Stellantis says it is evaluating Tesla’s charging standard

GM said last week it would join Ford in adopting Tesla’s previously proprietary North American Charging Standard (NACS), set to dominate about 60 percent of the U.S. EV market with the partnerships.

A flurry of EV charging equipment makers subsequently said they would offer chargers with Tesla’s connector, adding momentum to the NACS in a charging standard war.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during a conference in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday that opening up its exclusive charging networks “might be actually competitive disadvantage,” but doing so would “help the rest of the industry.”

“I think it’s morally right, but (whether) it’s financially smart remains to be seen,” he said.

In the meantime, he said Tesla does not expect to produce its Semi electric trucks in large volume until sometime next year, because of the need to ensure a sufficient battery supply for the model, which uses larger batteries than a passenger car.

In December, Musk delivered the long-delayed Semi to PepsiCo without offering updated forecasts for the truck’s pricing, production plans or how much cargo it could haul. Musk previously said Tesla would aim to produce 50,000 of the trucks in 2024.