Federal Highway Administration Announces RFI on Updating Federal Standards for EV Charging

Submit responses by April 5

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation has announced a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting feedback on updating FHWA’s minimum standards and requirements for electric vehicle (RV) charging stations.

The RFI, which comes as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s continuing work on developing a national network of EV chargers, focuses on the types of connectors used at federally-funded EV chargers. Current federal requirements allow for alternative types of connectors on all federally-funded DC Fast Chargers, as long as there is also a Combined Charging System (CCS) connector. However, SAE International recently published SAE J3400, North American Charging Standard (NACS), making it possible for any supplier or manufacturer to use, manufacture, and deploy the NACS connector—which differs from the CCS connector. According to the FHWA, many automakers have announced they will adopt the NACS connector standard on vehicles beginning in 2025, with adapters available for current owners as soon as spring 2024.

Given these changes in the EV landscape, the RFI will help inform how FHWA can best incorporate new technologies and innovations like NACS into its minimum standards and requirements for federally funded EV charging stations. Specifically, the FHWA is seeking information in several key areas:

• expectations surrounding market availability for SAE J3400 within EVs and EV chargers;
• technical compatibility of SAE J3400 with existing regulations;
• considerations regarding challenges and benefits of the implementation of SAE J3400 at charging stations;
• market demands for the continued availability of CCS and J1772 connectors; and
• potential options for performance-based standards that can reduce the need for future regulatory updates or changes as technology evolves.

“As EV charging technology continues to rapidly evolve, we want to ensure our federal standards for EV charging keep pace with private sector innovation, adapt to a quickly evolving industry, and meet the needs of EV drivers,” said FHWA administrator Shailen Bhatt. “This RFI will help us gather important feedback from our federal, state, local, and private partners to inform potential updates to our federal standards with those goals in mind.”

Comments must be received on or before April 5, 2024. View instructions for submitting comments in the Federal Register notice. Federal agencies will seek additional feedback from stakeholders on electrified heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) later this year.

Related: ANSI Electric Vehicles Standards Panel (EVSP)