GLOBAL. Phoenix Contact develops NACS products

On its website, Phoenix Contact announced the availability of AC charging cables for 50 A and 80 A and DC charging cables for 200 A by then. DC charging cables for higher currents, including liquid-cooled ones, will be available in 2025. At the same time, Phoenix Contact is developing customised vehicle charging ports for car manufacturers. Universal charging ports for commercial vehicles, among others, will be available in various power classes from 2026.

“NACS is coming – and we are prepared!” the company writes in a LinkedIn post. “As a pioneer in fast charging technology, we naturally want to meet the changing requirements of our customers. We will therefore offer high-performance NACS charging technology that features Phoenix Contact’s customary superior quality and meets high standards in terms of safety, robustness, functionality, and design.” Phoenix Contact makes the same statement on its website and mentions the rollout plan for the individual products.

The North American Charging Standard is nothing other than Tesla’s proprietary charging connector, installed on the North American models and the Superchargers and Tesla wallboxes there. Tesla released the design of its connector in November 2022 and confidently referred to it as the “North American Charging Standard”, even though it was not yet an officially recognised industry standard at the time. In the meantime, the SAE has recognised the NACS as a standard after finalising the standardisation process.

After Tesla released the design to third parties, it went quiet around NACS for a few months. In May 2023, Ford and, a few days later, General Motors announced that they would be installing the Tesla charging system in their vehicles in North America from 2025. As a result, more and more car manufacturers have decided to take this step, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen.

Along with the car manufacturers, the charging industry has also increasingly jumped on the NACS bandwagon. Numerous operators have announced that they will add NACS charging cables to their charging points or offer NACS for new installations. Other suppliers have announced similar developments, for example, the Swiss company Huber+Suhner.