Volvo will join the growing number of automakers adopting Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging port for its electric vehicles. As a result of the announcement, its vehicles will be able to use the Supercharger network in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Starting in 2025, Volvo vehicles will come equipped with an NACS plug, unlike its current vehicles, which have a Combined Charging System (CCS) plug. However, current owners will also be given access to the Supercharger network thanks to the use of an adapter that it plans to distribute to owners starting in early 2024.
In order to provide owners with as many charging options as possible, Volvo says it will also give buyers a plug adapter after 2025. That tool will allow the NACS-equipped vehicles to charge on networks that use the CCS standard.
Read: EVgo Becomes Latest Firm To Embrace Tesla’s Charging Standard Following Ford And GM
“As part of our journey to becoming fully electric by 2030, we want to make life with an electric car as easy as possible,” said Jim Rowan, Volvo’s CEO. “One major inhibitor to more people making the shift to electric driving—a key step in making transportation more sustainable—is access to easy and convenient charging infrastructure. Today, with this agreement, we’re taking a major step to remove this threshold for Volvo drivers.”
With that, Volvo becomes the first European automaker to announce that it will adopt the NACS plug in North America. In its home continent, all charging stations must use the CCS plug in order to promote easier access to electricity for drivers.
However, in North America, charging networks that use the CCS standard have been found to have lower reliability, and are less commonly found than Tesla’s Superchargers, making NACS an attractive option for automakers.
As a result, Ford, GM, and Rivian have all announced that they will adopt the standard in North America. In addition, Stellantis and Hyundai have said that they are considering making the change, too.
Whether Volvo’s sister brand, Polestar, will adopt the NACS plug, remains to be seen. We have reached out for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
