Honda Agrees To Use Tesla Tech From 2025

Honda is the latest automaker to announce it will adopt Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS). Thanks to this new agreement with Tesla, Honda EVs offered in North America from 2025 will be able to charge their batteries at the expansive Tesla Supercharger network, making ownership more convenient for future Honda EV drivers.

The first Honda EV to be NACS compatible will arrive in 2025, with all subsequent models expected to keep the NACS standards. This means the Prologue, an Ultium-based EV built by GM, will probably not be privy to an NACS connector at launch, as it's expected to arrive for the 2024 model year. However, a new large electric SUV for the American market has been promised on a Honda architecture, and it's expected this will be the first model engineered to accept NACS right out of the box.

Models like the Prologue launched before 2025 (equipped with a CCS port) will be compatible with NACS thanks to a charging adaptor.

Honda is one of several automakers involved in a joint venture that endeavors to build a charging network to rival Tesla's Supercharger service. The alliance hopes to build 30,000 charging points across North America, using public and private funds to construct the infrastructure. It will reportedly have charging speeds of up to 400 kW, exceeding the current 250 kW offered by Tesla Superchargers.

The new network will boast CCS and NACS connectors, meaning anyone from Model 3 to Mustang Mach-E owners can utilize the service. Honda doesn't have a single electric vehicle on sale in North America yet and is instead focusing on having the infrastructure ready before launching the product reliant on said infrastructure.

Many automakers have adopted Tesla's NACS connector over the last few months. Ford was the first manufacturer to agree and was followed closely by General Motors. Since then, many more have followed in their footsteps, the most recent being Nissan and Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes is one of the seven automakers that joined the charging mega-alliance but has also committed to rolling out a 10,000-strong branded charging network of its own. It's likely this branded network will be assimilated into the mega network.

With more charge points popping up in the coming years, electric vehicle ownership will be more accessible, especially as battery technology improves. However, with the looming threat of a lithium shortage, mass adoption of electric vehicles may be delayed for some time.