Mercedes-Benz has announced that its electrified vehicles in North America will be adopting Tesla’s NACS (North American Charging Standard) charging port starting 2025, making it the first German carmaker to do so.
The switch will offer Mercedes-Benz EV owners access to over 12,000 charging stations in the region.
Mercedes-Benz says the transition will be carried out in phases. Starting in 2024, the carmaker will initially be offering its customers an adapter that will enable existing EVs fitted with the CCS (Combined Charging System) charging ports to utilise the NACS charging network.
In addition to the switch to the NACS charging ports, Mercedes-Benz will also be establishing its own High-Power Charging Network at over 400 locations by the end of the decade. The first location is scheduled to open by the end of this year, and will be equipped with both CCS1 and NACS plugs.
Mercedes-Benz is the latest in a growing list of carmakers to transition to the NACS charging port. Most notably, Volvo, Polestar, Rivian, and Ford have already announced their plans to adopt the NACS charging port, while Volkswagen is also reportedly in talks with Tesla.
Charging network operators, including the Volkswagen-owned Electrify America, have also committed to adopting the NACS connector by 2025. In a bid to help NACS become a proper technical standard, SAE International (previously Society of Automotive Engineers) have also announced that it will be developing manufacturing, performance, and reliability standards for the connector.
