Yep. This has nothing to do w/ altruism on Tesla's part. It is purely about Government Cheese.
I'm skeptical of that. There's already been significant reporting that Tesla intends to add CCS compatibility to its Supercharger network, which should enable Tesla to get US government subsidies. Making its newly-named NACS an open standard won't help with that, as far as I can tell. At best, it might, if and when other manufacturer(s) start using NACS; but AFAIK, only Aptera seems keen on NACS, and Aptera has yet to produce anything more than a prototype.
The NACS standard is just the connector, not the protocol. (All of those adapters would be passthrough, with the car/Supercharger having no way to know any adapters were in use.) So you can charge using the Tesla or CCS protocol over the NACS connector.
For example EA could add the NACS connector to their stalls and not have to change any software, at which point any CCS compatible Tesla could use the stall without the adapter. And assuming Tesla adds the CCS protocol to Superchargers, like they have done in Europe, other OEMs could add a NACS port to their vehicles with CCS capabilities and they could start using the Supercharger network without any adapter or software changes.
These are extremely important points. Assuming that Tesla has truly made the NACS details public in a no-strings-attached way, this makes it relatively easy (albeit not quite cost-free) for EA, EVgo, etc., to add NACS cables to their existing or future chargers and any CCS-enabled Tesla will be able to use that charger without an adapter. I'm skeptical that other automakers will rush to add NACS ports to their cars, even if NACS becomes truly free. (Yes, I know that Aptera is a fan; but I have yet to hear anything but fantasizing by Tesla fans about Ford, GM, VW, etc. replacing CCS with NACS.)
If I were Rivian/Lucid I would be working on adding the NACS port to my vehicles ASAP.
On this I disagree. I simply don't see much incentive for any existing non-Tesla EV manufacturer to switch to NACS. It would be a profound change in the product line, which is always painful to implement; and unless and until NACS connectors become common at non-Tesla DC fast chargers, such a change would tie customers to Tesla's Superchargers (assuming the non-Tesla EVs could even charge there) or require customers to buy adapters.
This could change in the future, of course. Hypothetically, if all the major DC fast charging networks add NACS cables, and if/when Tesla adds CCS software support to all or most of its Superchargers (perhaps to more stations than support the CCS1 connector type), then that would provide a real benefit to non-Tesla EV manufacturers to switch from CCS1 to NACS inlets. This benefit would be bigger if Tesla supports the CCS protocol, but not the CCS1 connector, at a large fraction of its Superchargers.
Did you see that network operators already have plans in motion to add NACS connectors to their sites?
Yes, I noticed that detail, too. I found it interesting, and possibly relevant to
@Cosmacelf's question at the start of the thread about why Tesla is doing this now....
Hypothetically (I can't stress that word enough), if Tesla has been in talks with EA, EVgo, ChargePoint, etc., with the goal of adding NACS cables to these third-party chargers, then it's possible that those negotiations led Tesla to open up the NACS details. These third-party providers would, after all, want to be able to add these connectors without paying kickbacks to Tesla for its IP and without agreeing to the "poison pills" Tesla has attached to its previous offers of opening up its IP. By this analysis (or speculation), Tesla is opening up the NACS designs now because it's only now that EVs have become common enough that interoperability between all brands and charging networks is becoming a game with high enough stakes for the various parties to come together.
