Did Tesla Win the EV Charge Plug Format Standards War?

Source: Associated Press

You're probably familiar with previous technology format wars, whether it be VHS versus Betamax or Blu-ray versus HD DVD. Now another has quickly brewed in the way people plug in and charge their electric vehicles. It's a battle of CCS versus NACS, and the winning format has a familiar backer: Tesla. Edmunds' experts break down what EV owners need to know about the format changes.

Some background context for those who don't yet own EVs.  Most EVs currently have one of two types of plug styles to connect to public fast-charging stations. The first is called the Combined Charging System, or CCS. It's used on nearly all EVs with one notable exception - the Tesla vehicles.  The second competing standard is the North American Charging Standard, or NACS, which Tesla uses.

I always agreed with the statement "The wonderful thing about standards is you have so many to choose from for any given topic".  Arrg!

These two formats currently coexist independently without much issue. If you own a Tesla, you'll typically stop at a Tesla Supercharger station that has NACS. For other EVs, you'll use third-party stations with the CCS-style plug.

So about the title of this post. Is Tesla winning the EV Charging Standards war?  In May 2023, Ford made a shocking announcement: It has made a deal with Tesla to switch its future EVs to Tesla's NACS plug in lieu of the CCS plug. The switch to NACS means owners of these Ford EVs will be able to charge at Tesla stations. Soon after, many other automakers followed suit.

At the time of the AP article, companies that have agreed to switch to NACS include Ford Motor Co., Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Nissan, Rivian, Volvo and Polestar. A number of other automakers such as BMW, Volkswagen and Hyundai are in discussions with Tesla but have not yet confirmed a switch to NACS.

Read the full article...