More than a year ago, the auto industry rallied around Tesla EV chargers, announcing that the company’s charging plugs would become the new industry standard. That meant all major automakers would use Tesla’s North American Charging Standard connector, also called NACS, so their EV drivers could use Tesla’s Supercharger network.
That change will have to wait until new models are released. Auto companies from Ford to General Motors to Rivian have announced that NACS vents will be available on models starting in 2025. Until then, EV drivers will need an adapter to use Tesla charging stations. Some car manufacturers even say they will provide such adapters to existing car owners for free.
But car companies have struggled to meet demand for the adapters—and software snags are preventing some cars from accessing Tesla’s charging network in the first place. Those problems keep more than 15,000 NACS charging stations out of reach for EV drivers across the board.
Which EVs can access Tesla Superchargers?
In order to get other automakers on Tesla’s Supercharger network, there first had to be a software fix—both for chargers and non-Tesla vehicles. So far, only two automakers have completed that step of even reaching Superchargers: Ford and Rivian.
Eventually, all EVs will receive software updates to access Tesla chargers, but some are delayed. General Motors, Volvo, and Polestar were expected to gain access this spring, but are still waiting. It is not clear what is holding back that access; General Motors said a software integration with Tesla is now expected later this year, too The New York Times reports that other automakers are expected to “follow GM.”
Even if some automakers get access to the software, drivers won’t be able to stop at any Supercharger. Tesla’s Supercharger network has long been seen as a benefit only to Tesla drivers, and the company reserves most of the chargers for its own community. According to Tesla’s website, the company is setting aside more than 27,000 EV charging points for Tesla drivers only, allowing 15,000 stalls for NACS ports, and 500-plus “other EV” outlets (meaning a charging station itself will have the adapter, as opposed to relying on the driver to have a NACS port).
EV charger adapter problems
Once automakers have software to work with Tesla Superchargers, EV drivers (who don’t yet have future NACS-equipped vehicle models) need a physical adapter. Ford and Rivian are the only EV makers with the right software, but most of those drivers still don’t have access to the Supercharger because automakers haven’t gotten enough adapters, The New York Times reports. Ford and Rivian are waiting on adapters from Tesla.
Many outlets have reported Ford EV drivers experiencing charging adapter delays. “The supply is on hold,” Ford spokesman Martin Gunsberg told the newspaper The Detroit Free Press at the end of June. Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford, touched on this issue in an interview with Yahoo Finance in early June. “We think giving our customers access to the Supercharger network is a great step, but it’s early days. We still need 90,000 adapters.” After the interviewer said, “You’re going to find them, aren’t you?” Farley added, “I sent Elon a message [Musk] last night, we’ll see what he says.”
A Ford spokesman said in a statement that the company was “working quickly” on its supply base to “increase high-quality production,” and it hoped a solution would be available in the coming weeks. “As adapters become more common, our goal is to work as quickly as possible to deliver adapters to our customers,” the spokesperson said.
Several posts on Rivian’s forums indicate that drivers have experienced delays in receiving their adapters due to supply chain issues. A Rivian spokesperson said in a statement that the company faced a “challenging procurement situation” and was now “increasing adapter supply as quickly as possible.” The company added that it is “working closely with Tesla to support the industry’s complete transition to NACS.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk demoted the entire Tesla Supercharger team in May. Although he announced that the company will still invest $500 million in its Supercharger network, the move has raised concerns about how plans to expand EV charging—and especially EV charging access—will be affected. (Tesla has also hired some Supercharger employees.)
Ford and Rivian can get third-party adapters from other suppliers, “but it may not be easy to find firms with the manufacturing capacity and expertise,” The New York Times report. “Adapters from other companies will have to go through an extensive testing and approval process.” Tesla did not respond to a request for comment, but the company said X posted on August 23 that its New York Gigafactory, located in Buffalo, was “ramping up” production of NACS adapters to 8,000 units per week.
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