//evt/charging
Editorial
NACS in 2026: the year the connector war ended and the plug wars began
IONNA opened its first all-NACS sites, Rivian went NACS-only, Stellantis took the standard global — and NACS now accounts for roughly half of all U.S. public DC fast-charging ports.
Three years after Tesla’s connector became SAE J3400, the NACS standard effectively won the North American connector war in 2026. What followed was the harder phase: the messy, site-by-site transition from a CCS-dominant installed base to an NACS-native future.
The native-ports moment arrived
Stellantis — the last major North American automaker to commit — adopted the SAE J3400 connector starting with 2026 model year battery-electric vehicles, including the Jeep Wagoneer S and Dodge Charger Daytona BEV. The company also said it would take NACS global, beyond North America.
Customers win when the industry aligns on open standards. We are happy to announce our backing and adoption of the SAE J3400 connector, a milestone for all customers on the path to open and seamless charging.Ricardo Stamatti, Stellantis SVP of global energy & charging
Networks started choosing sides by the site
IONNA — the eight-automaker joint venture that more than doubled to 180+ live sites in 2026 — opened its first all-NACS locations (no CCS1) in California in September: two Rechargeries at Circle K, Lancaster and Perris, four NACS stalls each. The network’s broader installed base still leaned CCS1 — 64% to 36% — but the test had begun. Rivian moved further: it began deploying NACS-only Adventure Network stations in April 2026 and reached 23 NACS-exclusive sites, about 14.5% of its locations.
The arithmetic of the switchover
By 2026, NACS connectors accounted for close to half of all public DC fast-charging ports in the U.S., and the share keeps growing as networks retrofit stations and add NACS-equipped hardware. Meanwhile the old guard exited: ChargePoint issued an end-of-life notice for CHAdeMO hardware in December 2025 — the connector now holds barely 4.4% of European charging sessions, per 2024 data, and even Japanese automakers plan the NACS shift by 2026–2027.
The connector war ended in committee; the plug wars are being fought one parking lot at a time. Drivers with CCS-era cars keep an adapter in the frunk for a few more years — and the industry keeps score in steel and concrete, not standards documents.
//evt/charging/filed
How this story was filed
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