Tesla opens up its EV connector design to other automakers

Tesla shares its EV charging connector design to encourage network operators and automakers to embrace the technology and make it the new normal in North America .

Tesla said in a blog post on Friday that its design and specification files are available for download. The company said it is "actively working with relevant standards bodies to codify Tesla's charging connector as a public standard."

The charging connector on all Tesla vehicles offers AC charging and up to 1MW of DC charging. Its compact design and performance are considered superior to the Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors used by most electric vehicles in North America.

Tesla says its charging connector and charging port — which it now calls the North American Charging Standard (NACS) — is the most common charging standard in North America. This is a statistic based on Tesla vehicle sales in North America and the number of chargers at its branded boost stations. Tesla has nearly 1,500 Supercharger stations in the United States. Each station has an average of nine chargers.

Tesla hasn't named any automakers or charging infrastructure companies as converts. In this highly competitive environment, in which virtually every automaker now uses CCS, it's hard to see GM, Ford and Stellantis switching to Tesla's technology.

However, at least one company - EV startup Aptera - is supporting the move. Earlier this year, Aptera called on the US government to adopt Tesla's Supercharger technology as the standard for all electric vehicle charging in the country. And EVGo has added Tesla connectors to some of its charging stations in the United States.

The company said in the blog post that network operators "already have plans underway" to integrate NACS into their chargers. If network providers like ChargePoint, EVConnect, or Electrify America add NACS, it would allow Tesla owners to charge at those stations without needing an adapter.

If automakers moved to NACS on their electric vehicles, it would give owners of those vehicles access to Tesla's North American supercharging and destination charging networks.