Volvo’s equipment arm, Volvo Construction Equipment, has made its 48V DC charging protocol public in order to provide a standard for fleet equipment charging. The protocol, if adopted by other manufacturers of construction machines, could become a standard for these industrial units. There is currently no industry standard for 48V DC charging solutions.
This move comes as Volvo Cars officially adopts Tesla’s North American Charging Standard for its electric vehicles in North America. Volvo aims to be a fully-electric carmaker by 2030 and it joins other automakers like Ford and General Motors in adopting the Tesla plug-in standard for its vehicles. Future Volvo vehicles, starting in 2025, will use the NACS plug.
“As part of our journey to becoming fully electric by 2030, we want to make life with an electric car as easy as possible,” said Jim Rowan, CEO at Volvo Cars. “One major inhibitor to more people making the shift to electric driving – a key step in making transportation more sustainable – is access to easy and convenient charging infrastructure. Today, with this agreement, we’re taking a major step to remove this threshold for Volvo drivers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.”
Volvo has also committed to including an adapter with each of its EVs so that those utilizing the current Combined Charging System (CCS) plug standard can still use that with their new NACS-equipped Volvo EV.
Aaron is an automotive journalist living in Wyoming, USA. His background includes technology, mechanics, commercial vehicles, and new vehicle evaluations. Aaron is a member of several automotive media groups and writes for many well-known publications.