Texas has postponed a vote that would have seen Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) become a requirement when building electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. This delay comes in response to pushback from a group of EV charging companies about the inclusion of Tesla’s technology in charging stations.
Tesla’s charging technology has quickly come to dominate the North American charging landscape. Several major automakers including Ford, GM, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz have said they are adopting NACS, leading to almost every EV charging company saying they too are adding NACS connectors to their stations.
The swift adoption of NACS also led to Texas stating that direct current fast chargers must include one Combined Charging System (CCS) and one NACS connector in order to receive federal funding. However, following the announcement, several EV charger manufacturers and operators expressed the need for more time to test the interoperability of Tesla connectors with CCS.
This feedback prompted an initial delay of the vote from June 29 to July 11, but the vote was removed from the meeting agenda, according to a report from Reuters. While the Texas Department of Transportation confirmed the removal, the finalization of the August meeting agenda is pending, meaning the next potential vote could happen on August 16.
“We do think the reason why this decision is being punted is there is reaction within the industry that this is a big announcement and let’s just do this responsibly,” an executive from an EV charging company told Reuters.
The outcome of the vote in Texas could hold significant implications for the EV industry as it could potentially influence similar decisions in other states. Washington State and Kentucky have both also said they are going to make NACS a requirement.
