Mercedes-Benz is adopting Tesla's electric vehicle charging standard and gaining access to Tesla's Supercharger stations, becoming the latest in a string of automakers to ink a deal with the EV giant.
Mercedes announced the move Friday, saying it would become the first German car manufacturer to integrate Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) starting in 2025, but customers will be able to use Tesla's more than 12,000 chargers using a plug adapter starting next year.
Mercedes-Benz is the latest automaker to announce its EV customers will soon have access to Tesla's nationwide Supercharger network. (Mercedes-Benz / Fox News)
The company is also building its own charging network that will be available to all brands of EVs. Mercedes said by the end of the decade, it plans to build more than 2,000 charging hubs worldwide, 400 of which will be in North America.
"To accelerate the shift to electric vehicles, we are dedicated to elevating the entire EV-experience for our customers – including fast, convenient, and reliable charging solutions wherever their Mercedes-Benz takes them," Mercedes Chairman Ola Källenius said in a statement.
"That’s why we are committed to building our global Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging Network, with the first sites opening this year," the statement continued. "In parallel, we are also implementing NACS in our vehicles, allowing drivers to access an expansive network of high-quality charging offerings in North America."
Mercedes-Benz plans to build its own network of EV charging stations worldwide. (Mercedes-Benz / Fox News)
Tesla has made a series of similar deals with other rival automakers in recent weeks. In May, Ford became the first to announce an agreement to switch to the NACS connector design and allow EV drivers to use Tesla's Superchargers. General Motors followed suit two weeks later, and soon after Rivian did, too.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last month that allowing competitors' customers access to the company's charging network was the right thing to do.
Mercedes-Benz is the latest major automaker to announce it is adopting Tesla's charging plug design and allowing customers access to the EV giant's Supercharger network. (Photo by Osmancan Gurdogan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"I think opening up the chargers is morally right, and it was something that will help the industry become more electric," Musk told an audience at the Edison Electric Institute's EEI 2023 conference. "It's something that will help power sustainability."
Musk went on to say that Tesla will not favor one competitor over another in granting access to the Supercharger network.
"We're really just trying to do the right thing here," he said. "We will support GM and Ford cars on equal footing."