Both Honda and Acura have confirmed that they will produce EVs using the North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging plug developed by Tesla.
The two car manufacturers join a growing number of companies that will adopt the NACS charging plug in North America. Others include the likes of Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Polestar, Rivian, Volvo, Stellantis, and Fisker. American Honda Motor Co. president and chief executive Noriya Kaihara confirmed the move while speaking with Autoblog at the recent Monterey Car Week.
“It is quite important,” he said. “We also have to push NACS, as well. It is clear.”
Read: 2024 Acura ZDX Returns As An Electric SUV With Up To 500 HP Starting From $60,000
The switch will not be made immediately. Acura’s first ground-up EV, the ZDX, as well as the Honda Prologue, both use General Motors underpinnings and the firm’s Ultium battery technology. As such, the two models won’t be able to switch to NACS until GM makes it possible. Honda executive vice president Shinji Aoyama added that once GM switches to NACS, the Acura ZDX will follow suit, but this probably won’t happen until 2025 or 2026.
Interestingly, Honda is among seven car manufacturers working together to create a new North American charging network to rival the Tesla Supercharger network. The new joint venture aims to establish at least 30,000 chargers across the United States and Canada, all of which will offer DC fast charging and have both CCS and NACS plugs. These charging stations will initially be established in metropolitan areas and along major highways before expanding to important connecting corridors and popular vacation routes.
While speaking with Autoblog, American Honda’s vice president of sustainability and business development Jay Joseph noted that the development of these new chargers is ongoing.
“The software needs to be really reliable and really open infrastructure so it communicates with every OEM’s software,” he said. “The hardware needs to be capable of the highest levels of charging. It needs to be secure, it needs to be reliable, it needs to be accessible.”
