SAE International Announces Standard for NACS Connector, Charging PKI and Infrastructure Reliability

Key Initiatives Contribute to Interoperable, Secure and Reliable EV Charging

WARRENDALE, Pa., June 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SAE International today announced it will standardize the Tesla-developed North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector. This will ensure that any supplier or manufacturer will be able to use, manufacture, or deploy the NACS connector on electric vehicles (EVs) and at charging stations across North America. Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Rivian, and a number of EV charging companies recently announced plans to adopt the NACS connector through adaptors or future product offerings.

The standardization process is the next step to establish a consensus-based approach for maintaining NACS and validating its ability to meet performance and interoperability criteria. The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation was instrumental in fostering the SAE-Tesla partnership and expediting plans to standardize NACS—an important step in building an interoperable national charging network that will work for all EV drivers.

"Standardizing the NACS connector will provide certainty, expanded choice, reliability and convenience to manufacturers and suppliers and, most of all, increase access to charging for consumers," said Frank Menchaca, President, Sustainable Mobility Solutions, an innovation arm of SAE's parent company, Fullsight, which focuses on initiatives that lead to net zero transportation throughout mobility sectors.

The new SAE NACS connector standard will be developed on an expedited timeframe and is one of several key initiatives to strengthen the North American EV charging infrastructure. This includes SAE-ITC's Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for cyber-secure charging. In close cooperation with National Labs, SAE also is contributing to reliability design for the national ChargeX consortium.

"Taken together," said David L. Schutt, CEO, SAE International, "these efforts will contribute substantially to SAE's commitment to secure, clean and connected transportation, accessible to everyone. We're delighted to do our part in aligning the excellent efforts of industry with those of government entities like the Joint Office to advance sustainable mobility on a national level."  

Click here for a video message from Frank Menchaca about today's news.

About SAE International. SAE International (SAEI) is a global organization committed to advancing mobility knowledge and solutions for the benefit of humanity. By engaging nearly 200,000 engineers, technical experts and volunteers, we connect and educate mobility professionals to enable safe, clean, and accessible mobility solutions. We act on two priorities: encouraging a lifetime of learning for mobility engineering professionals and setting the standards for industry engineering. We strive for a better world through the work of our philanthropic SAE Foundation, including award-winning programs like A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series™. More at http://www.sae.org.

About SAE ITC. SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (SAE ITC®) is an 501(c)(6) affiliate of SAE International®, and its membership is comprised of public and private organizations collaborating in a neutral forum to drive innovative solutions to key industry challenges. More at https://www.sae-itc.com.

SOURCE SAE International