BMW i5 spotted with native NACS port – could be one of the 1st brands to switch?
A BMW i5 with a native NACS port was spotted charging this weekend in Green River, Utah, leading to thoughts that BMW’s NACS transition may leapfrog a few other companies.
We’ve seen a lot of action in the NACS transition in the last few weeks, with several brands added to Tesla’s Supercharger “coming soon” page, separate announcements from VW and Honda, and with Hyundai shipping the first third-party vehicles with a native NACS port (which works great on Superchargers) and Kia’s native NACS EV6 just around the corner as well.
One of the brands added to the “coming soon” list is BMW, a brand whose NACS transition we haven’t heard a whole lot about lately. It announced in 2023 that NACS would come in 2025, and we know that an adapter will be available when BMW gains access to the network (though the transition has gotten a little bit chaotic in the interim, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s unwise abrupt firing of the whole Supercharger team).
But BMW also has a new class of vehicles coming out – dubbed, in the most German way possible, “Neue Klasse” – with a new EV platform that better integrates batteries into the vehicle structure. Those vehicles may come with NACS support natively, and the first of them should ship by the end of this year.
And we may have seen the first physical indication of those future native NACS vehicles this weekend in Utah, with a BMW i5 spotted being driven and charged by BMW engineers.
The pictures were taken by reddit user Redditq_, who we also followed up with. They mentioned that the vehicles all had various engineering equipment stuck to the dashboards, that there were three development vehicles in total at the station (other than his, in the middle of the shot above), and that the cars were using an adapter to charge. The engineers said they were testing the NACS port.
Interestingly enough, this charging station doesn’t have any NACS charging heads, only CCS and CHAdeMO. So the engineers used a CCS to NACS adapter to charge at this station.
The BMW has the charging port on the passenger side, which is notable as Teslas all have charging ports on the driver side. This has caused some difficulty as brands gain Supercharger access, because older Supercharger stations have short cables that can’t reach both sides of the vehicle (the new V4 system will fix this, but not many of those stations have rolled out yet). This has led to some vehicles having to double-park in order to charge, which is actually the Tesla-recommended method.
But passenger-side ports are more beneficial for street-side charging, which is becoming more common in European cities and would be a method to make it easier for apartment-dwellers or other street parkers to charge their cars. The Rivian R2 was originally unveiled with a relocated charge port to the passenger side for this reason, before moving it back to the driver’s side for Supercharger compatibility instead.
This is actually one of the first vehicles that we’ve seen with a native NACS port, even in testing. While most brands have announced a transition and several are already sending out adapters and are Supercharger-compatible, the only other cars we’ve seen with native ports have been Hyundai/Kia cars and unreleased/concept vehicles (e.g. the R2 and the Aptera).
So, despite BMW not being on the absolute forefront of the transition in terms of adapter availability (like Ford or Rivian, for example), it may leapfrog some brands at bringing a NACS-native car to market.
We saw a similar thing with Hyundai and Kia, when a camouflaged vehicle with a native port was spotted in July 2024, about six months before Hyundai started shipping the Ioniq 5 with its own native port. We wonder if something similar might happen with BMW.
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A former coal mine in western Maryland is now generating solar power – and it’s the largest solar farm in the state. Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) has brought Maryland’s largest solar project online in Garrett County, turning reclaimed coal mine land into a source of clean electricity.
CPV Renewable Power, an affiliate of CPV, and investment partner Harrison Street Asset Management have started commercial operations at CPV Backbone Solar, a 160-megawatt solar project in western Maryland. The site sits on a reclaimed, decommissioned coal mine, turning previously disturbed land into a new source of clean power.
Construction of the project was handled by Vanguard Energy Partners, a solar engineering, procurement, and construction firm.
The project comprises approximately 324,000 solar panels and is expected to generate enough electricity to power around 30,000 homes. For Maryland, it adds new in‑state generation while giving former fossil fuel land a second life.
CPV says that the project aims to demonstrate the role of brownfield redevelopment in the energy transition. The company’s CEO, Sherman Knight, said Backbone Solar shows “how brownfield redevelopment, innovative engineering, and strategic partnerships can meet complex project challenges and deliver new power generation in Maryland.”
Local officials have welcomed the project. Garrett County Board Chairman Paul Edwards said bringing the solar facility to the county helps protect the region’s natural landscape while also creating economic value for local residents.
CPV Backbone Solar also includes a community and environmental investment tied to the project. CPV has committed $100,000 over four years to the Deep Creek Watershed Foundation.
Backbone Solar becomes part of CPV’s growing renewable portfolio, which includes four operating wind and solar projects. The company also says it has a 4.8-gigawatt renewable development pipeline.
A second phase of the Backbone Solar project is already under construction. Once completed, it’s expected to increase the site’s total installed capacity from 160 MW to 175 MW.
Read more: Fast charge your EV while grabbing Royal Farms fried chicken
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Pennsylvania just opened its first federally funded EV charging station on the Pennsylvania Turnpike — a key step toward making long-distance EV travel easier across the state.
The new station just opened at the Blue Mountain Service Plaza at Exit 202 westbound. Another NEVI-funded site at the New Stanton Service Plaza (Exit 77 westbound) is expected to open next week, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
The chargers were built using funds from the federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, which is designed to install fast, reliable charging stations where drivers already stop — especially along busy highway corridors.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is one of the state’s most heavily traveled roads, particularly during holiday travel, making service plazas a natural location for en-route EV charging. This first Turnpike site marks the beginning of NEVI-funded charging directly on the state’s toll road.
The Blue Mountain and New Stanton locations are part of the Turnpike’s larger, systemwide EV charging rollout. Working with Applegreen Electric, the Turnpike plans to install 80 new universal EV charging stations across all 17 service plazas by the end of 2027.
In addition to the NEVI-funded sites, the Turnpike has already brought new chargers online at the North Somerset, South Somerset, and Hickory Run service plazas using funding from Pennsylvania’s Driving PA Forward program. Each location offers high-speed charging with four ports per site, and all chargers are designed to work with all EV models without the need for adapters.
The project was awarded under the first round of PennDOT’s NEVI Alternative Fuel Corridor program. The next phase of funding, known as Corridor Connections, is focused on filling in charging gaps along major roadways that fall outside previously designated alternative fuel corridors. The goal is to make longer EV trips across Pennsylvania easier and more predictable.
The announcement also comes as Pennsylvania continues to push back against federal attempts to block EV funding. The US Department of Transportation is currently withholding congressionally approved money that would have supported EV infrastructure projects and jobs in the state. Governor Josh Shapiro (D-PA) sued the Trump administration over the move and, alongside 15 other states, successfully challenged an earlier attempt to derail the NEVI program. That legal fight helped keep projects like these Turnpike charging stations moving forward across the Commonwealth.
Electrek’s Take
This is precisely what the Biden administration’s NEVI program was meant to do: put fast, reliable charging stations where drivers already stop. Service plazas on major turnpikes are prime real estate for EV charging, particularly during holiday and long-distance travel. Pennsylvania’s rollout is still early days, but once chargers are live at all 17 plazas – assuming the federal funding spigot stays open – one of the Northeast’s busiest corridors is going to be a great place to road-trip in an EV.
Read more: PA Turnpike to add 80 new Applegreen DC fast chargers by 2027
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