Stellantis is the latest automaker to adopt Tesla’s North America Charging Standard (NACS) port for EV fast charging—but the automaker’s announcement of it, made Monday, downplayed any connection to Tesla to a point that EV shoppers and longtime Tesla fans alike might find absurd.
A Stellantis press release doesn’t mention Tesla or NACS at all. Instead it says the automaker is adopting « the proposed SAE J3400 connector. »
That’s technically correct, as the NACS connector is still in the process of being formally standardized under the name SAE J3400. But without the focus on NACS as enabling access to the Tesla Supercharger network and its reputation for reliability, it’s arguably lost in technical jargon—and it misses the boost of confidence gained by various other automaker announcements that have included mention of Tesla.
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In fact, every other automaker that has adopted the standard has pointed to Supercharger access and adapters. For instance, Ford recently re-upped its offer of free charging adapters, primarily to gain access to Superchargers this year. But there’s no mention of Supercharger access in Stellantis’ announcement, which only states that NACS connectors will arrive in 2025, on certain 2026-model-year Stellantis EVs.
Stellantis will follow other automakers in using adapters to allow existing EVs with Combined Charging Standard (CCS) ports to charge at NACS stations, but the automaker only said that this would give drivers « access to a growing private and public J3400 infrastructure. »
Stellantis is one of the funders of the fast-charging network Ionna, which plans 30,000 DC fast-charging points, including some in 2024. The automaker pointed to this new network as providing expanded public charging infrastructure for its customers, noting that Ionna stations will offer both CCS and NACS connectors.
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The automaker didn’t say which of its many brands would get NACS first. Stellantis has touted a range of up to 500 miles for the STLA Large EV platform underpinning Dodge muscle cars Jeep SUVs, and more. That platform is one of four dedicated EV platforms first shown in 2021, and is itself expected to underpin up to eight models. Stellantis has also mulled the possibility of a $25,000 EV.
With Stellantis on board, all major EV brands are now preparing to use the NACS port. Mitsubishi is now the only holdout in North America, but it doesn’t currently sell an all-electric model here. Its only vehicle with a charge port is the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid.
