7 Tesla Rivals Team Up on EV Fast Chargers

Electric vehicle owners can shed some of their "range anxiety" as seven major automakers are teaming up to bring many more DC fast chargers to North America—at a cost of more than $1 billion. There are 32,000 publicly available DC fast chargers, also known as Level 3 chargers, in the US as of this month. With 2.3 million EVs on the road, that's one charger per 72 vehicles, per Quartz. Beginning next year, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis plan to install at least 30,000 new fast-charge points in the US and Canada "in urban and highway locations to ensure customers can charge whenever and wherever they need," according to Wednesday's joint statement.

The new stations, to begin opening in the US next summer, will offer canopy cover wherever possible, as well as "restrooms, food service, and retail operations either nearby or within the same complex," per Quartz. The stations will also have both Combined Charging System (CCS) and North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors. As Forbes reports, more automakers are adopting the Tesla-exclusive NACS connector to improve access to charging stations, given Tesla's expansive Supercharger network, now counting 17,000 stations in the US. While Tesla has said it will open 7,500 chargers to other brands by the end of 2024, it has allowed access to fewer than 100 chargers so far, per Quartz.

The outlet notes that "range anxiety," or the fear of not being able to find a charger on long trips, is a major reason people avoid purchasing EVs. "Charging is an inseparable part of the EV experience, and this network will be another step to make it as convenient as possible," says Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius, per the Washington Post. Yet all 30,000 new stations won't be in operation until the end of the decade, reports the New York Times. Many more fast chargers will be needed by then. Some 30 million to 42 million EVs are expected to be on the road by 2030, when about half of vehicles sold are likely to be EVs, per Quartz. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates 182,000 fast chargers will be needed to support them. (More electric vehicles stories.)