Exploring innovation at RE+ 2023: Introducing cutting-edge charging solutions
Exploring innovation at RE+ 2023: Introducing cutting-edge charging solutions
8月 24, 2023
In a historic development, the three major players in the North American electric vehicle (EV) market—Tesla, Ford, and General Motors—have reached a consensus to adopt Tesla’s charging interface standard.
What Happened?
In a span of a few days, the charging interface standard in North America underwent a significant transformation.
On May 23, 2023, Ford made a surprising announcement, stating that they would fully integrate Tesla’s charging infrastructure. Starting next year, existing Ford owners will receive adapters to connect to Tesla charging stations, followed by future Ford electric vehicles adopting Tesla’s charging interface directly, eliminating the need for adapters and enabling access to Tesla’s extensive charging network across the United States.
Two weeks later, on June 8, 2023, General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Elon Musk announced on a Twitter Spaces conference that General Motors would also adopt Tesla’s standard, known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS). Similar to Ford, General Motors will provide adapters to current owners of their electric vehicles initially, with new General Motors EVs featuring the NACS charging interface from 2025.
This move deals a significant blow to the existing charging interface standard, primarily CCS (Combined Charging System). While only Tesla, Ford, and General Motors have joined the NACS interface standard, these three companies collectively account for over 60% of electric vehicle sales in the United States in 2022. Tesla’s NACS fast charging also dominates nearly 60% of the American market.
Global Battle of Charging Standards
The widespread adoption of electric vehicles faces obstacles such as limited range and the convenience and speed of charging. In addition to the technical challenges, the lack of unified charging standards across countries and regions has hindered the progress and increased costs in the charging industry.
Currently, there are five major charging interface standards worldwide: CCS1 in North America, CCS2 in Europe, China’s GB/T, Japan’s CHAdeMO, and Tesla’s proprietary NACS.
Unlike the others, Tesla’s charging interface combines both AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current) charging in a single connector. CCS1 and NACS are the primary charging standards in North America. Previously, CCS1 had fierce competition with Japan’s CHAdeMO, but with the decline of Nissan Leaf, the former best-selling EV in North America, and subsequent models like the Ariya switching to CCS1, CHAdeMO’s fate in the region was sealed. Europe’s major automakers have adopted the CCS2 standard, while China has its own GB/T charging standard (currently transitioning to the next-generation supercharging standard, ChaoJi). Japan still utilizes CHAdeMO.
CCS, based on a DC fast charging system developed jointly by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), emerged from the “Quick Charging Association” established at the 26th World Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles in 2012. The association, comprising major American and German automakers, such as Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche, and Chrysler, announced the unified electric vehicle fast charging standard, CCS. It soon gained recognition from the American and German automotive industry associations.
Compared to CCS1, Tesla’s NACS offers several advantages: (1) It is compact and versatile, providing both slow charging and fast charging capabilities with a small plug, while CCS1 and CHAdeMO connectors tend to be bulkier. (2) All NACS vehicles support a plug-and-play billing data protocol, significantly improving the charging experience. Tesla owners can relate to.
Exploring innovation at RE+ 2023: Introducing cutting-edge charging solutions
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