Electrify America to Add NACS Connector by 2025, While Continuing CCS Support

[Administrator]

Electrify America to add North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector by 2025

Electrify America continues to support CCS-1 plug standard while adding the availability of the NACS connector

Reston, VA (June 29, 2023) – Electrify America announced today it will add the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector to Electrify America and Electrify Canada’s fast charging networks as part of the company’s commitment to broaden charging solutions for electric vehicle (EV) drivers today and in the future.

Electrify America will continue to provide the Combined Charging System (CCS-1) connector throughout its network as it transitions to also support automakers adding NACS charging ports. The company will work to offer a NACS connector option at existing and future charging stations by 2025 to make charging as convenient as possible for EV owners.

“Since our founding, we have focused on building an inclusive and open hyper-fast charging network to facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles,” said Robert Barrosa, president and CEO of Electrify America. “We look forward to continuing to support industry-wide standards that increase vehicle interoperability and streamline public charging.”

In addition to working with The Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN) and SAE International, Electrify America is participating in the newly created National Charging Experience Consortium (ChargeX), which will focus on strengthening the national charging infrastructure and improving the EV ownership experience.

As e-mobility accelerates, Electrify America will continue to deliver what the customers need. The addition of the NACS connector continues Electrify America’s commitment to drive EV adoption forward and its focus on providing ultra-fast charging for all EVs. The fast-charging network has more than 850 charging stations with about 4,000 individual chargers in the United States and Canada. Electrify America and Electrify Canada stations feature chargers at 150 kilowatts (kW) and 350kW, some of the fastest charging speeds available today.

By opening up Electrify America’s fast charging network to the hundreds of thousands of current and future EV drivers, it will support the EV industry growth by providing more charging options. As the company’s inclusion of the NACS connector continues to evolve, Electrify America will share further updates on its progress, along with current and future station update plans over the coming months.

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[F150ROD]

Lol……..

“We never said anything about maintenance or improving user experience…… you wanted the connector, there it is….” Smh

 

[RickLightning]

"With both CCS and NACS connectors, we hope to equally disappoint people across more makes and models than ever before".

 

[COrocket]

From reading some articles it appears that people believe the CCS connector is the reason for the woes experienced at CCS stations these days. Even though the NACS plug is a superior design and easier to handle, the underlying electrical equipment design and technology of the Tesla Supercharger network is what makes it fast and reliable, not the shape of the plastic attached to the end of the cord.

Hopefully EA will start to renovate and improve their charging stations to compete, otherwise I'm not sure people will continue to use them once most vehicles have access to Tesla Superchargers

 

[Simpso57]

From reading some articles it appears that people believe the CCS connector is the reason for the woes experienced at CCS stations these days. Even though the NACS plug is a superior design and easier to handle, the underlying electrical equipment design and technology of the Tesla Supercharger network is what makes it fast and reliable, not the shape of the plastic attached to the end of the cord.

Hopefully EA will start to renovate and improve their charging stations to compete, otherwise I'm not sure people will continue to use them once most vehicles have access to Tesla Superchargers

Yep. I think if EA chargers were reliable, all of this NACS conversion wouldn't be happening.

 

[Monkey]

Lol……..

“We never said anything about maintenance or improving user experience…… you wanted the connector, there it is….” Smh

They're only adding it because they know they'll be required to as soon as cars start shipping with it if they want the infrastructure funding.

With today's news / and confirmation from GM and Ford that Tesla will not be charging a premium for any of their official partner companies, that's really going to crank up the competition. EA will have to fix their reliability issues if they want to survive. And when we talk about the companies that are officially adopting NACS, which is almost everyone now, as of today it stands as: Ford, GM, Rivian, Geely (Volvo, Polestar), Jaguar and Hyundai. Stellantis (Dode/RAM, Chrysler, Mercedes) as well as KIA are "reviewing" and say they will follow what the market decides.

Yep. I think if EA chargers were reliable, all of this NACS conversion wouldn't be happening.

Yeah, probably not. Joe Consumer doesn't care which connecter becomes "the standard"r. They just want to be able to pull up to a charger, plug in and have it work as expected. Bonus if it can happen without an adapter, but adapter is no big deal if it works. While the NACS connector has some technical advantages with fewer connectors, both it and CCS already far outpace what the capability of current vehicles and chargers can offer. So it's not like there is a superior functional difference that anyone will see for some time. I think what I like the most about the NACS connector right now vs. CCS is the way it locks into the vehicle. I'm worried that this might be the one aspect of NACS that SAE will screw up as they adopt and re-write the standard specs.

