Mercedez Benz News Tesla Supercharger Network of North America Now a Benz Charging Option

[G. David Felt]

The first of the German auto companies has fallen inline with the Tesla NACS charge port, Mercedes-Benz made this Announcement late Friday night. This is a major change as news had been reporting that VW was in talks with Tesla and the expected first German auto company to support NACS ports, now we know that Mercedes-Benz will be that first company moving from CCS to NACS.

Mercedes made the following points in their press release:

• Mercedes-Benz to integrate North American Charging Standard (NACS) in its electric vehicle line-up – introduction in North America starting 2025
• Mercedes-Benz drivers gain access to more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across North America beginning in 2024
• Mercedes-Benz to simultaneously expand new Mercedes-Benz Charging Network with more than 2,500 high-power chargers in North America to provide a best-in-class charging experience
• First Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging sites to open in Q4 2023 for both Mercedes-Benz and non-Mercedes-Benz drivers

Starting in January 2024 all Mercedes-Benz will come with a CCS to NACS adapter to allow existing EV customers to get a superior charging experience at Tesla Supercharger stations according to the press release.

Starting in January 2025 all EVs will then be built with NACS ports and the following quote was made by the Chairman of the Board of Management Mercedes-Benz Group AG.

"Our strategic priority is clear: Building the world’s most desirable cars. 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. That’s why we are committed to building our global Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging Network, with the first sites opening this year. 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."
Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management Mercedes-Benz Group AG

Andre Cornelia, CEO of Mercedes-Benz HPC North America had the following to say:

“With the development of Mercedes-Benz’s new North American High-Power Charging Network, we are ready to redefine the electric vehicle charging experience. We’re building on our strong brand promise here by leveraging the renowned quality, reputation, and customer focus for which Mercedes-Benz has been known for well over a century. With its own charging network, Mercedes-Benz will set a new standard for EV infrastructure, enabling a convenient charging experience in terms of fast, safe and green charging of electric vehicles.”

It will be interesting to see how this works out for the German auto companies and who will be next, will it be BMW or VW/Audi/Porsche to join the NACS port club.

Press Release

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[smk4565]

You are in the Tesla network or out of business in 10 years I think.  

And good that they are building their own charge stations too that anyone can use.

[G. David Felt]

15 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

You are in the Tesla network or out of business in 10 years I think.  

And good that they are building their own charge stations too that anyone can use.

Nothing now by Benz and 2,500 at some point in the future is a joke compared to other networks not including the massive Tesla Supercharger network. 

If Benz truly cared about the experience, then why not commit to 10's of thousands of charging points?

[smk4565]

21 hours ago, David said:

Nothing now by Benz and 2,500 at some point in the future is a joke compared to other networks not including the massive Tesla Supercharger network. 

If Benz truly cared about the experience, then why not commit to 10's of thousands of charging points?

How many auto makers have charge networks outside of Tesla?  And I am not talking about Electrify America or EVgo or anything like that, that any car and use.  Because I don't see Ford or VW branded charge stations that are owned and operated by the manufacturer.  

[G. David Felt]

20 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

How many auto makers have charge networks outside of Tesla?  And I am not talking about Electrify America or EVgo or anything like that, that any car and use.  Because I don't see Ford or VW branded charge stations that are owned and operated by the manufacturer.  

That is just it, Ford, GM and VW have all committed to having multiple charging stations at their dealerships, but are depending on EA, EGgo, Chargepoint, etc. this is no different than Mercedes also depending on these 3rd party companies including Tesla Supercharging stations. At best Mercedes will be like all the others, have charging stations at their dealerships but nothing else.

[smk4565]

23 hours ago, David said:

Nothing now by Benz and 2,500 at some point in the future is a joke compared to other networks not including the massive Tesla Supercharger network. 

If Benz truly cared about the experience, then why not commit to 10's of thousands of charging points?

No, Mercedes is building charging sites.  They only have 300 dealers that isn't enough.  Plus Mercedes doesn't own those dealers so they can't build on their property.  This sounds like Mercedes is going to buy 400 plots of land, install 2,500 chargers and then manage.  Which is a smart move, it helps adoption of EV's and lets them make money selling electricity.

[G. David Felt]

4 hours ago, smk4565 said:

No, Mercedes is building charging sites.  They only have 300 dealers that isn't enough.  Plus Mercedes doesn't own those dealers so they can't build on their property.  This sounds like Mercedes is going to buy 400 plots of land, install 2,500 chargers and then manage.  Which is a smart move, it helps adoption of EV's and lets them make money selling electricity.

NO, NO, NO, Mercedes like GM and Ford has stated they will have multiple chargers at their dealerships. There is NOTHING in the press release about buying plots of land and building a stand alone charging station network.

Let me help you with the simple math. At your fictional 300 dealerships, that is 8 chargers per dealer. 

Now if we go by their actual website, Mercedes-Benz has 383 authorized dealerships located across the United States of America¹. Mercedes-Benz USA is headquartered in Montvale, NJ and has 11 office locations located throughout the US²

That means they will have 6.5 Chargers per dealership.

[smk4565]

11 hours ago, David said:

NO, NO, NO, Mercedes like GM and Ford has stated they will have multiple chargers at their dealerships. There is NOTHING in the press release about buying plots of land and building a stand alone charging station network.

Let me help you with the simple math. At your fictional 300 dealerships, that is 8 chargers per dealer. 

Now if we go by their actual website, Mercedes-Benz has 383 authorized dealerships located across the United States of America¹. Mercedes-Benz USA is headquartered in Montvale, NJ and has 11 office locations located throughout the US²

That means they will have 6.5 Chargers per dealership.

A dealership is a bad place for public charging.  Maybe better than a Walmart parking lot since a dealer has  a waiting room.  But a restaurant/gas station/store type place makes more sense.  Also a lot of dealers aren’t along highways where you need charging on a road trip.  
 

And the point of EV’s is going to the dealer less for maintenance, I don’t want to have to drive to the dealer to charge my car.  

[ccap41]

16 hours ago, David said:

NO, NO, NO, Mercedes like GM and Ford has stated they will have multiple chargers at their dealerships. There is NOTHING in the press release about buying plots of land and building a stand alone charging station network.

Let me help you with the simple math. At your fictional 300 dealerships, that is 8 chargers per dealer. 

Now if we go by their actual website, Mercedes-Benz has 383 authorized dealerships located across the United States of America¹. Mercedes-Benz USA is headquartered in Montvale, NJ and has 11 office locations located throughout the US²

That means they will have 6.5 Chargers per dealership.

They did actually say they were acquiring land for these chargers. 

"One big reason Mercedes is willing to spend billions to acquire land and install thousands of charging stations is to improve, eventually, a Mercedes driver's EV experience, according to Markus Schaefer, Mercedes-Benz chief technology officer, who spoke to the media during CES this week.

...That means finding safe, clean, and convenient places for the stations and a technological back end that provides benefits to Mercedes drivers. "

This also isn't just got Mercedes but for every automaker but they did state that they would prioritize Mercedes customers. 

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42408047/mercedes-high-speed-charging-network-evs/