Elon Musk encourages Toyota (TM) to join EV charging revolution, embrace NACS connector

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk suggested on Twitter Wednesday that he would welcome Toyota (NYSE: TM) into the coalition of automakers that have already adopted his company’s charging connector, known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS).

Over the past several weeks, numerous automakers and charging companies have already committed to adopting the NACS connector.

The moves were started by Ford (NYSE: F), which was the first major automaker to announce its intention of making all its electric vehicles compatible with Tesla Superchargers by 2025 without an adapter. Starting next year, Ford EVs will be able to use 12,000 Supercharger locations across North America, but they will need an adapter. In 2025, the adapter will no longer be necessary.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) made a similar announcement last week prompting numerous charging companies, including ChargePoint, Blink, and Tritium to follow suit.

“Given recent announcements by Tesla, GM, and Ford, we are clearly witnessing the continued evolution of the EV charging industry as technologies advance and industry stakeholders come together and evaluate best practices,” Blink said in a statement.

However, Musk was seen to be encouraging Toyota to be the next automaker to make the commitment, as noted in response on Twitter to an article regarding the Japanese automaker’s bZ4X EV, which had a “painfully slow” charging experience, according to Business Insider.

“They should join the NACS coalition!” Musk said.

Toyota has faced recent criticism for being seen as slow to embrace electric vehicles (EVs) compared to other automakers, choosing to focus on hybrid powertrains instead. However, this week, the company made an announcement that it intends to develop high-performance solid-state batteries. This move aims to enhance and extend the driving range of EVs while simultaneously reducing production costs.

Shares of TM are up 4.13% while TSLA is down 2.45% in afternoon trading on Wednesday.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]

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