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MagyarBiden's administration backs a Tesla charging standard as VW finally adopts NACS and Ford gets early Supercharger access
The White House welcomed the news that SAE (former Society of Automotive Engineers) has now officially codified Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) as the J3400 connector.
After Tesla open-sourced its NACS charging system, the SAE standardization body took its documentation for review in June, and has now greenlit it for global use by everyone as a new J3400 EV charging plug.
"The standardization of NACS as J3400 ensures that any supplier or manufacturer will be able to use, manufacture, or deploy the J3400 connector on electric vehicles (EVs) and at charging stations across North America," rejoiced the federal Joint Office of Energy and Transportation.
Volkswagen adopts Tesla's NACS charging system
The official NACS standardization news comes just in time, as about the only holdout among major automakers - Volkswagen - announced that it will adopt Tesla's NACS charging port and connector for its future electric vehicles, including those by Porsche and Audi.
Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and Scout Motors today announced planned implementation of the North American Charging Standard (NACS) for future products in the North American region, beginning in 2025. To enable existing customers with a Combined Charging System (CCS) charging port to access the Tesla Supercharger network—which would greatly expand charging provider choice—the brands are exploring adapter solutions for existing vehicles. This has the potential to expand customer charging access to more than 15,000 Superchargers. This is in addition to the more than 3,800 DC fast charging outlets currently in operation by Electrify America and Electrify Canada. Electrify America has already announced it will work to offer the NACS connector at charging stations by 2025 in North America, as well as continuing to support CCS.
Since Toyota, GM, Ford, and many others are already in, Tesla's NACS seems to be quickly becoming the de facto EV charging standard going forward.
Ford and GM EVs to use Tesla Superchargers from February
Tesla's design manager of Charging Infrastructure Jenny Pretare even confirms in the video below that electric vehicles by Ford like the F-150 Lightning, or by General Motors, will be able to plug into Tesla's Superchargers as soon as February.
Most automakers have pegged their CCS-to-NACS transition timeframe for 2025, but GM and Ford, as early adopters of Tesla's charging standard, will apparently benefit before everyone, probably with some type of an adapter they said they'll be distributing.
The government already mandates interoperability of the NACS and the CSS standards on charging stations built with public finances, since there will still be millions of CCS-equipped cars on the road for years to come. For Tesla, the SAE stamp of approval now means that its Supercharger network may have already pulled ahead in the global EV charging systems race.
