Nearly every electric vehicle brand in North America is Tesla’s North American Charging Standard applies (NACS) and has access to the automaker’s Supercharger network. But even though that network has a pretty good reputation for reliability, the NACS connector alone may not guarantee an overall improvement in charger reliability, one expert said.
Joerg Heuer is the CEO of EcoG, a company that provides operating systems for EV chargers. in one Recent interview with paid electric vehiclesHeuer emphasized that interoperability will be key to reliability as more electric vehicles are charged using NACS connectors or converters.
Ford electric vehicles at Tesla Supercharger
“Currently, we are looking at a landscape of about 100 charging station manufacturers and a growing number of electric vehicle manufacturers,” Heuer said. “Achieving interoperability meant testing more than 500 car and charger combinations.”
A little help is NACS, is being officially standardized like SAE J3400, is similar to the Combined Charging Standard (CCS) hardware already in use by most EV brands. According to Heuer, there is about “90% to 95%” commonality between CCS and NACS, with almost everything except the plug itself being similar enough to easily facilitate interoperability. According to Heuer, that is not the case with the CHAdeMO standard, which is more difficult to reconcile with CCS.
Rivian R1T at Tesla Supercharger
Tesla has pushed other automakers use its connector starting in 2022, but most were unsuccessful until Ford announced plans to adopt NACS last May. Most automakers selling plug-in vehicles in North America followed suit. Adapters from several brands have started to appear, and so far users have found that the charge level is an overkill. Measures such as: Rivian route planning levels However, it may help to prioritize those that perform best and are most reliable.
The switch left the auto industry wondering whether the reliability of the Tesla Supercharger would apply to electric vehicles from other brands, but thought it was simply a matter of switching connectors. or Tesla’s network prioritization is naive. Some of that will depend on on-the-ground support — Tesla is likely to have less of a presence now that its charging team has laid off — but as with many charging issues, it’s complicated.