 

[GDN]

Goes hand in hand with VW. This is the last big straw. Anyone else that doesn't convert after this will be out of business. https://electrek.co/2023/06/29/volkswagen-talks-tesla-adopt-nacs-connector/

 

[MickeyAO]

Do any EEs here (do we even have any?) have an opinion on which will be better when AC Level 3 or DC Level 3 is finally defined and implemented?

 

[astricklin]

Goes hand in hand with VW. This is the last big straw. Anyone else that doesn't convert after this will be out of business. https://electrek.co/2023/06/29/volkswagen-talks-tesla-adopt-nacs-connector/

Wow the chatter originally was that VW eos be one of the last holdouts. Here's to hoping they get things in order quickly.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Oh, p-l-e-a-s-e. I've made seven roadtrips of more than 500 miles (two over 1500 miles) in my Pro SR. My best experience with EA was in Baker, California at what EA describes as their flagship facility. And that experience was basically ok - it was what EA ought to be delivering everywhere. Instead, 90% of their stations are hellholes like Quartzsite (AZ), with pathetically few dispensers cooking in the sun without solarshades, often throttled to trickle charger speeds, and that is only when they work at all, which isn't often. There is no company in my daily life that more consistently disappoints me with their crappy product/service than Electrify America. It is pretty apparent that EA just simply doesn't give a shit.

 

[GunRack]

Oh, p-l-e-a-s-e. I've made seven roadtrips of more than 500 miles (two over 1500 miles) in my Pro SR. My best experience with EA was in Baker, California at what EA describes as their flagship facility. And that experience was basically ok - it was what EA ought to be delivering everywhere. Instead, 90% of their stations are hellholes like Quartzsite (AZ), with pathetically few dispensers cooking in the sun without solarshades, often throttled to trickle charger speeds, and that is only when they work at all, which isn't often. There is no company in my daily life that more consistently disappoints me with their crappy product/service than Electrify America. It is pretty apparent that EA just simply doesn't give a shit.

Baker, California EA left my account bricked for 6 days. Not the car, the EA account. It said I was still charging after I stopped and unplugged. It remained saying I was still charging for 5 more days and as a result I couldn't use any other EA chargers with my account. Customer service call center couldn't do anything. They opened a ticket and then just told me to keep checking the app. I wasn't getting billed thankfully. I was just on a road trip and effectively locked out of EA network for the whole trip.

 

[Texas Dan]

Do any EEs here (do we even have any?) have an opinion on which will be better when AC Level 3 or DC Level 3 is finally defined and implemented?

AC Level 3 is a 3-phase standard that is used with the J-1772 plug in Europe but it’s not used in North America. There is no such thing as a DC Level 3 standard regardless of what many try to call the SAE J-1772 DC Level 2 (CCS) standard or all DC standards. High voltage AC 3-phase charging power would require expensive and bulky inverters be installed in cars so that’s probably not going to happen.

 

[sotek2345]

Baker, California EA left my account bricked for 6 days. Not the car, the EA account. It said I was still charging after I stopped and unplugged. It remained saying I was still charging for 5 more days and as a result I couldn't use any other EA chargers with my account. Customer service call center couldn't do anything. They opened a ticket and then just told me to keep checking the app. I wasn't getting billed thankfully. I was just on a road trip and effectively locked out of EA network for the whole trip.

I had the same thing happen to me but was still able to use EA by calling them and having them remote activate charging.

Ford plug and charge also still worked.

 

[GunRack]

I had the same thing happen to me but was still able to use EA by calling them and having them remote activate charging.

Ford plug and charge also still worked.

I tried calling them as soon as I discover the problem at the next charger. They could remote activate the charger, however they wouldn't honor my cheaper EA+ pass rate because it was still being shown as currently being used. So effectively their only solution was for me to pay full rate which would be the same as just sticking my credit card in or using the Ford connect. CS never offered me a free session and when I wrote a complaint they never offered any kind of discount or refund. I still want my $4 back for that EA+ subscription I couldn't use on that road trip

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