Sales champion but also charging champion. Parallel to its conquest of the market, the American manufacturer Tesla is doing everything possible to establish itself as the master standard of the terminals. In North America, Elon Musk is on the verge of converting most of his rivals to his fast-charging technology, which is NCAS (North American Charging Standard) compliant.
In recent weeks, Ford, General Motors, Volvo and even the 100% electric manufacturer Rivian have announced agreements with the Californian company to be able to use their Superchargers, until now reserved only for users of the brand. Volkswagen for its part is in full negotiation.
Initially, drivers in Ford or General Motors cars will have to use an adapter to connect to Tesla’s network. But by 2025, these manufacturers will offer Supercharger-compatible plugs directly in their vehicles.
American manufacturers face the obvious
American manufacturers have decided to collaborate with Tesla for a simple and good reason: they have no other choice. The Californian company has the largest fast charging network in the United States with 12,000 installed terminals.
The markets are not wrong either. Since announcing its partnership with Ford in late May, Tesla’s shares have skyrocketed 40%.
In Europe, the problem is different. Manufacturers do not need to make an agreement as such with Tesla because all charging stations follow the same standard, the CCS (Combined Charging System).
Preserving Tesla’s brand image
However, Tesla only began to open its stations to other users in November 2021. Today of the 11,000 Superchargers that Tesla has in the old continent, only half are accessible to all electric car drivers.
“Above all, we don’t want the Tesla driver to have a bad charging experience,” the company explains. There’s no question, for example, that he waits too long against a Supercharger. Car si Tesla s’est fixed comme objective, à terme, d’ouvrir l’ensemble de ses stations à tous en Europe, et plus largement de régner en maître sur ce marché, le groupe d’Elon Musk tient aussi absolument à cultiver son brand image.
Source: BFM TV
