Tesla has licensed Volex, an electronic connector manufacturing company from the United Kingdom (UK), to manufacture North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors.
Last year Tesla opened up the design of their charge port to anyone who wanted to use it. Despite its elegant design and proven reliability, Tesla’s offer was met with silence for many months, until Ford CEO Jim Farley recognized Tesla’s significant lead in the EV charging industry and decided to sign a deal to adopt NACS in their future electric vehicles (EVs).
That agreement sent shockwaves through the industry, with General Motors, Rivian, Nissan, and several others signing similar deals in the weeks and months that followed, all but ending the reign of the Combined Charging System (CCS) in North America.
Following these deals, Tesla has now licensed Volex to manufacture NACS connectors, or couplers as the company referred to them in a press release through the London Stock Exchange. The company says it already has stock on hand and is immediately ready to supply the connectors to automakers and EV charging providers.
“Volex plc (AIM: VLX), the specialist integrated manufacturer of critical power and data transmission products, is pleased to announce it is a licensed partner of Tesla for the North American Charging Standard (“NACS”) EV Charging system. Volex is a selected global manufacturer of the authentic NACS coupler and is stocked and ready to immediately supply automotive OEMs and charging infrastructure suppliers.”
While the UK-based company will now be manufacturing NACS connectors, a Canadian company has already developed the first NACS to CCS adapter. A2ZEV, based out of Montreal, Quebec, recently shared the first video of their adapter, which they call the Typhoon Plug, successfully working at a Supercharger (using a second CCS to NACS adapter), as well as on a Polestar 2 using a Tesla Mobile Connector.
