By Frank Kamuntu
Until recently, Tesla’s network of Supercharger fast electric car chargers has been off-limits to drivers of electric vehicles from other brands. But Tesla has opened up certain Superchargers to Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1S and R1T vehicles, as long as owners order an adapter that allows them to use Tesla’s NACS charging standard. Other EV makers aren’t far behind.
BMW, Genesis, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Lucid, Mini, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Polestar, Toyota, and Volvo have said that their vehicles will also be Supercharger compatible starting in 2024. Mazda, Stellantis, and Volkswagen Group of America (Audi, Porsche, Scout Motors, and Volkswagen) will implement Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector on vehicles starting in the 2025 model year.
It is not yet clear how these plans could be affected by Tesla’s recent large-scale layoff of employees working on the Supercharger program, as reported at the end of April by The Information and the New York Times. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the company “still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations,” with more focus on reliability and expansion of existing Supercharger locations.
Other automakers are also getting into the charging business. A group of seven major car manufacturers announced last year that they plan to open 30,000 of their own charging stations across the U.S. in the near future under the Ionna brand name.
