NACS Taking Over
Tesla’s North American Charging Standard continues to take over the industry.
On June 23rd, representatives from Washington state plans to mandate the use of Tesla’s NACS system as part of their state-run program to support the transition to electric vehicles - becoming the second state to do so in that week alone.
And on June 20th, Texas became the first, mandating NACS use as electric automaker Rivian announced that THEY were going to be adopting Tesla’s charger as well.
The adoption of the NACS is spreading with lightning speed since automaker Ford announced they would be making the switch in the closing weeks of May. GM swiftly joined them, as well as a handful of prolific charging companies who manage independent stations across North America and Europe.
There’s only one problem: Biden still won’t budge. Or, at least, the administration in DC hasn’t said much yet.
Originally, when Ford and GM announced their decision, the White House issued a response saying that the CCS standard charger would still be required for any automaker to be given funding from the Inflation Reduction act - the legislation that has jump started America’s transition to electric vehicles.
To be fair to President Biden’s administration, CCS is still more widely used than Tesla’s NACS, so it makes sense to force automakers to at least provide adapters so those users aren’t left behind right when everyone is trying to make the switch to electric.
And the speed at which adopters have come forwards since GM’s announcement has been staggering - even if the White House has changed its mind on this issue, they might not have had the time to even write a press briefing on it yet!
But State adoption is a huge step. Back when Ford announced, most people who have been writing about the automotive industry for any length of time understood that it was the floodgate moment. There’s not a future that has Ford adopting the NACS and the rest of the industry not following suit. Which means there’s no way the government was ever going to hold out long against the clearly superior charging standard.
The only issue is the current CCS users, who will need accommodation. Aside from that, State adoption is pretty much a guarantee. Tesla’s NACS will actually become the North American Standard.