Tesla may have just won another battle in the war to determine which electric vehicle (EV) chargers reign supreme.
According to reporting from Reuters, Washington state is planning to require that Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) plugs be included by EV charging companies if they want to qualify for a state program to help create more electric charging stations on highways.
Under federal rules, each of the charging stations must have at least four Combined Charging System (CCS) chargers. However, Washington is reportedly considering requiring stations to also have at least two chargers that work with NACS plugs, per Reuters.
This is the latest in a series of victories for Tesla, which wants its NACS chargers to become the dominant type, eventually overtaking CCS.
Recently, competitors Tesla and Ford announced a surprising partnership where Ford pledged to install NACS ports on its EVs moving forward. EV manufacturer Rivian is also on board, having embraced the NACS system by integrating Tesla charging stations into its own proprietary navigation system.
For EV drivers, the only real difference between the two types of chargers is that certain cars are compatible only with certain types of chargers. So, including both systems at more stations will make things way easier for drivers — possibly eliminating some of the "range anxiety" that comes from scrambling in search of a charge.
For Washington state, the decision seems to have come down to hedging its bets in case NACS does end up becoming the standard. Tonia Buell, alternative fuels program manager at Washington State's Department of Transportation, told Reuters that the decision is about "future-proofing" the state's investments.
"I'm actually really happy about NACS and how finally automakers are gearing toward one standard. We want to provide access to as many makes and models as possible," Buell told Reuters.
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