More auto manufacturers are joining the NACS stampede, with both Honda and Acura switching to the NACS charging connector.  Unfortunately, the companies are still determining when it will happen since the timing depends on General Motors.

It may be in 2025 or 2026, according to Autoblog, which quoted company management. The first all-electric Honda Prologue and all-electric Acura ZDX will be based on GM’s Ultium platform. The production of those two models will take place at GM’s factories alongside GM’s Ultium-based models. On the one hand, this doesn’t leave Honda and Accura with a lot of control. On the other hand, it suggests that using the NACS will follow GM’s schedule, which means it might arrive sometime in 2025. Initially, the upcoming new models will have to be equipped with the CCS1 charging inlet.

American Honda Motor Company’s President and CEO, Noriya Kaihara, said during Friday’s interview: “It is quite important. We also have to push NACS, as well. It is clear.”  

Shinji Aoyama, the Executive Vice President of Honda Motor Company, added: “We clearly depend on GM. Once they [switch to NACS], this will follow for ZDX, as well.”

Considering Honda and Acura’s switch as confirmed, the list of OEMs that have announced a switch from CCS1 to the NACS charging connector in North America has increased to nine. The other eight are Ford, General Motors, Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Fisker. Aptera signed up first, but the company is not yet selling its EVs.  With Honda and Acura switching to the NACS, who else might be next?

The Tesla-developed NACS charging connector will soon be standardized by SAE International “on an expedited timeframe”.

Tesla’s proprietary plug and the Combined Charging System (CCS) plug is compared side by side.

Honda acknowledges that public fast charging infrastructure needs to be secure, reliable, and accessible, as well as well-maintained after installation – much like the Tesla Supercharging network.

It sounds like an indirect critique of other charging networks, and could easily be a reason why the company joined several other automakers to build a new fast-charging network with at least 30,000 high-power chargers in urban and highway locations.

According to the Autoblog article, Jay Joseph, American Honda’s Vice President of Sustainability and Business Development, said: “The software needs to be really reliable and really open infrastructure so it communicates with every OEM’s software. 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.” “If you look at what’s so great about the Tesla Supercharger network, it’s the maintenance. They stay on top of it, they’ve got someone onsite monitoring the equipment, they’re monitoring it electronically and remotely, and they fix it – fast. That’s probably the most important thing.”

source: Autoblog