Mercedes-Benz's U.S. Charging Network Has Reached 100 Locations After Three Years

Mercedes-Benz's High-Power Charging network in North America has reached 100 locations and nearly 1,000 ports, three years after it debuted in November 2023, InsideEVs reported. The sites span 28 U.S. states and British Columbia. The 400-kilowatt chargers have recorded more than one million sessions since 2023, and more than 245,000 customers have used a Mercedes stall in that time.

The company sold its charging network in Europe, but the American network is still running. All of the chargers can deliver up to 400 kW, mostly from Alpitronic, and they are typically at or near premium shopping locations. The vast majority of stalls have both CCS and NACS connectors; only 7 percent of locations have CCS only. That matters as more new EVs use the Tesla-style NACS port. NACS cars can still charge at CCS stalls with an adapter, and the reverse is also true.

First-try success, prices, and how to pay

Mercedes has long advertised near-perfect uptime. The metric it now calls its "guiding star" is first-time success, the share of sessions that start on the first try. That rate was about 84 percent in 2023, meaning roughly one and a half sessions in ten failed at the first attempt. Three years later it is above 90 percent, InsideEVs said.

According to DCFC Tracker, the largest Mercedes high-power site has 20 stalls and is in Orlando, Florida. The smallest, in Conyers, Georgia, and Red Bluff, California, have four stalls each. All locations have credit-card readers. Drivers can also pay with charging apps or an RFID card from Mercedes dealers, and Plug & Charge is supported. Pricing ranges from $0.35 to $0.60 per kilowatt-hour depending on the site, and a $25 pre-authorization is held and then adjusted to the energy actually used. Last month the North American charging unit named Madeline Ebert as its new CEO. The 100-site mark is a milestone for a three-year-old network, not a claim that it matches Tesla's Supercharger map in size.

The network's growth is easier to see against its starting point: a handful of sites in a few states in November 2023, and 100 sites across most of the country plus British Columbia three years later. InsideEVs published photos from a hub at Mercedes-Benz USA headquarters in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and from a station in Ashburn, Virginia. Ford's earlier decision to adopt NACS, and Tesla's later opening of Superchargers to other brands, is the backdrop for Mercedes fitting both CCS and NACS on most stalls. The 7 percent of sites that are CCS-only are the exception. Pricing, the $25 pre-authorization, and the first-try success rate are the practical numbers for a driver who pulls in: the session should start more often than it did in 2023, and the final bill is based on energy used, not the hold.