Washington State is poised to implement a groundbreaking regulation that will require companies to include Tesla’s electric vehicle (EV) charging plug in order to access federal funds. Following in the footsteps of Texas, who made a similar move earlier this week, this decision serves as yet another vote of confidence for Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS).
Highlighting the significance of future-proofing the state’s infrastructure, Tonia Buell, an official from Washington’s Transportation Department and leader of the alternative fuels program, stressed the importance of this mandate. The proposal to mandate NACS connectors will be presented to the Interagency Electric Vehicle Coordinating Council for final approval, with the specific number of connectors to be determined at a later stage. This development was reported by Bloomberg.
These recent developments in Texas and Washington deal yet another blow to the once-dominant Combined Charging System (CCS) standard. However, it is important to note that federal regulations still necessitate charging stations to support CCS if they wish to obtain federal funds.
In a show of solidarity, major players in the industry such as Ford, GM, Rivian, and almost all charging providers have recently endorsed NACS and pledged to incorporate the connector into their charging stations.
