Toyota has become the latest major automaker to ink a deal with Tesla to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS) — also known as “the Tesla plug” — on its fully electric vehicles from 2025.
The agreement sees the Japanese car giant following in the footsteps of more than a dozen other automakers that have also adopted Tesla’s charging connector, among them GM, Ford, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo, and Honda.
The move toward NACS greatly increases the convenience for owners of the growing number of electric vehicles as it will give them access to more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across the U.S.
Toyota said it will incorporate the NACS port into “certain” EVs, adding that its existing electric vehicles with the Combined Charging System (CCS) plug will get Tesla Supercharger access via an adapter that will be supplied in 2025.
It revealed that one of the vehicles to be fitted with the NACS port will be an all-new, three-row, battery-electric SUV assembled at Toyota’s Kentucky facility, the automaker’s largest vehicle manufacturing plant globally.
Tesla announced Toyota’s decision in a post on social media, saying: “Welcome Toyota and Lexus owners to Superchargers across North America.”
Welcome Toyota and Lexus owners to Superchargers across North America ⚡️
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) October 19, 2023
In its own announcement, Toyota, which is in a constant tussle with GM for the largest share of the U.S. auto market across all vehicle types, said it is “dedicated to delivering a seamless charging experience,” pointing out that its customers already have access to more than 84,000 charging ports in North America, including level 2 and DC fast chargers.
It added: “With NACS, customers will have access to more charging options, especially DC fast chargers, allowing greater confidence to travel to even more destinations.”
Toyota has been slow to embrace fully electric vehicles, which fits with its slow decision to join others in adopting NACS. But in a win for Tesla, it’s now joined the club.
