General Motors and Ford are accessing Superchargers sooner than expected. A Tesla employee revealed during a city planning committee meeting about a new Supercharger station that Ford and GM will gain access to these charging stations by early 2024.
Most major automakers have announced they will switch to the NACS (North American Charging Standard), which is the same connector Tesla uses, by 2025. This means we could start seeing non-Tesla cars with this connector around mid-2024. While it’s unlikely that Ford and GM cars with the NACS connector will be available by February, cars with the CCS (Combined Charging System) connector might still use Superchargers with the help of an adapter.
Jenny Pretare, Tesla’s design manager of Charging Infrastructure, mentioned that Ford and GM will start accessing Superchargers in February 2024. Once these cars have the appropriate charge port and software, they will be able to use Tesla’s charging stations.
Pretare also indicated that other automakers will gain access to these Superchargers in phases. Hopefully, these phases will be rolled out throughout 2024 as manufacturers prepare to produce NACS-compatible cars by 2025.
Interestingly, the new Superchargers being built in Farr West are designed with vehicles towing trailers in mind. For example, a Cybertruck towing a trailer would be able to pull up and charge at these new stations, potentially making it easier for all cars to charge.
Ford was the first major automaker to announce the switch to NACS, followed by GM. Since then, other brands like Mercedes-Benz, Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, and more have also committed to the switch. Volkswagen, however, has not yet made a decision and is still “evaluating” NACS implementation. Given that other manufacturers are adopting NACS and charging stations are expected to follow, it would be surprising if Volkswagen does not eventually make the switch as well.
We’ll have to see how this rollout proceeds in practice. There may be some initial challenges, especially for Tesla drivers who might experience longer wait times at charging stations. Hopefully, both Tesla and other manufacturers can increase the production of charging stations to support all electric vehicles on the road.