Electrify America plans to add North American Charging Standard, or NACS, connectors to its EV fast charging network stations within the next several years, according to a recent announcement.
Existing chargers at both Electrify America and Electrify Canada network locations will be retrofitted with the NACS connector, while new chargers will be built with NACS compatibility. All chargers will continue to offer Combined Charging System or CCS-1 connectors as well.
NACS connector (black) compared to CCS-1 connector (gray)
Electrify America expects to have NACS connectors available at all existing and new charger locations by 2025. President and CEO Robert Barrosa said that the company is “focused on building an inclusive and open hyper-fast charging network to facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles,” and the availability of common connector types will “increase vehicle interoperability and streamline public charging.”
The date of Electrify America’s NACS connector rollout matches up with GM’s plans to adopt the NACS charging standard for all of its EVs by 2025. Increasing charging compatibility with third-party networks could help The General achieve its EV goals. These include the rollout of new 30 EV models worldwide by 2025 and full electrification of its light-duty vehicles by 2035.
GM’s first NACS compatible vehicles will feature the necessary inlet when they come off the assembly line for the 2025 model year. They will also be furnished with adapters so they can continue to access CCS-capable fast charge stations. In the interim, GM EVs will ship with NACS adapters.
The NACS system is a Tesla invention, and GM vehicles will gain access to the Tesla Supercharger network starting in 2024. This will open 12,000 additional fast chargers to owners of GM EVs. These electric vehicle drivers can already make use of 134,000 chargers through the Ultium Charge 360 initiative.
Potentially making the NACS connector an even more practical choice, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) says it will develop even more standardized version of the connector. The SAE is undertaking the project on an accelerated timeline to help speed up the adoption of EVs. Its engineers will focus on making the NACS connector more durable, reliable, and able to offer better performance.
Alongside Electrify America several other charging networks – including EVgo and FLO – are adding NACS capability to their chargers. FLO Chief Product Officer Nathan Yang remarked that his company “welcomes initiatives to standardize charging hardware in North America because we believe it will help eliminate confusion for EV drivers.”
GM’s use of the Tesla Supercharger network alone will save it approximately $400 million in infrastructure investment. Widespread adoption of NACS by other networks could potentially reduce its infrastructure costs further.
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Comments
It looks like NACS has won out as the de facto standard in North America. I wonder if that will affect the resale value of existing CCS vehicles 7-8 years later if the NACS standard is wholly adopted. Adapters will work, but it is an extra layer.
I worry it will slow the growth rate of sales of non-Tesla EVs for a couple years as people wait for the ones made with the new connector.
That was my first thought too. If you get a 2024 with CCS some peoples mind will be OH I DONT WANT that when you try to resell it even if an adapter fixes the issue so GM better provide the adapter for opposite use of whatever the car rolls off the line with! This might have been a case where the gov decides after some tech heavy electrical industry experts agree what the WHOLE country solution should be. These companies intentionally put out crap in the disguise to say we are different come buy our product and not for the good of the all public it affects. And the plug type is one of those things IMHO they should have gotten right from day one by engaging ALL the major car companies that sell in the USA.
I work for the company that supplies GM’s charging inlet currently. It is our design and when we won the contract 2 years ago, we had to completely wipe out a production facility of older products to build this component. Now without any warning from GM going to this charging system we will lose this contract. It’s sad a company the size of GM can divert this quickly. We’ll soon be in court litigation for this.
And there ya go. I dont know which of the engeers got it wrong….the sellers or the users! But they needed to make their mind up from day 1! But considering that GM cant get the battery and car lines up AND produce a significant amount. Oh wait 100 units is up and running. Reminds me of the cell phone unlimited data plans where many dont read the fine print and unlimited most of the time is 2G today (3G before) after the 4G/5G runs out UNLESS one buys a pricey true unlimited data plan. The point being companies can say things but generally its not what the public expects it to mean when they engage. Waiting patiently for the Equinox and Blazers to roll off the line in significant numbers, but the wait is slowly whaning as other options more and more become available….to bad GM. I think ya wasted a lot of your runway.
Not sure what any of this means. I suppose it doesn’t matter to ICE owners. Gas is under $3 in my free red state so I’m good.
Yes, with sub-$3 gas in much of the country it’s difficult to justify the higher cost and inconvenience of an EV for most people.
Sub $3 gas must be nice, Regular unleaded is holding steady at $3.70 in my state. $4.20 for premium unleaded.
Wonder what this retrofit is going to mean for those EV drivers with a CHAdeMO connector (NIssan Leaf)…guess they will be really be living the adapter life. Nissan Leafs already have horrible resale value, now they will be even worse.
If I had one of the Equinox or Blazer EVs in my garage, miles for miles and gallon for gallon I would STILL pay less than the $3 bucks but really $3.60 in my state. I.E 26cents per kWh x 11 =$2.96 but since I dont pay for juice I DONT pay anything. And yes my investment is paid off and all free til the units drop dead…yes solar which was never a plan but a by chance run in and it works for me. I have not paid an electric bill since 2012…shortly after I bought a volt trying to figure out how to utilize all the excess electric production. The point it does pay off and had I thought about it when I built my home I would have planned integration better but as I said was a chance item both roof wise and auto wise. Eventually when at least half the car fleets are EVs uh the refineries will become owned by the rest who burn fuels most likely and so it will be interesting to see if the prices then rise to keep em all going. Time will tell.
Yes and soon you will own the refineries but until then your gas will keep going down and you can thank those buying EVs cause there is more supply for you. Think Positive! LOL.
So both NACS and CCS adapters will be given by GM depending on what the car rolls off the line with? If the car has CCS built in they will provide NACS adapter? If the car has NACS they will provide CCS adapter? I SURE HOPE SO! Many of us did not invest in CCS home charging for our health! In fact GM ought to allow us to order the car with the one we want!
So that pretty much means VW is only an announcement away for the NACS adoption
CCS home charging imanjunk? I kinda doubt it. Unless you have 480 3 phase coming into your house at 400 amps and a $400000 DC charging station……
@Bill Vogan….I meant L2 charging J standard that will need an adapter was my point. I corrected. Thanks.