Volvo To Adopt Tesla's NACS Charging Inlet For BEVs In North America From 2025

Starting next year, existing Volvo BEVs will gain access to the Tesla Supercharging network with an adapter.

Volvo EX30

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Jun 27, 2023 at 1:56pm ET

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Volvo Cars is another automaker that officially announced a switch from the Combined Charging System (CCS1) to Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging connector in North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico).

Volvo entered into an agreement with Tesla to use the NACS charging connector, as the first European brand. Previously, a similar move was announced by Ford, General Motors, and Rivian, not forgetting about Aptera (an EV start-up).

According to Volvo, the deal with Tesla will open the Tesla Supercharging network (more than 12,000 stalls in more than 2,000 locations) for all existing Volvo BEVs from the first half of 2024. However, the CCS1-compatible Volvo cars (XC40, C40 Recharge, and the upcoming XC30 and XC90) will have to use a NACS to CCS1 adapter.

In 2025, when the first natively NACS-compatible models arrive, an adapter will not be needed.

On the other hand, to use the older CCS1 fast chargers, customers will have to use CCS1 to NACS adapter (most likely the same one that Tesla uses).

One of the most important elements of the agreement is that Volvo intends to include the Tesla Supercharging network in its software system. The cars' onboard navigation will display Supercharging stations as well as allow to use them/pay within one single interface.

"With the Volvo Cars app, drivers of fully electric Volvo cars in the United States and Canada will be able to find tens of thousands of public charging stations, get real-time information on availability of chargers, and pay for their charging session through one single interface, making charging a Volvo car easy."

Tesla already welcomed Volvo on board the fast-growing NACS-coalition.

Well, Volvo was one of the favorites to announce the switch early, after Ford and General Motors entered the game. There is no surprise here.

The company outlined a 100 percent all-electric lineup by 2030 and must act quickly. To attract customers to its electric cars, charging must be easy. The company repeated this a few times in its press release.

Jim Rowan, CEO at Volvo Cars said:

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“As part of our journey to becoming fully electric by 2030, we want to make life with an electric car as easy as possible. One major inhibitor to more people making the shift to electric driving – a key step in making transportation more sustainable – is access to easy and convenient charging infrastructure. Today, with this agreement, we’re taking a major step to remove this threshold for Volvo drivers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.”

Now our list of candidates to select NACS as its future charging standard in North America has a new leader - Polestar, which is a company related to Volvo, within the broader Geely group.