary Barra said she was “really excited” to double the volume of chargers available to GM vehicle owners. She hoped that the Tesla system, known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS), could become a unified standard for the continent, enabling greater mass adoption. The ascendance of Tesla’s network reflects the system’s reputation for reliability, as well as the sluggish expansion of rival EV charging options amid supply chain problems and a ponderous rollout of a giant federal program.
Many EV experts say it is premature to declare NACS the winner. Industry consultant Loren McDonald thinks the market’s short-run evolution could be akin to the smartphone split between Apple and Android, with two leading standards. Other automakers with ambitious US electric vehicle programs, such as Volkswagen and Hyundai, continue to favor the rival standard known as the combined charging system (CCS).
John Eichberger, executive director of the Transportation Energy Institute, believes that ultimately we’ll have one standard, but how long that takes remains to be seen. Moreover, a Musk-dominated charging system could raise antitrust concerns, and it is not yet clear how far the Tesla CEO will go in sharing a technology that had until recently been proprietary.
Tesla’s shift comes amid concerns that there won’t be enough chargers. A January 2023 forecast by S&P Global concluded that the US charging system is “not nearly robust enough to support a maturing electric vehicle market,” noting that the number of EV chargers in the country would need to quadruple between 2022 and 2025.
Industry experts have cited several reasons for the sluggish pace of the rollout, including supply chain shortages of key materials, challenges in negotiating affordable electricity contracts with utilities, and delays with the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program because of uncertainty about federal guidelines or difficulties in states with no experience in permitting EV chargers.
Despite this, much industry focus has been on the need to build fast chargers to address range anxiety: the fear of drivers being stranded without access to charging capacity. However, McDonald believes this concern is overrated, viewing the real priority as adding chargers at homes, apartment buildings, and condos.
Implications of the Tesla Charging Network
The embrace by Detroit auto giants is seen as Musk’s latest coup, fueling a roughly 40-percent surge in Tesla shares since the May 25 Ford announcement. Until recently, many in the industry assumed that the combined charging system (CCS) would become the national standard, in part because it is explicitly required as the connector to be used in a new federal program.
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, established in the 2021 infrastructure bill signed into law by President Joe Biden, provides $5 billion in funds for states to build EV charging networks. In February, the White House unveiled an agreement with Musk in which Tesla agreed to make at least 7,500 chargers nationwide open to non-Tesla EVs by the end of 2024, allowing Tesla to potentially qualify for NEVI funds.
There has been no indication that the White House will shift its policy, but states are reconsidering their implementation in light of recent industry developments. Texas plans to require each charge port to have a CCS connector and a NACS connector.
EV experts note that other automakers with ambitious US electric vehicle programs, such as Volkswagen and Hyundai, continue to favor the rival combined charging system (CCS). Ultimately, industry experts believe that there will be one standard, although it is unclear how long this will take.
Overall, Tesla’s electric charging network has received significant support from rival automakers, with the reputation of the NACS system for reliability being the primary reason for this. However, it remains to be seen whether NACS or the combined charging system (CCS) will ultimately become the national standard.
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