Fisker joins Tesla charging network

US EV pure play Fisker has signed a deal with peer Tesla to allow its customers access to the latter’s supercharger network. Starting in 2025, Fisker vehicles will be compatible with Tesla’s North American charging standard (NACS).

Fisker users will gain access to 12,000 NACS superchargers across North America, beginning in Q1 of 2025. The company says that Combined Charging System (CCS) adapters will be available for its current cars which are not fitted with the required hardware, and that from 2025 onwards, Fisker vehicles will be built with a NACS inlet.

Fisker becomes the latest EV manufacturer to adopt NACS charging, joining ranks including Sweden’s Volvo and Polestar, US OEMs Ford and Rivian, and Japan’s Nissan. Germany’s Mercedes and US firm GM had previously signed similar NACS deals before a July announcement that they were both joining a coalition of seven automakers to construct its own DC fast charging network.

That deal could threaten Tesla’s market share lead in public high speed charging stations held via NACS, which ever since OEMs began following Ford’s lead has been considered on its way to becoming the de facto charging standard. However, expanding the already long list of compatible partners should help NACS keep ahead.

A report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in June estimated that by 2030, the US will need roughly 180,000 public fast charging ports to match the number of BEVs forecasted to be on the road.

While the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires manufacturers to incorporate a Society of Automotive Engineers-approved CCS charging standard if they hope secure any of the $7.5bn of available funding, there have been hints that the White House is flexible to extending support to NACS too. The recently announced charging coalition is certainly keen to ensure it can cash in on the government help, as the joint venture is explicitly promising interoperability between charging standards.

Fisker momentum

Fisker raised eyebrows this month with promises that its Pear EV will sell for under $30,000. Along with plans to sell its Alaska E-pickup at under $40,000, Fisker’s eponymous CEO hailed his company’s “innovative engineering” as the primary factor in passing on savings to consumers amid an ongoing price war.

“This is another smart move by Fisker after adopting an innovative manufacturing model. However, it could take some time because Fisker needs to make some changes in its software and hardware to make it compatible with Tesla superchargers,” says German-based EV analyst Atul Singh Chandel.