Nissan Motor Co. is the first Japanese automaker to announce plans to plug into Tesla’s Supercharger network.
Nissan said Wednesday that its electric vehicle customers will have access to Tesla’s Superchargers in the U.S. and Canada next year. Adapters will be provided then.
Starting in 2025, the region’s Nissan and Infiniti electric vehicles will also be equipped with the North American Charging Standard port, allowing the EVs to plug into the Supercharger network.
“Adopting the NACS standard underlines Nissan’s commitment to making electric mobility even more accessible as we follow our Ambition 2030 long-term vision of greater electrification,”” Jeremie Papin, Nissan Americas chairperson, said in a statement.
Over the past few months, Tesla has inked similar deals with Ford Motor Co., General Motors, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. But Japan’s big brands — Honda and Toyota — remain holdouts.
Tesla has the most extensive fast-charge network in the U.S., with more than 17,000 individual chargers in the Supercharger network, according to iSeeCars. Networks using the Combined Charging System, such as Electrify America and EVgo, have about 11,500 fast chargers.
Nissan helped pioneer the EV business when it launched the Leaf hatchback in the U.S. in late 2010, two years before Tesla delivered the Model S.
Having lost that early lead in the segment, Nissan is mounting a comeback. The automaker expects zero-emission vehicles to account for more than 40 percent of its U.S. sales by 2030.
To get there, Nissan is rolling out a fleet of next-generation models. Late last year, the automaker introduced the Ariya electric crossover, and more models are planned for the decade’s second half.
