Texas mandates new EV charging stations use the Tesla NACS plug

In another legal move that will likely go a step further in making Tesla’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure the de facto system in the United States, Texas has approved a plan to require that the company’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) be installed at new stations, saying the move is necessary for the state to qualify for federal tax funding.

The requirement was initially proposed in July, but a vote was delayed until last week after objections were voiced in a letter sent to the Texas Transportation Commission by five EV charging companies.

The companies cited concerns about the supply chain and certification of Tesla’s connectors, saying it would put the successful deployment of EV chargers at risk, and called for more time to assess Elon Musk’s proprietary Supercharger network.

“Time is needed to properly standardize, test, and certify the safety and interoperability of Tesla connectors across the industry,” the group wrote in its letter.

At stake is disbursement of part of $5 billion in funding set by National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program; Texas is the largest recipient of the grant. Federal rules require companies to offer the already-established Combined Charging System (CCS), a U.S. standard that has been preferred by the Biden administration, as a minimum to be eligible for the funds. But individual states can add their own requirements on top of CCS before distributing the federal funds.

Some suggest politics entered into the state’s decision: Texas is the home base of Tesla, and has the third-highest number of EV registrations in the U.S. Most EVs on the road today, with the exclusion of Tesla’s, utilize CCS to connect to a DC fast charger. Over the past few months, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Polestar, Rivian, and Volvo have each committed to equipping their vehicles with NACS in future products.