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As Is the North American electric vehicle market finally deciding on a charging port?

Little by little, then suddenly, to paraphrase Ernest Hemingway.

The war isn’t over yet, but with Electrify America announcing this week that it would add Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) plugs, it’s close. Electrify America’s decision is particularly important because it is the largest non-Tesla fast-charging network and because it is owned by Volkswagen, a notable holdout.

The momentum change was particularly fast. In late 2021, when the government mandated that EV chargers be equipped with CCS in order to receive federal money, it seemed Tesla’s NACS was living on borrowed time. The automaker already sells electric vehicles in Europe with a by EU mandate connector that is similar to the North American CCS, so it wasn’t a huge leap to imagine something similar happening in the US.

But then Tesla cut a series of deals with competitors. The first of these breathed new life into NACS, then later agreements tipped it towards becoming the de facto standard.

Over the last month or so, Ford, GM, Rivian and return all have said they would switch to NACS. That leaves Volkswagen, Hyundai, Stellantis, Polestar, Lucid, Toyota, and Nissan. (There are others, but those are the biggest players in the EV space.)

Of that group, several are likely to announce a move to NACS soon. Volkswagen, Hyundai and Stellantis have said they are in talks with Tesla. Polestar is likely to follow Volvo’s lead as both are owned by Geely. Lucid is a bit of a wild card in that there are a little bad blood between its CEO, Peter Rawlinson, and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk. Toyota’s EV strategy is so far behind that the choice of fast-charging ports is hardly an issue. And Nissan, well, who knows about Nissan: the company is still selling cars with CHAdeMO ports long after everyone else has abandoned them.

Also this week, SAE International, an automotive standards body, said it would speed up work to develop an industry standard around NACS, a move that should reassure other companies that were wary of letting a competitor control a key part of the EV experience.

For electric vehicle owners and observers, the surge of support for NACS raises a number of questions. What will happen to electric vehicles that do not have NACS? What is driving the change? Is this a good move for consumers? Who wins? And perhaps more importantly, who loses?

What does it mean for current non-Tesla owners?

Hundreds of thousands of CCS-equipped electric vehicles are on the road today, and potentially millions more before automakers make the switch. For those homeowners, these may seem like uncertain times.