Even Mercedes bends to Tesla and adopts the Supercharger
Mercedes-Benz is the first German automaker to announce the adoption of Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS). In 2024, Mercedes EV drivers will be able to use Tesla's Supercharger network across North America. Then, in 2025, all new Mercedes electric vehicles will be equipped with NACS ports, i.e. the standard of Elon Musk's chargers.
In addition to Tesla's more than 12,000 Superchargers in North America, Mercedes will also establish its own high-power charging network with more than 400 Charging Hubs, including more than 2,500 high-power chargers, to ensure that there are enough chargers, given that a number growing number of electric vehicles is coming to the roads.
“Our strategic priority is clear: to build the most desirable cars in the world. To accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, we are committed to elevating the entire EV experience for our customers, including fast, convenient and reliable charging solutions wherever their Mercedes-Benz takes them. That's why we're busy building our global Mercedes-Benz high-power charging network, with the first sites opening this year. In parallel, we are also implementing NACS in our vehicles, enabling drivers to access a large network of high-quality charging offers in North America.” Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, wrote in a statement.
Data from the US Department of Energy shows that Tesla Superchargers account for approximately 60% of all fast chargers in the US. The Biden administration has earmarked billions of dollars to expand the EV charging network nationwide.
Without a fight Tesla is setting its own charger standard and acquiring a large customer base for its network. Mercedes joins Ford, GM, Rivian, Volvo and Polestar who recently announced the adoption of NACS. There are still Volkswagen, BMW, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, Stellantis and Tata's Jaguar Land Rover, among other brands, to announce the switch from the combined charging system (CCS) to NACS. Several states, including Texas, Kentucky and Washington, have mandated government-funded charging stations include NACS.
It is clear that the EV industry is looking to standardize the NACS system to ensure reliability and convenience across brands, while expanding the charging network nationwide.
Perhaps, in the coming years, EV owners won't have to lug around an annoying basket of adapters as the charging network will be standardized with the NACS. Tesla appears to be the big winner.
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The article Even Mercedes bends to Tesla and adopts the Supercharger comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/anche-mercedes-si-piega-a-tesla-e-ne-adotta-il-supercharger/ on Sat, 08 Jul 2023 07:00:28 +0000.