Edmunds: Tesla wins the EV charge plug format war

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You may be familiar with previous technology format wars, whether it be VHS versus Betamax or Blu-ray versus HD DVD

You’re probably familiar with previous technology format wars, whether it be VHS versus Betamax or Blu-ray versus HD DVD. Now another has quickly brewed in the way people plug in and charge their electric vehicles. It’s a battle of CCS versus NACS, and the winning format has a familiar backer: Tesla. Edmunds’ experts break down what EV owners need to know about the format changes.

THE COMPETING FORMATS

The majority of electric vehicles, or EVs, currently have one of two types of plug styles to connect to public fast-charging stations. The first is called the Combined Charging System, or CCS. It’s used on nearly all EVs except Tesla vehicles. The other is the North American Charging Standard, or NACS. All Tesla vehicles have this style plug.

These two formats currently coexist independently without much issue. If you own a Tesla, you’ll typically stop at a Tesla Supercharger station that has NACS. For other EVs, you’ll use third-party stations with the CCS-style plug.

But in May, Ford made a shocking announcement: It made a deal with Tesla to switch its future EVs to Tesla’s NACS plug in lieu of the CCS plug. The switch to NACS means owners of these Ford EVs will be able to charge at Tesla stations. Soon after, many other automakers followed suit.

THE BRANDS THAT HAVE SWITCHED

At the time of writing, companies that have agreed to switch to NACS include Ford Motor Co., Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Nissan, Rivian, Volvo and Polestar. A number of other automakers such as BMW, Volkswagen and Hyundai are in discussions with Tesla but have not yet confirmed a switch to NACS.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CCS AND NACS