Six electric vehicle charging companies will face liquidation, possibly as early as February.
For years they had little competition except for each other. But soon they’ll have to contend with Tesla’s acclaimed Supercharger network.
From a charging perspective, the EV world used to be split into two. There was Tesla, and then there were others. Tesla owners enjoyed widespread, fast and reliable charging. Other companies have managed to get by by combining accounts from different companies, but none can boast a reliability rating that comes close to Tesla’s.
Then, in May, the wall came down. Ford has signed a deal with Tesla that will give its EVs access to a subset of its network of 12,000 Superchargers. Starting in 2024, existing owners will be able to charge at these kiosks using adapters, and in 2025, future EVs will be able to upgrade their Combined Charging System (CCS) plugs to Tesla’s plugs, also known as the North American Charging Standard. Ford said it will be replaced by (NACS).
Other automakers quickly followed suit. Then GM, then Rivian, Volvo, Mercedes, nissan, and pretty much everyone else. One of his last companies to adopt this plug was Volkswagen. This is not surprising given Volkswagen’s majority ownership of Electrify America, which was supposed to be his CCS equivalent to the Supercharger Network.
EV owners like me had, and still have, high hopes for Electrify America. The company was founded out of the Volkswagen diesel settlement and was the first network outside of Tesla to prioritize nationwide DC fast charging at speeds that can support the latest EVs. When Electrify America’s best charger works, it’s actually fast, faster than most Tesla Superchargers.
Source: techcrunch.com
