Sony Honda Mobility Partners with Tesla to Adopt North American Charging Standard for Afeela EVs

Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) has entered into a strategic agreement with Tesla to incorporate the North American Charging Standard (NACS) into its upcoming Afeela brand electric vehicles. These vehicles are set to launch in the U.S. in 2025, followed by a debut in Japan.

This partnership makes SHM the first company in Japan to adopt the NACS standard, which will provide access to Tesla’s V3 and V4 Superchargers. The Afeela electric saloon will be equipped with the NACS as its charging standard from the outset, at least for the North American market. Pre-orders for the initial Afeela model are expected to open in the U.S. during the first half of 2025, with sales commencing later that year. However, actual deliveries in the U.S. are not anticipated until spring 2026, while the vehicle is scheduled to launch in Japan in the second half of 2026.

Sony Honda Mobility Adopts North American Charging Standard (NACS) for AFEELA EVs in the U.S. and Japan – First non-Tesla vehicle for Japan market!https://t.co/cgr0TQZ6LJ pic.twitter.com/EkU4YUI6Qf

— AFEELA (@shmAFEELA) September 27, 2024

“Sony Honda Mobility is committed to pursuing value creation centred around people for driving pleasure and an entertaining in-car experience,” stated Yasuhide Mizuno, Representative Director, Chairman, and CEO of Sony Honda Mobility. “We prioritize customer convenience even in charging and have decided to adopt NACS. We sincerely thank Tesla for providing us the opportunity to adopt NACS and their latest advanced technology-equipped V3 and V4 Superchargers for Afeela.”

Tesla’s Director of Charging, Max de Zegher, noted, “Tesla Superchargers represent the largest global network, with 60,000 Superchargers and growing. In Japan, 90% of 150kW+ chargers are Superchargers. True to Tesla’s mission, we want to help companies going electric and improve charging experiences for all EV drivers. We’re excited to see the NACS gaining traction in Japan and welcome Sony Honda Mobility as the first automaker to join this movement.”

The NACS, which was standardized as SAE J3400 at the end of 2023, was originally designed by Tesla as a proprietary charging system for its vehicles in North America. Following Tesla’s release of the Supercharger connector design in November 2022, many car manufacturers have opted to adopt this standard, attracted by the extensive Supercharger network in North America. Several manufacturers have announced their plans to switch to NACS, with some already using U.S. Superchargers.

While Afeela will be the first car manufacturer to sell NACS vehicles in Japan, it is not the first Japanese automaker to adopt the standard. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Subaru, and Mazda have announced plans to switch to NACS, but only for models sold in North America.