UK-based power equipment manufacturer Volex has been selected to manufacture the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors for Tesla. This comes as the US EV manufacturer is looking to establish its connector as a new standard in the US.
Even though the deal was announced, Volex says it “is stocked and ready to immediately supply automotive OEMs and charging infrastructure suppliers.”
“As a selected supplier of the NACS coupler, this further validates that Volex continues to be the trusted manufacturing partner of Tesla’s charging system technology to the world’s leading EV manufacturing companies and suppliers who utilise the NACS EV Charging system,” says Nat Rothschild, Executive Chairman of Volex.
Tesla released the design of its proprietary Supercharger connector in North America in November 2022 and invited car manufacturers and charging network operators to use Supercharger plugs and sockets in the future to make its system the charging standard in North America.
Several carmakers and charge point operators – such as Ford, GM, Rivian and Blink Charging – recently announced that they would adopt the technology from 2025. However, there are still plenty that have not, and Electrek notes that this licencing deal could put some distance between Tesla and NACS and “ease the minds of those holding out.”