As Ford, General Motors, Rivian and others all announce they are moving to the North American Charging Standard (NACS), a major consumer concern is starting to lift.
According to J.D. Power, the single biggest barrier to the adoption of EVs has long been the concern about the availability and reliability of public chargers. With the switch, at least in North America, to NACS by several major brands, this barrier is slowly being removed.
The Tesla Supercharger network is the biggest by far, and with over 19,500 ports in the United States alone, NACS chargers are available almost everywhere. In terms of reliability, the Supercharger network is second to none, with only 3.9 per cent of Tesla drivers unable to charge their vehicle at a charger. The other networks saw a whopping 21.6 per cent response rate when non-Tesla EV owners answered the same question.
With the move by Ford and General Motors, 70 per cent of the US EV market will be on NACS as of 2024. This is significant and could spell the end, or at least the phase-out of CCS chargers in North America. However, time will tell, and if Tesla can up the voltage used in Superchargers moving forward, we might end up with NACS as the sole charging standard, which will only help ease consumer concerns.
