Mercedes-Benz simply grew to become the primary German carmaker to hitch the NACS development. The corporate will combine Tesla’s de facto North American Charging Commonplace into its EV fleet within the US and Canada from 2025. On the identical time, Mercedes is sticking to its plans for its personal HPC community.
Mercedes-Benz follows within the footsteps laid by carmakers earlier than it. Whereas the primary German producer to take action, Volvo Vehicles was the primary European model to join Tesla’s charging expertise, quickly adopted by Polestar; earlier than them got here Ford, Common Motors, and Rivian.
As for Mercedes-Benz, prospects in North America will get entry to Tesla’s Supercharger community beginning subsequent yr; nonetheless, they’ll want an adapter whereas the automobiles will hold their CCS1 connection.
Solely in 2025 will newly delivered electrical automobiles from Mercedes have the NACS port developed by Tesla built-in as a substitute of the CCS charging socket. Quick charging at CCS-only stations will then solely be attainable for these automobiles with an adapter. Nonetheless, quite a few cost level operators within the US have already introduced that they’ll retrofit NACS charging cables. Even the VW subsidiary Electrify America had introduced this step, and Volkswagen is analyzing taking the identical step as Mercedes, in keeping with statements made by the Group final week. In actual fact, VW was nearly anticipated to be the primary German carmaker to announce NACS integration, not Mercedes.
Mercedes’ charging community to supply CCS1 and NACS
Like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz had plans to construct its personal community of excessive energy costs and, in at present’s announcement, made certain that this was nonetheless the case. The carmaker desires to concurrently broaden the Mercedes-Benz Charging Community with greater than 2,500 high-power chargers in North America to supply a “best-in-class charging expertise”.
Whereas present Mercedes electrical automobiles will have the ability to recharge with the adapter solely on the few Supercharger places permitted by Tesla for all producers, the goal is to persuade extra prospects to make the swap: “The primary Mercedes-Benz charging stations in North America will open in This autumn 2023 and will likely be outfitted with each CCS1 and NACS plugs.”
“Our strategic precedence is obvious: Constructing the world’s most fascinating automobiles. To speed up the shift to electrical automobiles, we’re devoted to elevating your entire EV-experience for our prospects – together with quick, handy, and dependable charging options wherever their Mercedes-Benz takes them,” stated Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius. “That’s why we’re dedicated to constructing our international Mercedes-Benz Excessive-Energy Charging Community, with the primary websites opening this yr. In parallel, we’re additionally implementing NACS in our automobiles, permitting drivers to entry an expansive community of high-quality charging choices in North America.”
Globally, Mercedes-Benz plans to determine greater than 2,000 Charging Hubs in North America, Europe, China and different markets by the top of the last decade.
As for Tesla’s expertise changing into the North American Charging Commonplace, the corporate launched the design in November 2022. The slim plug and compact charging port within the car allow (single-phase) AC charging in addition to DC quick charging – the latter for a very long time solely at Tesla’s personal Superchargers. Since carmakers akin to Ford, Common Motors, Rivian, Volvo and Polestar have introduced in latest weeks that they’ll set up the NACS charging port of their North American fashions from 2025, quite a few CPOs and charging infrastructure producers have additionally introduced that they may even provide NACS at their charging stations in future, along with CCS1, CHAdeMO and the US AC customary J1772 cables.
Though NACS will not be but a licensed customary – each SAE and the CCS organisation CharIN have introduced corresponding procedures – with the advances of the most important producers and now additionally the charging trade, NACS might develop into a de facto customary that no producer in North America will have the ability to bypass earlier than the certification course of has even been accomplished.
Extra reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.
mercedes-benz.com