Mercedes-Benz picks Tesla’s charging standard for North America EVs from 2025

Berlin: German automaker Mercedes-Benz said on Friday its electric vehicles in North America will adopt the Tesla-developed charging technology from 2025 and also get access to more than 12,000 of its Superchargers from next year.

The company joins American rivals Ford and General Motors to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS) as they try to expand their network of fast-chargers in an attempt to make owning EVs easier.

Mercedes-Benz will be the first German automaker to sign up for Tesla’s charging design for its North American customers.

German peer Volkswagen is also in discussions to adopt NACS.

Mercedes-Benz will initially offer an adapter that would help its existing EVs with the Combined Charging System in North America to charge on the NACS network from 2024. The CCS is a widely used rival plug for DC fast-charging.

Mercedes drivers will also see Tesla superchargers on the map along with their availability status and price in their cars.

It also plans to simultaneously expand its charging network with more than 400 charging hubs, including over 2,500 high-power chargers in North America by the end of the decade.

Tesla, meanwhile, has expanded beyond its connectors to include CCS at some of its US charging stations as the Biden administration seeks to provide billions in subsidies to expand charging networks.

Tesla’s Superchargers account for about 60 per cent of the total number of fast chargers in the United States, according to the US Department of Energy.

Tesla shares were up about 1 per cent in morning trade.