Volvo said June 27 it will adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), opting to use the connector for its EVs, making Volvo the latest major automaker to do so.
Volvo will also gain access to 12,000 Tesla Supercharger locations across North America, just as Ford, General Motors and Rivian have by partnering with Tesla.
“As part of our journey to becoming fully electric by 2030, we want to make life with an electric car as easy as possible,” Volvo CEO Jim Rowan said. “Today, with this agreement, we’re taking a major step to remove this threshold for Volvo drivers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.”
Volvo said it also expects the 12,000 Supercharger access figure to increase “as Tesla continues to expand its Supercharger network in the region.”
Volvo will also provide an adapter for current EV owners that “wish to continue charging in the Combined Charging System (CCS) of chargers.”
Tesla first opened its Supercharger Network to Ford, announced jointly in May by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Ford CEO Jim Farley. Soon thereafter, General Motors made the decision to adopt NACS, with Rivian following. Aptera, a solar EV company, adopted NACS before any other automaker.
Volvo drivers will gain access to Tesla Superchargers “from the first half of 2024,” the company said. Ford, GM and Rivian have all stated their customers will be able to access the Supercharger Network in the spring.
Earlier June 27, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) announced it will make the Tesla NACS connector a standard and plans to initiate an expedited process to get it to that point.
Abby Andrews