Charging companies going NACS now

[ChasingCoral]

This is the next big move. ABB is one of EA’s two biggest suppliers of charging equipment.

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[ChasingCoral]

https://electrek.co/2023/06/09/tesla-nacs-domino-ev-charging-companies-adopting-standard/
Tesla’s NACS enjoys domino effect as EV charging companies adopt the standard

Fred Lambert| Jun 9 2023 - 3:40 am PT
279 Comments

Tesla’s connector, now known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS), is truly living up to its name as the GM announcement gets the domino effect going with EV charging station companies now adopting the standard.

When GM CEO Mary Barra and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced their cooperation for General Motors to integrate NACS as the connector in its future electric vehicles, they basically declared that the connector is now the new standard in North America.

They have a good argument for it, considering it is already the most popular connector thanks to how big Tesla’s fleet is alone, and now with Ford and GM on board, it will be hard to stop.
We expect a domino effect to take place and all other automakers and charging station companies operating in North America to announce that they will adopt NACS.

It has already started with Flo, a Quebec-based EV charging station company with over 90,000 chargers, announcing it will offer NACS on its charging stations and “supports broader use” of the standard.

Top comment by Carmayogi
Liked by 33 people
ABB just joined the train and announced NACS as an option on its chargers. Matter of time before Electrify America falls in line.

Excited for what this means in 2-3 years when suddenly the entire US & Canada are speaking the same charging language. The EV market growth rate just got a massive steroid dose.

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FLO chief product officer Nathan Yang commented on the announcement:

FLO welcomes initiatives to standardize charging hardware in North America because we believe it will help eliminate confusion for EV drivers. Ultimately, the increased adoption of the NACS standard relates both to its widespread use by EV drivers and the reliability of stations that currently offer NACS. FLO is an industry leader in reliability, offering a 98%+ uptime. With our objective of delivering the best EV charging experience for users, we are committed to supporting the technologies and standards our drivers want to use.

EVgo had announced that it will also add NACS connectors to its charging stations even before Tesla opened the standard.

Now we expect other charging station companies to make similar announcements as soon as today and more to come in the coming weeks.

The dominos are falling.

 

[Billyk24]

Adding as an option means? More nacs and less ccs but it doesnt get into specifics.

 

[agdad]

they may be adding nacs but will they charge at the SUPERCHARGER rate of delivery ?

 

[MW1515]

Does Tesla have the NACS trademarked? Will 3rd party charging companies have to pay Tesla for each NACS connector they incorporate?

 

[timbop]

While interesting, it won't in any way improve ABB's reliability one iota.

 

[Guss-E 2021]

The electric vehicle world is like New England weather: Don't like the current climate? Wait five minutes.

I'm saying I can't keep up with all of this anymore. ?

 

[hartmms]

Adding as an option means? More nacs and less ccs but it doesnt get into specifics.

They will start adding products to their catalog like NACS plugs, sockets, etc. Maybe even cable assemblies (plug injection molded to a length of cable). That way companies like GM, Ford, EA and ChargePoint can build products with them.

Does Tesla have the NACS trademarked? Will 3rd party charging companies have to pay Tesla for each NACS connector they incorporate?

NACS was released as an open standard Nov, 2022. There are no royalties to be paid. I don't it's trademarked. If it was, you would see the "tm" next to every mention of it on the Tesla's website.

 

[AhardFSU]

While interesting, it won't in any way improve ABB's reliability one iota.

This. It's not just about using the Telsa handle, it's that Telsa builds their own charging units and they've built them in a way that allows for high reliability.

I wouldn't have as much faith in an ABB charger with a Telsa handle due to ABB's well documented reliability issues here in the US.

Imagine EA saying, "Ok, we'll install some ABB units with the Telsa handle". Who would trust those EA units to work reliably and be maintained? I certainly wouldn't trust EA to maintain those units to a level that they're highly reliable; nor would I not expect EA to derate the units at some point. This is why just having the Telsa handle is less important as being able to use the Telsa supercharger locations.

 

[silverelan]

Just compare Tesla's European Superchargers vs. literally every other charger. The plug shape makes zero difference; Superchargers are much more reliable. Beyond the uptime, Supercharger stations are usually much bigger installations and more plentiful along routes.

 

[peterlhansen]

they may be adding nacs but will they charge at the SUPERCHARGER rate of delivery ?

The type of charging plug and the charging rate are two unrelated things...

 

[timbop]

The type of charging plug and the charging rate are two unrelated things...

In principle that is true, but thermal management is a big part of what determines max current flow. The cables have active cooling that can't go to the adapter, so depending upon the size/materials of the adapter the charge current might be restricted somewhat. That's why some of the Tesla->J1772 adapters have low (32A or less) current ratings.

With that said, I would expect Tesla to overspec the adapter to handle at least 120kw (300A)

 

[kodiakng]

The dominos are falling.

completely unsolicited advice for every DCFC company besides tesla: Implement the NACS connector on a reasonably sized, liquid-cooled cable with a Magic Dock style CCS1 adapter situation so you only have one cable to install.

you still have to significantly up your game in terms of station reliability (regular maintenance, better software experience, more reliable hardware, better real-time communication charger availability, etc) but at least you only have one cable to deploy.

 

[azerik]

With that said, I would expect Tesla to overspec the adapter to handle at least 120kw (300A)

A 120kw limit would be fine for most Ford/GM. At least to 'get by' and collect the government coins they're all going for. Not sure T Peeps won't roll eyes when the "slow busses" arrived to charge.

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