Tesla’s NACS Alliance With Ford And GM All But Eliminates Its Closest EV Charging Competitor

Now that Ford and GM are joining forces with Tesla on charging infrastructure, the industry tide seems to be turning to one accepted standard: Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) port.

Brilliantly using an analogue to the old Blu-ray vs HD DVD wars of days past, The Verge highlights how Tesla is shouldering its way to the front of the line when it comes to EV charging protocols.

Combined with Ford and GM, Tesla’s standard now makes up 72% of the U.S. market. Its closest competitor, the Combined Charging System (CCS), gets the ill fated comparison to HD DVD, the now defunct video format from years past.

Gartner vice president and analyst Mike Ramsey commented: “CCS could be in trouble With Ford and GM agreeing to use that charging standard, it’s a bit like Samsung saying they will use the Apple lightning charger on its phones.”

CCS is still on the dole from the U.S. government, however, as federal funding remains limited to the CCS format, the report says. 

White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson told the Verge that there are minimum standards chargers must meet to get funding, but that NACS could meet this threshold: “Those standards give flexibility for adding both CCS and NACS, as long as drivers can count on a minimum of CCS.”

Guidehouse Insights principle research analyst Sam Abuelsamid added: “I’m guessing that lobbyists from GM and Ford are talking DOE to get those rules changed ASAP.”

Here are the charging station companies that have announced support for NACS, according to a newly released report from electrek:

• ABB
• Blink Charging
• Chargepoint
• EVgo
• FLO
• Tritium
• Wallbox

Tesla has 45,000 charging stations around the world, 12,000 of which are in the U.S. Tesla owners also receive a J1772 adapter with their car that allows them to access more than 53,000 other Level 2 stations in North America. 

The number of stations will likely increase now that Ford and GM are adding NACS natively to future vehicles, beginning in 2024-2025.

Edmunds executive director of insights Jessica Caldwell concluded: “Behind cost, consumers’ biggest concern when considering an EV purchase involves charging as it’s an overwhelming unknown to so many.”

She finished: “And for EVs to truly take off, there needs to be some standardization so consumers feel comfortable knowing they have ample charging locations to turn to and won’t be left stranded on the side of the road.”