ChargePoint announced today that it is adopting Tesla’s NACS connector, which will be offered on new and existing charging stations.
Soon after Ford and then GM/Rivian announced that it was adopting NACS, Tesla’s proprietary connector that it decided to open to the rest of the industry, virtually all charging station manufacturers and operators announced that they will offer NACS connectors on their charging stations.
But there was a big one missing: ChargePoint.
It sounds like it took a little more time to evaluate the situation, but ChargePoint announced today that it will offer NACS:
ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CHPT), a leading provider of solutions for charging electric vehicles (EVs), today announced the availability of NACS connector options for new orders and for currently installed CP6000, CPE 250, and Express Plus customers. The addition of NACS enabled solutions, in addition to J1772 or Combined Charging System (CCS) solutions, enables customers to serve the charging needs of any EV in any parking space.
ChargePoint wants to offer charging solutions for all of the new EVs from Ford, GM, and Rivian that will feature the connector.
Top comment by Wayne Lewis
This is welcome news! One thing to note is that Electrify America theoretically doesn’t have to make an announcement of adopting NACS. Electrify America buys their charging units from SK Signet, who has already committed to adding NACS across all of their charging solutions.
So Electrify America could just start buying and installing those units without ever making an official announcement. It would be incrediblely mind boggling if they don’t purchase units with NACS connectors, as they would further risk going out of business. The stakes are already quite high as is.
It’s not the first time that ChargePoint dabbled with the Tesla connector. At CES 2017, Electrek spotted a ChargePoint station with a NACS connector, which was just known as the Tesla connector at the time.
After we asked about it, it quickly disappeared from ChargePoint’s booth as if it had no business there:
In a press release, the company says it will not only offer NACS connectors on new charging stations, but it will also start retrofitting existing stations on demand starting in 2024:
ChargePoint’s DC line of products, the Express 250 and Express Plus, along with ChargePoint’s home-based AC line of products, the CPF50 and award-winning Home Flex will be sold or can be reconfigured with NACS connector options later this year. Similarly, ChargePoint’s newest commercial and light fleet product, the CP6000 will be sold or can be reconfigured with NACS connector options in early 2024. In addition to improving charging station compatibility with NACS, the ChargePoint mobile app, which allows EV drivers access to more than 743,000 active and roaming ports, currently includes personal location filters for NACS, J1772, CCS and CHAdeMO connectors so EV drivers can easily locate and access the proper charging solution for their vehicle.
With now ChargePoint on board, virtually all major charging companies in North America are adopting NACS except for Electrify America, which is still holding out.
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