Electrify America plans to add Tesla Inc.’s connectors to its large network of electric-vehicle charging stations across North America as the industry coalesces around the automaker’s plug design.
The charging company majority-owned by Volkswagen Group said it will offer Tesla’s North American Charging Standard connectors across the U.S. and Canada by 2025. Electrify America will continue to offer the main competing standard, known as Combined Charging System, according to a statement Thursday.
The decision is significant because Electrify America is the closest competitor to Tesla’s Supercharger network. The company started by Volkswagen as part of the German automaker’s penance for its diesel-emissions scandal operated 3,473 ultra-fast connectors in the U.S. last year, second to Tesla’s 13,878, according to BloombergNEF. EVgo Inc. was a distant third with just 926 connectors.
Electrify America becomes the latest large EV player to adopt the Tesla charging standard. Other charging networks that have also adopted NACS include ChargePoint Holdings Inc., Blink Charging Co., EVgo and Wallbox NV. Volkswagen said in a statement Thursday that it’s “currently evaluating the implementation” of Tesla’s technology.
