Following Texas, Washington State Will Require Tesla Plugs on New EV Chargers

Washington state plans to require EV charging stations to have a Tesla port in order to get a piece of the state’s electrification funding, Reuters reports(Opens in a new window).

The announcement follows a similar one made by Texas last week. Texas, home to Tesla headquarters, will now require eligible fast charging stations to have one Combined Charging System (CCS) plug, the current standard used by almost all non-Tesla EVs, and one North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug. Washington state officials are still determining the right mix of NACS and CCS chargers.

Those who want Washington funding will be able to submit requests for proposals in the fall. The state secured $71 million(Opens in a new window) to be distributed over five years, including $10.5 million for the first year.

Both states are reacting to news that Ford, GM, and Rivian will stop building EVs with CCS plugs and will instead use NACS going forward. All three automakers announced this major change in charging strategy in the past month, causing ripple effects across the EV industry.

The White House also updated its federal funding requirements to include chargers built with NACS ports, as long as they have one CCS port as well, Reuters reports(Opens in a new window). Previously, the administration only extended funds to CCS chargers, since most automakers currently use them.

However, Tesla vehicles made up 57% of the EV market in Q1 2023. The company says its plug is already the de facto national standard due to its market share, and that its port is lighter and more efficient at drawing power than CCS. Tesla began its mission for its charging port to supplant CCS as the national standard last year when it formalized the “North American Charging Standard” name and published specs for other manufacturers to use.

Since Ford, GM, and Rivian took Tesla up on the offer, major charging companies like Blink and ChargePoint have committed to building fast charging stations with NACS ports as well as CCS. Now, with more state funding available, these companies will be encouraged to dot the highways with NACS plugs, on top of the existing Tesla Supercharger network.

Washington and Texas have a good number of EV drivers, though California has nearly four times both states combined as of November 2022. California, Iowa, and Michigan are currently “reviewing the shifting charging market,” and have not yet made any decisions on port requirements, according(Opens in a new window) to Reuters.