The state of Washington now reportedly mandates that electric vehicle charging companies participating in the highway electrification program, funded by federal dollars, must incorporate both Tesla Inc.‘s TSLA charging standard NACS and the rival charging standard CCS. This requirement aligns with Texas, which recently became the first state to enforce Tesla’s charging standard.
What Happened: Alternative fuels program manager at Washington state’s Department of Transportation Tonia Buell told Reuters that Washington is planning to require NACS at state funded and federally funded sites in the future though its hasn’t been certified for other manufacturers. Washington intends to start requests for proposal process in the fall, the report added.
The adoption of NACS was kickstarted by Ford Motor Co F when it announced a collaboration with Tesla in late May, aimed at increasing customer access to Tesla's 12,000 superchargers across U.S. and Canada. General Motors GM followed up in June and said it too will integrate the charging standard into its EVs starting in 2025.
Earlier this week, Rivian Automotive RIVN said that it would embrace Tesla charging standard.
Why It Matters: Several charging equipment makers including Blink Charging Co, ChargePoint Holdings Inc, Tritium DCFC Ltd and BTC Power have also said that they will add NACS connectors to their network.
According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the Tesla design is "fundamentally better in every way for consumers."
NACS vehicles outnumber CCS two-to-one and Tesla’s Supercharging network has 60% more NACS posts than all the CCS-equipped networks combined, Tesla said in a blog in November.
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