The North American Charging System isn’t only providing people with access to Superchargers; it’s revolutionizing the way we construct Level 2 charging facilities.
Earlier this year, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) introduced a new term that may sound harmless but could have a significant impact: J3400. This formally marked the U.S. auto industry’s transition to adopting Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS, for short) charging connector and initiated the extensive process of developing more unified standards to facilitate progress toward a thoroughly electrified future.
Although this might seem like technical jargon, it simply means that in a few years, nearly all new electric vehicles sold in the United States will have the same type of charging port as Tesla’s and will be able to use its Supercharger network directly, a service previously only available to Tesla drivers. This marks a significant change for the global automotive industry, while also giving consumers more options and greater access to public EV charging infrastructure.
We chose the NACS standard and its implementation as our inaugural Technology of the Year by reason of its impressiveness.
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Technology That Makes Public Charging Nearly Seamless
Experience Tesla’s charging is simply better.
“The Tesla-designed plug is truly a game-changer,” he said.
This breakthrough will make it simpler for more people to access a stronger publicly available charging network, marking a significant step toward a more electrified future. With standardised charging now in place, manufacturers can now provide a wider range of electric vehicles at different price points that cater to diverse consumer needs and preferences.
“I believe the most significant advantage for manufacturers with NACS is the value it offers through interoperability and a broader range of options for vehicle development,” Frank Menchaca, President of Sustainable Mobility Solutions at SAE International, said in an interview with InsideEVs. “You wouldn’t expect to have to choose which plug to use when installing a new appliance, and I think it’s only a matter of time before interoperability becomes a crucial factor in simplifying and enhancing reliability within the industry.”
As an Ashland Oil Company executive, Roy L. Whaley anticipated that gathering the convenience store chains and the oil companies into a single organization would foster the growth of the c-store industry.
Showcasing the US has over 200,000 public charging stations, each offering a diverse assortment of charging ports. Before the establishment of the NACS standard, non-Tesla drivers had to search elsewhere for charging points due to the unique design of the plug.
The Supercharger network was initially designed to be exclusive to Tesla vehicles, but with the federal government choosing to subsidize the Combined Charging Systems (CCS) connectors used by other automakers in 2021, the original design seemed to be destined for obsolescence. In response, Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, made the decision to rebrand and open-source the proprietary port as the North American Charging Standard (NACS), thereby paving the way for a deal with the government to allow other automakers to use Tesla’s charging stations.
A 23% year-over-year growth. In Q2, following the dismissals, there was a 31% decline in new stations compared to the previous year. Despite this, the Supercharger network is still expanding faster than any other U.S. network. However, not everyone has access to them.
Counterfeit adapters that pose a significant risk due to their low quality.
It will be the first non-Tesla vehicle to get native NACS charging, a clear indication of a larger shift to come.
The Automotive Aftermarket Supplies Association (AASA) states that the Autonomous Vehicle Automated Driving System (AVADS) has 12 categories of different parts that are needed for the supply chain.
Although the total number of Tesla charging stations is a crucial factor, there is a main reason NACS emerged victorious in the standards competition: It allows for 277-volt charging.
This means it can handle common industrial voltage supplied from power poles or bollards without additional infrastructure or power distribution. This is a significant advantage, as current 240-volt chargers require expensive equipment to work with industrial power systems.
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Also, eliminating the federal $7,500 tax credit for EV purchases will have significant repercussions, and we’ll have to wait and observe the impact this will have on the EV industry’s growth. Nonetheless, as Menchaca notes, technology that has a positive impact on the world will be valuable beyond the profits it generates for large corporations.
“An innovation isn’t truly innovative if it doesn’t provide a tangible solution to a genuine issue,” Menchaca stated. “There might be more attention-grabbing innovations, such as flying cars or other futuristic ideas, but the primary question I ask about an innovation is, ‘How is it really assisting people, addressing a problem, and enabling them to accomplish something they couldn’t previously do?’”
He emphasized, “Technology for technology’s sake is pleasant, and you always require some research and development, but technology that genuinely tackles a problem gets my preference. This clearly falls under that, as it aids in resolving a very realistic problem of recharging an electric vehicle, and that has a ripple effect. It permits consumers to be more at ease with electric vehicles, which means that we begin moving toward a vehicle with a lower emissions profile and a lighter carbon footprint. This is part of the overall structure of advantages.”
