Mercedes-Benz to Adopt Tesla’s EV Charging Standard in North America
Mercedes-Benz has announced that starting next year, its electric vehicle drivers will be able to use Tesla’s superchargers, with plans to fully adopt Tesla’s charging standard by 2025.
This move by Mercedes-Benz follows similar agreements made by other automakers, further solidifying Tesla’s position as a widely accepted standard in the electric vehicle industry.
As part of the integration, Mercedes-Benz will incorporate Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) into its electric vehicle lineup, providing access to over 12,000 Tesla supercharger stations for North American drivers.
In addition to utilizing Tesla’s charging infrastructure, Mercedes-Benz plans to establish its own charging network, creating more than 2,000 charging hubs worldwide by the end of the decade, with 400 of them in North America.
The lack of charging infrastructure along highways has been a concern for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and states like California and New York have already taken steps to phase out gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
In response to this issue, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk invited other electric vehicle manufacturers to develop vehicles that can utilize Tesla’s charging ports, leading to partnerships with Ford, Rivian, GM, and now Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz aims to redefine the electric vehicle charging experience through the development of their new North American High-Power Charging Network, as stated by Andrew Cornelia, CEO of Mercedes-Benz HPC North America.
By implementing NACS ports into their new electric vehicles, Mercedes-Benz becomes the first German manufacturer to do so, and they will also offer a plug adapter for vehicles using the Combined Charging System made before 2025.
While most other EV makers use CCS chargers, Tesla’s charging stations still outnumber CCS stations in the United States.
