SAE International, the “professional association and standards organization for transport and other industries,” delivered its promise to standardize NACS by the end of 2023. According to Electrek, this certification can potentially address “every” electric vehicle charging problem at once.
Tesla NACS background
In hindsight, Tesla officially announced its charging connector specifications in November last year, calling it the “North American Charging Standard” (NACS).
The name was sensible, considering that Tesla currently dominates the electric vehicle market in the US. Therefore, it is safe to say that most of the EVs and DC charging stations already adopted Tesla’s connector.
Its closest rival, Ford, was the first to support the NACS technology, even partnering with the Musk-led company to adopt NACS for its next-gen models. The move prompted other major players to adopt Tesla’s charging standard.
In effect, SAE decided to develop a natural, independent standard, reducing the NACS connector’s reliance on Tesla.
Advantages
SAE’s NACS task force chair, Rodney McGee, Ph.D., of the University of Delaware, told the US-based news platform that they will officially announce the new standard on Tuesday.
According to Dr. McGee, the NACS will lower installation costs for commercial companies. In effect, it can also lower charging costs for businesses like extensive apartment buildings.
In addition, it can improve compatibility between charging systems for both personal and commercial electric vehicles. It can also pave the way for new street charging projects, which can significantly benefit owners without parking spots.
Motor Mouth emphasized that NACS supports 277 volts rather than the J1772’s 208-240 volts. It cuts the need for secondary step-down transformers AC chargers use, enabling these easier and cheaper charging installation benefits.
NACS also employs a standardized receptacle, which is similar to the units utilized in the European Union and China. It includes a $100-200 carry-along cord that owners can store in their EVs. In this sense, owners are the ones responsible for their charger cords, substantially easing maintenance for public stations.
Furthermore, NACS supports both AC and DC with the same plug. It also allows medium- and heavy-duty EVs to access up to 52 kW AC from the same receptacle as a light-duty EV gets 20 kW of power with three-phase or single-phase power, correspondingly.
NACS can also potentially pave the way for vehicle-to-grid technology advancement, offering more capacity for the electrical grid. It can lower the costs for AC infrastructures, aided by the 277 volts and carry-along cords.
Potential challenges
Of course, there are also potential challenges in the NACS standardization. The US and California have already heavily invested in charging station development with a significant focus on roadside DC chargers.
That said, it remains unclear if these governments will allow the existing charging station development funds to also cover NACS. Nonetheless, the industry believes that NACS’ offered benefits can significantly beat any challenges and accelerate the adoption of the new charging standard.
Notably, SAE’s move to standardize NACS is indeed crucial for the entire electric vehicle industry. Numerous government bodies and private firms may not be fine with having only Tesla control an emerging standard.
Now that SAE has completed NACS certification, electric vehicle charging companies can now enjoy cheaper installation costs to enable more affordable charging for owners.
