Toyota and Lexus join Tesla
Toyota and its luxury brand Lexus will start implementing Tesla’s winning charging plug standard known as the North American Charging Standard, or NACS, in “certain” vehicles starting in 2025. Toyota will also provide current and soon-to-be EV buyers with adapters to access 12,000-plus Tesla Supercharger stations.
One of Toyota’s first vehicles to include a NACS connector is a future three-row SUV it is planning for 2025, which will be assembled at the automaker’s plant in Kentucky. Toyota is currently light on EV options compared to most other automakers and has only released the mediocre bZ4X and the Lexus RZ 450e.
After a shake-up in its electric vehicle plans, the automaker’s next EV from Lexus will come in 2026.
Toyota’s a bit late to the party, but its announcement is following the likes of Ford, GM, Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar Land Rover, Fisker, Hyundai, and, most recently, BMW in accepting NACS. Now, the only big holdouts that remain are Stellantis, which owns the Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge brands, and Volkswagen Group. Considering Toyota is largely the most conservative in making business decisions, it’s very likely the rest will follow soon.