Washington State is taking the final steps to enforce a new regulation that mandates companies to include Tesla’s electric vehicle (EV) charging plug if they wish to access federal funds. This move follows a similar move made by Texas earlier this week, in yet another show of confidence for Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS).
Tonia Buell, an official from Washington’s Transportation Department, emphasized the importance of future-proofing the state’s infrastructure through this mandate. Buell, who leads Washington’s alternative fuels program, stated that the recommendation for the requirement of NACS connectors would be presented to the Interagency Electric Vehicle Coordinating Council for final approval. The exact number of connectors to be mandated is yet to be determined. (via Bloomberg)
These recent developments in Texas and Washington are yet another blow to what used to be the dominance of the Combined Charging System (CCS) standard. However, it’s important to note that federal regulations still require charging stations to support CCS if they want access to federal funds.
In recent weeks Ford, GM, Rivian, and almost all charging providers have endorsed NACS and committed to adding the connector to their charging stations.
