The Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN) has changed its stance on Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS). After stubborn opposition last week after Ford, but before GM adopted NACS, while still championing CCS1, CCS2 and MCS, CharIN issued a press release stating they now support NACS, but with one caveat.
In the release, CharIN noted:
NACS should be submitted to standards bodies to unify the charging standards market in North America…. CharIN will work to convene an open task force to align requirements to submit NACS to the standardization process. An open standardization process ensures proper peer review of the technology and the ability of all interested parties to contribute to the development of this standard.
While CharIN didn’t explain the reason behind the change of heart, but it might have had something to do with GM announcing a switch to NACS in North America starting in 2025. With Tesla, Ford and GM now using NACS, and a horde of charging companies throwing their support behind NACS, the writing may be on the wall for many automakers to switch to NACS within the North American market.
CharIN is now creating a working group to work on standardization, a due process that is collaborative. As CharIN would also support an open charging ecosystem, we are unsure how that would play with Tesla’s proprietary technology.
Any international standardization will take time, but it does appear that the North American market is well on its way to standardizing EV charging around NACS moving forward.
You can read CharIN’s initial opposition of NACS before GM’s announcement here, and their about face after GM came on board here.
