Tesla NACS connector set to become the US government's EV charging standard nationwide

With more and more automakers taking the plunge to place NACS charging ports in their vehicles or provide adapters, Tesla's connector is bound to become the de facto charging standard.

The Acting Administrator to the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has said so during her keynote address at the annual Merge 2024 event of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

According to Kristin White, the J3400 connector and port combo that is the open-source NACS equivalent which the international SAE standardization body certified for use by anybody not long ago, will become a federal standard, too.

"In the coming weeks, you will be seeing an update from the federal agencies on what we call the J3400 standard. That will be the standard moving forward, and we’re really happy to report that out," said White.

The FHWA was quick to point out that this will only become official after the agency publishes the new FAQs regarding the J3400 standard after a scheduled webinar on December 17, but the writing seems to be on the wall.

Standardizing the plugs that go into EV chargers nationwide around Tesla's NACS connector is important, as President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act legislation includes the so-called National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program that aims to build half a million chargers along major highways and in rural areas with federal funds.

With Nissan just becoming the latest EV maker to gain access to the whole Supercharger network, soon there will be no electric cars made without the J3400 port, as most automakers have pledged to do so starting in 2025.

If the FHWA makes the J3400 connector the federal standard, too, chargers can be built out quicker and cheaper, which would only spearhead EV adoption further.

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