USA - Will the NACS Port be STANDARD in 2026 ?

[corgidad]

the Macan is good to go - so I would expect it to go native NACS "first" - the post .2 Taycan (the next major refresh) will probably do two things

1. move the charging port
2. go Native NACS in North America

until the next major Taycan refresh I would be unsurprised if:

• the current Taycan gen1/gen2 ever move away from CCS1
• the port will remain "awkward" for Superchargers
• will require an adapter

2028/2030 will refresh the Taycan (probably) and then we'll get a new port location and Native NACS ports in North America

YMMV my $0.02

The charging port location / NACS vs CCS1 or the access to Tesla superchargers isn't really a big issue for me at the moment. For now all superchargers in the US don't have real v4 transformers, meaning they can't output 800V DC. So max speed is like 140kw on those. which is about half the speed I can usually get from EA 350kw stations.

Now I only charged a handful times at EA stations...... I've only done 1 big road trip so far and I charge at home most of time...

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[daveo4EV]

The charging port location / NACS vs CCS1 or the access to Tesla superchargers isn't really a big issue for me at the moment. For now all superchargers in the US don't have real v4 transformers, meaning they can't output 800V DC. So max speed is like 140kw on those. which is about half the speed I can usually get from EA 350kw stations.

Now I only charged a handful times at EA stations...... I've only done 1 big road trip so far and I charge at home most of time...

for me it's the greater stall count - fewer stalls out of commission - so greater reliability - there is no question that EA will charge faster - but that's pointless if the stations are offline/broken…supercharger reliability and quantity of stalls at a given site is vastly greater/better than EA so its a more reliable choice for planning purposes

given a functional EA 800V stations vs. a V3/V4 Supercharger - EA wins for me

but the above scenario was "rare" given my experience from 2020 to 2024 w/Taycan

I'm about to road trip my Macan and I can't use supercharger, so I'll be dependent on EA and other networks - we'll see how it goes.

 

[corgidad]

for me it's the greater stall count - fewer stalls out of commission - so greater reliability - there is no question that EA will charge faster - but that's pointless if the stations are offline/broken…supercharger reliability and quantity of stalls at a given site is vastly greater/better than EA so its a more reliable choice for planning purposes

given a functional EA 800V stations vs. a V3/V4 Supercharger - EA wins for me

but the above scenario was "rare" given my experience from 2020 to 2024 w/Taycan

I'm about to road trip my Macan and I can't use supercharger, so I'll be dependent on EA and other networks - we'll see how it goes.

The stall count and reliability is really a good point! There were several times I arrived at EA station with only one available, and anyone arriving after me would have to wait. And I hate waiting.

Oh now I remember, I actually went to an EA station which was full and there were like 4 KIA EV6 waiting in line. I left immediately and found a 320kW ChargePoint station nearby...

And good luck with your Macan road trip!

 

[Jonathan S.]

V3 Magic Docks for me have required some additional maneuvering and placing my CT in Lift mode.
But I’d far rather spend time on that and also max out in the 130s for kW rather than deal with EA or its equally miserable DCFC competitors in New England (with the exceptions of a few new EA stations that apparently work, the lone NEVI which is strategically located to be perfect for me but otherwise so out of the way that it sees little use, and the new Ford stations with six plugs).

 

[julianm]

The issue is whether Tesla will allow VAG vehicles to use the Supercharger network.
…
VAG has already signaled its interest in obtaining that access, and supposedly some sort of agreement is in place with Tesla for eventual access.

The reason I'm quite confident that it will roll out to VAG eventually is because I believe Elon was waiting until every single manufacturer signed on before firing most of the Supercharger team.

He wanted all that ink dry enough that no one would dare back out. I'm pretty sure the manufacturers are paying Tesla for access, in addition to the higher kWh rates us customers will be paying. Now that the income is assured, he doesn't see the need to pay a couple hundred people to keep working on the network.

Plus, he can now argue pretty convincingly that NACS is truly standard enough to warrant receiving federal funding. (By the time he'd need to, he may already have helped eliminate the federal jobs that would've been checking for that anyway. He's got his bases covered.)

I'd be surprised if VAG's deal is somehow less real than Ford's. It's just later in line, and who knows how long it'll take to get through the line.

