Polestar has become the latest brand to announce plans to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging port. The announcement claims that new Polestar vehicles will be equipped with the ports starting in 2025, with adapters for existing Polestars available by mid-2024.
The Polestar decision is the latest in the rapidly-expanding push to turn NACS from an optimistic name into a reality. Polestar joins Ford, General Motors, Rivian, and Volvo in announcing plans to integrate the charging ports into their cars going forward. Yesterday, Volvo became the first European brand to announce plans for NACS. Now, Polestar becomes the second European brand and second all-electric brand to switch from CCS to NACS. Both Volvo and Polestar are subsidiaries of Geely, which also owns Lotus.
Automakers are making the move to NACS in order to join Tesla’s Supercharger network, the brand’s greatest current strength in North America. While the deceptively-named ADAS systems and long-delayed pick-ups that may or may not float have drawn the headlines, the combination of successful expansion of the charging network and struggles in Electrify America’s own competing network have given Tesla a distinct strength over its competition. By giving other OEMs the option to join what the brand now calls NACS, and by extent its charging network, Tesla has shifted from marketing that as a strong feature exclusive to Tesla owners to monetizing it as a major part of electrification infrastructure going forward.
It is a simple compromise: by ceding the exclusivity of its network, Tesla can generate revenue off its existing strengths. By agreeing to partner with a competing automaker on charging ports, brands like Polestar can allow customers to charge their cars on a more reliable fast charging ecosystem. The biggest loser is the old CCS charging standard, which is falling by the wayside as even the Society of Automotive Engineers plans standards around the NACS port.
Keyword: Polestar Will Also Adopt Tesla's NACS Charging Port