Tesla May Finally Be Ramping Up Charging Adapter Production

In a post to the social media platform X, Tesla’s official charging account announced that the automaker’s upstate New York factory is ramping up NACS adapter production. Adapters will allow EVs from other automakers like Ford, General Motors and Hyundai to access Tesla’s Supercharger network once the companies give the green light.  Many car companies announced they would switch to Tesla’s charging standard last year, starting with these adapters. But the rollout has been slow. This was supposed to be the year when drivers of electric vehicles from Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia and more would have a much easier time doing road trips—or even finding plugs on a regular basis. That’s because, in 2023, pretty much every automaker operating in the U.S. announced an eventual switch to Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug, as well as access to Tesla’s charging network, starting with adapters that would let their cars physically work with Tesla’s plugs.  But as we approach September of 2024, it’s clear that this pivot is taking much longer than expected. That’s because the rollout of said adapters—which are manufactured by Tesla—has taken a long time, as have the behind-the-scenes agreements and software updates that would allow charger access to happen.  Finally, we’re getting some good news on this front—potentially. On X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter (and now owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk), Tesla’s official charging account announced that the automaker’s upstate New York factory was working to ramp up adapter manufacturing:  Beyond that, no other details were disclosed. Tesla as a company does not respond to questions from the media. It’s also not immediately clear how many adapters the Buffalo factory was making recently. It is also not clear what other suppliers the automakers may now be using.  But based on comments to InsideEVs from people who work at a multitude of automakers—many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity—Tesla has been the primary holdup around getting more  chargers out and more cars on the network.

In part, sources say, this was because of Musk’s mass layoffs at the charging team earlier this year as the company now seeks to pivot to robotaxis and artificial intelligence. The lack of employees in that division has not only slowed adapter production, industry sources say, but it also meant a pause on the software updates needed to get non-Tesla EVs to even work with the Supercharger network.

Since the spring layoffs, Tesla’s charging division has slowly been re-hiring again, including many former employees who previously were let go. Opening up its charging network was supposed to unlock billions of dollars in revenue, as well as federal funding.

As of now, only Rivian and Ford have seen adapter rollouts to customers. In Ford’s case, many Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning owners have been waiting months for their parts to arrive after reserving them early.

“The supply is constrained,” Ford spokesperson Marty Gunsberg told The Detroit Free Press in June. “Sales are up and customers continue to reserve their complimentary adapter. We keep getting reservations.” GM’s EVs were supposed to be next up, but those have largely been MIA for months.

“GM continues to work in good faith with Tesla to finalize an agreement that offers a seamless Supercharger Network experience for our customers,” a GM spokesperson told InsideEVs during the GMC Sierra EV launch. “As those discussions continue, GM is continuing to expand access to charging throughout North America, with GM drivers currently having access to more than 195,000 chargers. Access to charging is vital to ensuring a positive customer experience and is an enabler to EV market growth.”

In any case, Tesla’s latest announcement—if it proves true—could mean that things are changing and that more EVs could have better charging options soon enough. We expect to hear more from the other automakers about their plans here as well.

Do you know anything about Tesla’s adapter rollout? Get in touch; we’d be happy to discuss things anonymously. 

There is a consideration beyond “Elon sketchiness”. I would have to imagine that for corporate auto to make such bold announcements some form of “contract” is in place to allow the announcement of starting to manufacture BEV vehicles in the U.S. using the NACS, standard connector pinout from 2025 on.

A substantial “tell” in the above comments provides a concept of Elon Musk writing checks with his mouth his tech teams can’t cash, then in this case basically firing the whole Supercharger team that would be in charge of making NACS available to all BEV owners as a “standard”. This plays out as the adage: “open mouth, insert foot.” to “open mouth, shoot foot.” The considerable news cycle on Musk’s purchase of Twitter and tempestuous ”reorganization” to ‘X’ has been contentious to say the least. Elon Musk has invented his own brand and meme of “I’ve been Twittered”.