Over the long arc of the next several years it will be amusing to see if the skeleton crew running the Supercharger network can keep its quality so clearly above EA's. That should be pretty embarrassing for EA.

 

[Flying ace]

Valid question, buy why is this even a concern when adapters are available, and likely to be available on future chargers?

 

[Jonathan S.]

Valid question, buy why is this even a concern when adapters are available, and likely to be available on future chargers?

Which question?

 

[Flying ace]

Which question?

Op's question where NACS will be available by 2026

 

[daveo4EV]

once you have a NACS native vehicle - if you don't want to be limited to supercharger speeds you'll need the CCS1 adatper to access the non-Supercharger network stalls for quite while as they transition to NACS cables…

so it's simply a matter of what DCFast charger adapter you want to carry with you…

• NCAS Charging Cable --> CCS1 Vehicle
• CCS1 Charging Cable --> NACS Vehicle

and the same for J-1772 vs. NACS

so you'll still want two adapters with you for traveling.

we'll have adapters with us for quite awhile…

 

[whitex]

"The VW group wants you to pay the extortion level charge rates dictated by EA once free charging period expires."

So you really don't want Tesla Supercharger access, since their prices are higher?

 

[Jonathan S.]

So you really don't want Tesla Supercharger access, since their prices are higher?

I was quoting that contention to dispute it.
I'd be perfectly happy to pay about a dollar per kWh for reliability.
(Although today's one minute and forty seconds of refueling for 510 added miles was pretty good too -- since my Taycan has lost any heating!)

 

[whitex]

I'm not sure the type of charging port one has is VW's biggest issue…I anticipate few if any issues.

I would not be so sure.. Remember that native NACS is more complicated than native CCS1 with NACS adapter. For one, they have to participate in some communications protocol to even decide whether it's an AC EVSE or DC charger that they are connected to. In 5 years Porsche hasn't figured out how to reliably remove the "PORSCHE" splash screen after boot, leaving PCM with nothing but PORSCHE logo on the screen, and even engineering reboot doesn't fix it - it requires shutting the car down for a half hour or longer. So my confidence level in their software is not high. It will work for the executive demo I'm sure. Worst part is that I'm thinking most of their testing will be with CCS cars with an adapter, as they may make the same assumption as you.

 

[whitex]

once you have a NACS native vehicle - if you don't want to be limited to supercharger speeds you'll need the CCS1 adatper to access the non-Supercharger network stalls for quite while as they transition to NACS cables…

so it's simply a matter of what DCFast charger adapter you want to carry with you…

• NCAS Charging Cable --> CCS1 Vehicle
• CCS1 Charging Cable --> NACS Vehicle

and the same for J-1772 vs. NACS

so you'll still want two adapters with you for traveling.

we'll have adapters with us for quite awhile…

IIRC EA announced they will be deploying both cables for a while, NACS and CCS1.

 

[daveo4EV]

@Jonathan S.

as an economist I think you might appreciate my perspective on this:

I think the charging services are selling the wrong commodity - sure they have per-kWh costs - but what they are actually selling is time…

30 minutes for 70 kWh vs. 600 minutes for 70 kWh…

once I personally started thinking about it that way the cost per-kWh became irrelevant to me and I started thinking in terms of "session total cost" - 70 kWh @ .34 kWh is about $23 - I'm more than happy to pay $23 to save 9.5 hours at a charging stop.

two fast charing stops a day saves me 19 hours - I'm almost cost immune at that point in time once I started thinking about it that way - basically when I'm away from home fast charging is more expensive like eating out is more expensive than eating at home - $20-$30 per session is in-consequential vs. the alternatives…people are way to cost focused in my opinion and lose sight of the bigger picture in this context.

in my upcoming Macan EV road trip we have a driving segment from Forrest City, AR to Albuquerque, NM - 900'ish miles - likely 3 charging stops for that one day - or a savings of 28.5 hours - ask me if care if the charging stop is $20, $30, $40…I don't - cause a hotel is $100-$300 a night and my time is valuable…

my $0.02 (or $23) - YMMV

 

[whitex]

I was quoting that contention to dispute it.
I'd be perfectly happy to pay about a dollar per kWh for reliability.
(Although today's one minute and forty seconds of refueling for 510 added miles was pretty good too -- since my Taycan has lost any heating!)

Ah, I missed the fact that it was an unattributed quote. Nevermind then.

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