Mercedes Also Adopts Tesla’s Charging Standard

What is the fact that, contrary to all prophecies of doom, a company not only succeeds but takes the lead and sets the direction in which an entire industry is moving? Well, in that the standards set by this newcomer are adopted by the rest of the industry.

After Ford, General Motors and Rivian, Mercedes has now also announced that it will adopt the NACS charging standard in North America and install it in its electric cars. This also clears the way for customers of the world’s oldest car manufacturer to use Tesla’s immense network of Superchargers smoothly.

Mercedes CEO Olla Källenius also announced the establishment of a dedicated Mercedes-Benz High Power Charging Network:

Today we’ve announced that Mercedes-Benz will adopt the North American Charging Standard NACS which provides access to the Tesla Supercharger network. From 2025, we plan to equip our electric vehicle line-up in North America with the corresponding plug. From 2024 onwards, we will offer an adapter that enables our EVs to charge seamlessly on the NACS network.

Our strategic priority is clear: Building the world’s most desirable cars. To accelerate the shift to electric vehicles, we are dedicated to elevating the entire EV-experience for our customers – including fast, convenient, and reliable charging solutions wherever their Mercedes-Benz takes them.

That’s why we are committed to building our own global Mercedes-Benz High Power Charging Network. The first sites in North America will be opening this year, ready to use with both CCS1 and NACS plugs. In parallel, we are also implementing NACS in our vehicles there, allowing drivers to access an expansive network of high-quality charging offerings.

The reasons for this shift by the major manufacturers are obvious. Tesla’s charging station network with 12,000 Superchargers in North America – and rising – is by far the most reliable of all providers. All other networks suffer from outages, slow charging speeds and generally high levels of unreliability, which plague and frustrate many owners of non-Tesla electric cars.

Analysts’ estimates also show how important the Superchargers are. According to them, Tesla’s Supercharger network alone could be worth up to 100 billion US dollars. It’s no wonder that everyone else is now trying to learn from Tesla and expanding their own networks with plenty of delay. But their ambitions seem rather meager. Mercedes, for example, wants to have built just 2,500 charging stations in North America by 2030, barely a fifth of what Tesla already offers today. Brand-specific charging station networks would be an opportunity to bring the brand closer to customers and get them interested in the company’s products. It would also solve some of the weaknesses of Tesla’s network, where the built-in charging cables are far too short for some electric cars, forcing drivers to occupy two or more charging spots.

The CEO of Lucid Motors, Tesla’s neighbor in Newark, Peter Rawlinson, is not yet convinced to make Tesla the charging standard. For him, NACS is just a “plug” in an interview with Bloomberg. Nevertheless, he does not want to rule out the possibility of following suit in the future and also incorporating the NACS standard into his own electric cars.

However, one question remains unanswered: is Europe going to follow North America any time soon?

This article was also published in German.