The last remaining major automaker has finally agreed to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), with Stellantis announcing on Monday it will add the charging technology to its future electric vehicles (EVs). However, the announcement by Stellantis was different than the rest, with one significant piece of information missing.
In 2022 Tesla opened up the design of its charging technology to anyone who wanted to use it, in an effort to make it the charging standard in North America. Tesla was clear in their intentions, even calling it as much, but very few gave it much chance of it actually becoming true to its name.
Despite Tesla’s Supercharger network being unsurpassed, both in terms of its coverage and its reliability, it took six months for the first automaker, Ford, to announce it had agreed to adopt NACS. That decision lead to a domino effect, with several other automakers agreeing to similar deals in the weeks and months that followed.
Since then nearly every major automaker had agreed to adopt NACS, but despite NACS being the only way an automaker could succeed with their EVs, there was one last remaining holdout. That final domino has fallen, with Stellantis, which includes brands such as Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, and more, announcing today it will also adopt NACS on its future EVs.
In a statement Stellantis says the transition will begin in 2025, at which time existing Stellantis EV owners will be provided a NACS (J3400) adapter. Then in 2026 it will add the NACS charge port to “select battery-electric vehicle models.”
One piece was missing from their announcement, and that was any mention of Tesla and gaining access to over 15,000 Superchargers in Canada and the US, like every other deal announced thus far. However, Stellantis reaffirmed its commitment to IONNA, the newly announced name for the charging network backed by seven major automakers announced last year, signaling that it may not have signed a deal with Tesla, but instead is just adopting the technology for its own charging network.
Customers win when the industry aligns on open standards. We are happy to announce our backing and adoption of the SAE J3400 connector, a milestone for all customers on the path to open and seamless charging. Our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan puts customers at the center of open interoperability and freedom of mobility for all. This future will be amplified by IONNA, our public charging joint venture with six other OEMs that will deliver industry-leading high-powered charging for all battery-electric vehicles regardless of brand.
Ricardo Stamatti, Stellantis SVP of global energy & charging.
The announcement by Stellantis comes just days before Tesla is expected to open its Supercharger network to the automaker who first signed on the dotted line, Ford. Other automakers are expected to gain access to the Supercharger network throughout the rest of the year in the order in which they signed, meaning General Motors will be next.
Both Ford and Rivian have announced they will be providing their EV owners with the NACS adapter for free, and will allow owners to purchase additional adapters if they need more.
