Tesla is reportedly in talks to join Ionity charging network along with other automakers

According to reports coming out of Germany, Tesla has been added to a long list of automakers in talks to join Ionity, the new ‘ultra-fast’ joint electric car charging network by BMW, Mercedes, Ford and Volkswagen.

In Europe, the Ionity network is considered the most ambitious electric vehicle charging infrastructure project since Tesla’s Supercharger network.

It features thousands of planned ‘ultra-fast’ chargers with a capacity of 350 kW at 400 stations across Europe.

Volkswagen’s brands, along with other German automakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Ford, are behind the project, but Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung reports this week that several other automakers have shown interest in participating in the ongoing project, including “Volvo, Fiat Chrysler, PSA / Opel, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tesla.”

Tesla is the only one of those automakers that already has a network of thousands of Superchargers in Europe at close to 400 different stations.

But the Superchargers are only accessible to Tesla vehicles and they are limited to an output of 120 kW.

The Ionity network is using the CCS standard, which most automakers have been backing, including Tesla even though they have yet to adopt the plug for their vehicles or make an adapter for it, like they did for the CHAdeMO stations.

Last week, we reported on Ionity launching its first ‘ultra-fast’ electric car charging station and making it free for a limited time.

Electrek’s Take

To be fair, those reports might only be coming from the network trying to drum up some hype in order to secure more partnerships, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if all those automakers, including Tesla, are indeed in talks to potentially join.

Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have openly been talking about their interest in partnering with other automakers to develop charging infrastructure.

So far, it was about the Supercharger network, which has been a successful strategy for Tesla, but all EV companies can benefit from more good charging networks.

Also, Tesla joined the CharIN organization as a core member to promote the CCS standard, but we have yet to see any concrete implementations in the company’s product line.

Backing the Ionity network could maybe become one? What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.