NACS vs. CCS: How Charging Standards Are Shaping Commercial EV Infrastructure

Posted 10/19/2026

North American automakers have committed to switching the charging ports on their electric vehicle (EV) models from the CCS (Combined Charging System) style to the NACS (North American Charging Standard) style. That shift started this year and will continue in the future until all North American EVs are being sold with the NACS style of charging port. Even though all new models will be sold with the NACS port, there will still be plenty of EVs using the CCS style of port for years.

With an industry-wide change as drastic as the switch from CCS to NACS, it begs the question: What will this mean for current and future Direct Current Fast Charger (DCFC) deployments?

Understanding the differences between NACS and CCS charging connectors

First, let’s look at the similarities and differences between the two charging standards. And before we do that, it should be noted that CCS has two different formats: CCS1 and CCS2.

CCS1 was the format largely adopted in North America while CCS2 is primarily used in Europe.

The similarities

Both NACS and CCS charging ports can:

Accommodate Level 2 charging and DC Fast Charging
Be used for bi-directional charging (feeding electricity back to the electrical grid)
Be used for Plug & Charge payment verification (automatic vehicle verification and payments made when a driver plugs into a charger with no further input from the driver, like swiping a credit card, for example)

The differences

The two plugs physically look different with the NACS being smaller and lighter and combining AC and DC charging capabilities into its five-pin setup. CCS plugs are bulkier and heavier and separate the AC and DC charging pins into two different sections with seven pins in total.
CCS was developed through an automaker-led industry consortium, while NACS was originally developed by Tesla before being standardized as SAE J3400 and adopted by automakers across the North American market.
Until recently, NACS plugs could only be used on compatible charging networks (unless you had an adapter) and CCS plugs could only be used on other charging networks (unless you had an adapter).
250kW charging is common for NACS, with 325kW available at select charging locations. 800V+ battery charging is not yet supported. For the CCS, up to 350kW is common, up to 500kW can be found at some DCFCs, and 800V+ battery charging is already supported.

There has always been a mix of CCS and NACS plugs in the United States, and many drivers have adapters that will allow them to use virtually any EV charger they come across. CCS still is and will continue to be common in the country even as automakers transition their vehicles to NACS. CCS will eventually become obsolete in North America, but the transition to NACS will take years to complete and the used EV market will likely keep CCS around in the U.S. for decades to come.

Why automakers are adopting NACS

Automakers are switching to NACS to make charging more convenient to drivers. Automakers began adopting NACS in part to give their customers access to a broader charging ecosystem and to align new vehicles with an emerging industry standard. The connector's smaller form factor and ability to support both AC and DC charging also helped drive adoption. Likewise, a common charging standard would expand charging access across different vehicle brands and charging networks, often without requiring an adapter.

What this transition means for commercial charging site hosts

For EV charging site hosts, the transition means they will have to make a decision about which type of charging ports to install with their EV chargers. While NACS will eventually be the only charging port on new North American electric vehicles, there will still be CCS charging ports used in North America for years to come while the transition is taking place.

One potential solution is to install DCFCs with multiple ports and have both NACS and CCS charging ports available for the time being. The Blink DC Distributed System, for example, can support up to eight charging ports in its full 600kW format. You could have a combination of NACS and CCS charging ports to serve both new and older EVs.

Considerations for new DC Fast Charging deployments versus existing infrastructure

If your existing DCFCs do not have a mixture of CCS and NACS plugs, you may want to consider adding some of the plug type that you don’t have so you can accommodate all EVs. For new deployments, it is recommended to have a mixture of plug types.

A mix of CCS and NACS plugs will support mixed fleets and serve all EV drivers during the transition period.

Hardware, cable, and site design considerations for future-ready installations

You will want to ensure that any DCFCs you install from this year forward have NACS plugs. However, as previously mentioned, the transition will not render CCS plugs obsolete overnight. Therefore, a mixture of plugs is the best way to ensure you can service all vehicles. As the transition continues, adapters are likely going to become a must-have for EV drivers, especially those who have vehicles with a CCS plug.

One question you may want to ask your EV charging provider is whether their DCFCs can have their cables and plugs replaced. CCS plugs are thicker and heavier than their thinner and lighter NACS cousins. At some point in the future, as CCS vehicles become rarer, you may want to transition your CCS plug DCFCs to NACS, if possible.

How charging providers are approaching NACS and CCS compatibility

Like Blink, most EV charging providers will probably recommend a mixture of plugs for new DCFC deployments, with a focus on NACS since those are the plugs of the future. For example, with the aforementioned Blink DC Distributed System, if you have the full contingent of eight charging plugs, you will probably want more NACS than CCS, like a five to three mix, since you want your installation to accommodate both today's CCS-equipped EVs and the NACS-equipped vehicles that will be the default standard starting this year.

The 2026 model year is the first year that all new North American EVs will be fitted with NACS plugs, so the transition has just begun and there will still be a lot of demand for CCS charging ports from drivers for many years. If you install only NACS plugs on your DCFC, you risk limiting access for EV drivers whose vehicles still use CCS connectors, including many models on the road through the 2025 model year.

And, as previously mentioned, adapters will become pretty much mandatory for EV drivers to have for the next several years as the transition continues.

All DCFCs that Blink currently sells can be equipped with either NACS or CCS plugs, and the chargers that have multiple plugs can have a mixture of the two, which is recommended for the time being.

Getting started

To talk to an EV charging expert about your DCFC deployment and which type of plug you should have, please contact us. You may do so by the contact form on our website, or by calling 1-888-998-2546.