Dive Brief:
- Electric vehicle charging provider ChargePoint unveiled a new EV charging connector called the “Omni Port” that combines the North American Charging Standard, SAE J1772 and Combined Charging System standard charge port designs, the company announced in a press release.
- The Omni Port, which will allow drivers of both Tesla and non-Tesla EVs to charge at the company’s public chargers, eliminates the inconvenience of having to carry an adapter to charge at locations equipped with NACS plugs, or finding a dedicated parking space that offers the correct connector.
- The Omni Port will be incorporated as a standard feature in select ChargePoint public charging stations, making them well suited for future charger installations that will offer both NACS and CCS plugs.
Dive Insight:
Although most major automakers have announced plans to switch to Tesla’s NACS plug for future EVs, over half of the 5.5 million EVs on the road in North America are equipped with the J1772 or CCS1 charging ports, according to ChargePoint. Drivers of these EVs need to use an adapter in order to plug in at Tesla’s Supercharger sites, as well as at other public chargers equipped with NACS plugs.
The Omni Port is designed for all makes of EVs and features a longer cable that can reach a vehicle’s charging port regardless of its location. There is no need to download an app to pay for charging sessions when using a credit card. The new cable also supports EVs built with 800-volt architectures, such as the Lucid Air sedan, to deliver maximum charging rates.
“With Omni Port, ChargePoint solved the challenges associated with a multiple connector environment, ensuring Tesla and non-Tesla drivers can continue to expect a world-class driver experience,” ChargePoint CEO Rick Wilmer said in a statement. “We are giving drivers and site hosts assurance that ChargePoint will continue to meet all their charging needs now and in the future.”
The Omni Port will begin shipping by the end of the year and can be retrofitted onto ChargePoint’s existing CP6000 and Express Plus Power Link 2000 public chargers at a nominal cost to operators, according to ChargePoint. The Omni Port automatically dispenses a J1772, CCS or NACS connector to match an EVs charging port when a customer adds their vehicle info to the ChargePoint app.
For charging at home, ChargePoint’s residential Home Flex charger can also be upgraded with a NACS cable. Customers that purchase a Home Flex charger can choose either the J1772 or NACS plug, the company confirmed last year.
Tesla’s NACS plug remained a proprietary design for over a decade until the company made it available to third parties in November 2022. As the electric automaker built out its own Supercharger network over the years, NACS-equipped chargers now outnumber CCS chargers two to one in North America, according to Tesla.
