Industry News: Seven Manufactures Form Joint-Venture to Build a Rival to Tesla's Supercharger Network

[Drew Dowdell]

BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis announced a new venture today to build out an EV charging network to rival Tesla's.  The aim is to install at least 30,000 high-speed charging points in urban and highway locations across then country.  The first chargers will go online in the U.S. in the summer of 2024, with chargers in Canada following shortly after.

Of the manufacturers in this venture, General Motors and Mercedes-Benz recently announced agreements with Tesla for access to their SuperCharger network. While Ford, General Motors, Rivian, Mercedes-Benz, have all committed to Tesla's NACS charging connector.

The network will use the 350-kw / 800-volt and offer both Tesla's NACS and CCS connectors. What wasn't announced was support for the V4 version of the NACS standard, which supports 800-Volt peak charging, but 800-Volt charging is a key feature of GM's Ultium technology, so we expect it will be offered.

The as yet unnamed network will be powered by renewable energy and will be open to all makes and models that use either the NACS or CCS connectors.  Sorry, Nissan Leaf and Kia Soul EV owners, you're out of luck.

This move reflects a frustration by manufacturers regarding the reliability and build-out speed when relying on third-party charging networks. Electrify America, one of the largest non-Tesla fast-charging networks, has a reputation for broken and error-prone charging stations.  With EV adoption being a Chicken and Egg problem, this move by the manufacturers is an attempt to squeeze the egg out of the chicken.

To put a project of this size into perspective, the Tesla SuperCharger network offers 20,400 fast-charging ports at 1,900 locations while Electrify America offers 3,600 fast-charging ports at 800 locations, but EA's network is mostly at the slower charge rate of 150kw rather than 350kw.

General Motors and Mercedes-Benz, which are both building out their own charging networks, will continue to do so separately from this plan.

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Ford EVs Gain Access to Tesla SuperChargers, Ford to Adopt Tesla NACS Charge Port

 

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[smk4565]

This is good news and I hope they can build this out in the next few years and not take 10 years to do it.  By the time they have 30,000 chargers, Tesla will probably have 30,000, then you have 60,000 chargers available for those brands that can use both.  And I imagine any brands that can't use both will have a hard time selling cars.

[Drew Dowdell]

27 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

This is good news and I hope they can build this out in the next few years and not take 10 years to do it.  By the time they have 30,000 chargers, Tesla will probably have 30,000, then you have 60,000 chargers available for those brands that can use both.  And I imagine any brands that can't use both will have a hard time selling cars.

I dunno. Most charging still happens at home. 30,000 chargers for this new network is still more than what Tesla has today and the Tesla folks do okay most of the time. Plus EA and ChargePoint are still out there too along with every GM dealership. 
 

I’m not saying 60k isn’t a selling point just that Tesla sells cars fine with 21,000.

[G. David Felt]

If EA can get their act together and both EA and ChargePoint have announced joining the NACS camp with plans over the next 1 to 2 years to add NACS cables to their chargers, this should be really good news for buyers of EVs and road trips.

[smk4565]

19 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I dunno. Most charging still happens at home. 30,000 chargers for this new network is still more than what Tesla has today and the Tesla folks do okay most of the time. Plus EA and ChargePoint are still out there too along with every GM dealership. 
 

I’m not saying 60k isn’t a selling point just that Tesla sells cars fine with 21,000.

But the #1 reason people don't buy an EV is charge network.  Tesla is obviously building more chargers, this 30,000 that hopefully they can build out in 4-5 years will help clear that charging hurdle.  

I still think in the 2025-26 time frame, EV sales skyrocket and ICE plunges, and anyone that bet on ICE and gas stations is in for a rude awakening.  

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, smk4565 said:

But the #1 reason people don't buy an EV is charge network.  Tesla is obviously building more chargers, this 30,000 that hopefully they can build out in 4-5 years will help clear that charging hurdle.  

I still think in the 2025-26 time frame, EV sales skyrocket and ICE plunges, and anyone that bet on ICE and gas stations is in for a rude awakening.  

Stories like these are very wrong in what they are saying.

Why I Wouldn't Buy an Electric Car yet, Despite the Amazing Technology (businessinsider.com)

Mainly due to the fact that most folks will charge at home and if you look at cost over the average life of long term auto ownership, EVs become way cheaper than ICE.

This is one of the best writeups on why FUD is rampant on EV ownership.

Here's Why People Don't Buy Electric Cars (and Why They're Wrong) | U.S. News (usnews.com)

[smk4565]

On 7/27/2023 at 9:22 PM, David said:

Stories like these are very wrong in what they are saying.

Why I Wouldn't Buy an Electric Car yet, Despite the Amazing Technology (businessinsider.com)

Mainly due to the fact that most folks will charge at home and if you look at cost over the average life of long term auto ownership, EVs become way cheaper than ICE.

This is one of the best writeups on why FUD is rampant on EV ownership.

Here's Why People Don't Buy Electric Cars (and Why They're Wrong) | U.S. News (usnews.com)

I agree with both articles, the EV myths are holding them back, but those are getting debunked.  And charge network is growing.  And model selection growing.  A year ago if you wanted an EV you basically got to pick from a small crossover or a $100,000 sedan.  But now there are pickups, vans, 3-row crossover like The EV9, still waiting on a coupe/convertible, but the selection of body styles is growing and prices are better better.

Given all that, I think the demand for EVs could easily triple by 2025 and by then the manufacturing capacity should be there, Tesla will have Mexico and India open around then, the legacy OEMs better figure it out by then.  

[G. David Felt]

Growing list of folks supporting NACS.

More automakers plug into Tesla's EV charging network | Reuters