GM follows Ford, adopts Tesla's NACS connector

GM will adopt the Tesla charging connector for its electric vehicles (EV) from 2025, the company announced, in a major decision that should benefit the industry, consumers, and Tesla itself.

Under the agreement, GM will manufacture vehicles with Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) and owners of GM EVs will get access to Tesla's 12,000-strong supercharging network from next year through the use of a special adapter.GM will adopt the Tesla charging connector for its electric vehicles (EV) from 2025, the company announced, in a major decision that should benefit the industry, consumers, and Tesla itself.

Under the agreement, GM will manufacture vehicles with Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) and owners of GM EVs will get access to Tesla's 12,000-strong supercharging network from next year through the use of a special adapter.

GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra called the deal "an important next step in quickly expanding access to fast chargers for our customers" and said it would make the transition to electric vehicles seamless while helping move the industry toward a single North American charging standard.

Tesla's agreement with GM follows a similar announcement with Ford last month. With GM's entry, the top three EV makers in America, who account for around 70 percent of the EVs sold in the country, have agreed to a single charging connector.

Tesla is the largest EVs maker in the US, selling more EVs than all other manufacturers combined. The company's Model Y was the best selling car globally for January-March this year.

GM is still investing heavily in its internal combustion engine (ICE) platforms as well. The company this week announced plans to invest more than $500 million at a Texas plant that will assemble full-size next-generation SUVs running on ICE technology. A few days prior, it said it would invest more than $1 billion to re-tool two manufacturing sites in Michigan for manufacture of new generation heavy-duty trucks, also running on ICEs. 

GM has said it will cease production of petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035.