Tesla’s Charging Plugs Will Be Mandated In Washington State

(CTN News) – According to a state official, Washington plans to require electric vehicle charging companies to use Tesla’s plug as part of a state program to electrify highways using federal dollars in order to participate in a state program to electrify highways.

In the wake of Texas’ decision to mandate Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), Washington has followed Texas’ lead and added momentum to Elon Musk’s hope of making the North American Charging Standard (NACS) a national standard.

GM, Ford, and Rivan have confirmed that they will be embracing Tesla’s NACS, rejecting efforts by the Biden administration to force the Combined Charging System (CCS) to become the predominant battery charging standard in the United States.

Tonia Buell, alternative fuels program manager at Washington state’s Department of Transportation (DOT), said today: “I am actually really pleased about the NACS and how automakers are finally moving toward one standard.

We want to ensure there is access for as many different makes and models as possible.”

We plan to require Tesla’s NACS at our state-funded and federally funded facilities in the future, but it has not been tested and certified for other auto manufacturers, so we want to make sure it works, but we are planning to require it at our state-funded and federally funded facilities now.

In the fall, the Tesla state plans to begin the process of issuing requests for proposals.

As Buell pointed out, the state’s investments are “future proofed” as a result of the decision.

The state officials, according to Buell, are still determining the right mix of Tesla’s NACS chargers to meet the various federal requirements based on the current situation.

As per federal rules, each taxpayer-funded site must have at least four CCS chargers, and Buell told me that the state may require at least two CCS chargers to be compatible with the NACS, if not all of them.

The plan by Washington may add pressure on other states and even the federal government to adopt Tesla’s NACS in the future,

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