Tesla Opening the North American Charging Standard NACS

The North American Charging Standard (NACS), currently being standardized as SAE J3400 and also known as the Tesla charging standard, is an electric vehicle (EV) charging connector system developed by Tesla, Inc. It has been used on all North American market Tesla vehicles since 2012 and was opened for use to other manufacturers in November 2022. Between May and October 2023, nearly every other vehicle manufacturer has announced that starting from 2025, their electric vehicles in North America will be equipped with the NACS charge port. Several electric vehicle charging network operators and equipment manufacturers have also announced plans to add NACS connectors.

With more than a decade of use and 20 billion EV charging miles to its name, the Tesla charging connector is the most proven in North America, offering AC charging and up to 1 MW DC charging in one slim package. It has no moving parts, is half the size, and twice as powerful as Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors.

What is Tesla NACS?
North American Charging Standard – Wikipedia
The North American Charging Standard (NACS), currently being standardized as SAE J3400 and also known as the Tesla charging standard, is an electric vehicle (EV) charging connector system developed by Tesla, Inc.

Is CCS better than NACS?
Here are some advantages of NACS chargers: Superior ergonomics. Tesla’s connector is smaller than the CCS connector and has a lighter cable. Those traits make it more maneuverable and easier to plug in.

Why is NACS superior to CCS?
Here are some advantages of NACS chargers: Superior ergonomics. Tesla’s connector is smaller than the CCS connector and has a lighter cable. Those traits make it more maneuverable and easier to plug in.

In pursuit of our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, today we are opening our EV connector design to the world. We invite charging network operators and vehicle manufacturers to put the Tesla charging connector and charge port, now called the North American Charging Standard (NACS), on their equipment and vehicles. NACS is the most common charging standard in North America: NACS vehicles outnumber CCS two-to-one, and Tesla’s Supercharging network has 60% more NACS posts than all the CCS-equipped networks combined.

Network operators already have plans in motion to incorporate NACS at their chargers, so Tesla owners can look forward to charging at other networks without adapters. Similarly, we look forward to future electric vehicles incorporating the NACS design and charging at Tesla’s North American Supercharging and Destination Charging networks.

As a purely electrical and mechanical interface agnostic to use case and communication protocol, NACS is straightforward to adopt. The design and specification files are available for download, and we are actively working with relevant standards bodies to codify Tesla’s charging connector as a public standard. Enjoy