The Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN) has issued a response to Tesla’s proposal to have its charging connector design adopted as the North American Charging Standard (NACS) for electric vehicles. CharIN noted that while Tesla should be lauded for its effort to move electric mobility forward, adopting the NACS would “lead to further consumer confusion and delay EV adoption.”
CharIN shared its stance in a press release:
“CharIN applauds Tesla for including DIN 70121 and ISO 15118-02 communication standards for the NACS proposal. We also appreciate Tesla’s effort to move the e-mobility market forward even faster than it is moving now.
“However, we encourage stakeholders to investigate ways to focus on market acceleration rather than the creation of yet another form factor alternative, which will lead to further consumer confusion and delay EV adoption. CCS has gone through many years of rigorous standardization processes, which is a required activity for any new standard proposal. After a decade of collaborative work, the domestic and international EV industry has aligned around CCS,” CharIN wrote.
CharIN highlighted that nearly 300 domestic and international CharIN members are using or investing in CCS. The industry association also highlighted that worldwide, CCS far outnumbers Tesla’s Superchargers, with 61,000 DC fast chargers using a CCS connector and only 40,000 Superchargers using Tesla’s NACS. In North America, CharIN noted that there are 18,880 CCS connectors compared to 18,405 Tesla Supercharger connectors, and 178,926 J1172 connectors compared to 15,529 Tesla destination chargers.
The industry association further noted that Tesla’s proposal would have to face hurdles for the NACS to be standardized. Through this, the EV industry could be disrupted since electric car makers would have to divert their energy and resources to integrate and implement a new charging standard for their cars, according to CharIN.
“We strongly encourage Tesla, as a CharIN member, to work with CharIN’s membership base, the standards organizations, and others to accelerate the adoption of a fully interoperable EV charging solution to transition to electric vehicles more quickly. Ecosystem-driven collaboration is a proven method to create true standards accepted and adopted by a multitude of stakeholders, as well as a testing and conformance infrastructure to guarantee interoperability in the field. This is how CharIN, an inclusive, industrywide coalition representing nearly 300 leading e-mobility stakeholders, seeks to accelerate the e-mobility market in North America,” CharIN wrote.
Tesla, for its part, noted in its announcement earlier this month that the North American Charging Standard (NACS) has numerous advantages over CCS. Apart from offering both AC charging and up to 1 MW DC charging, the NACS is half the size and twice as powerful as CCS connectors.
“With more than a decade of use and 20 billion EV charging miles to its name, the Tesla charging connector is the most proven in North America, offering AC charging and up to 1 MW DC charging in one slim package. It has no moving parts, is half the size, and twice as powerful as Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors.
“In pursuit of our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, today we are opening our EV connector design to the world. We invite charging network operators and vehicle manufacturers to put the Tesla charging connector and charge port, now called the North American Charging Standard (NACS), on their equipment and vehicles. NACS is the most common charging standard in North America: NACS vehicles outnumber CCS two-to-one, and Tesla’s Supercharging network has 60% more NACS posts than all the CCS-equipped networks combined,” Tesla wrote.
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Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk reveals new details about Robotaxi rollout
The first Tesla Robotaxi unit was spotted in Austin earlier today, and CEO Elon Musk is revealing some cool new details.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed new details about the company’s relatively imminent rollout of the Robotaxi platform as the suspected launch date of June 12 continues to near.
Earlier today, the first video showing the first driverless Tesla Robotaxi in Austin was shared on X, just a day after the City officially listed the company as an autonomous vehicle operator on its website. Tesla is listed as a company in the “Testing” phase.
🚨 BREAKING: The first Tesla Robotaxi has been spotted in Austin!
It’s has the word “Robotaxi” inscribed on the side, and it’s very clear that there is nobody in the driver’s seat.
It does appear that someone is in the passenger’s seat. https://t.co/6BdTfd4B8p pic.twitter.com/dygWCeQ5kZ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 10, 2025
The initial details of the Robotaxi are being revealed by Musk, who is carefully releasing small tidbits that seem to show the capabilities of the entire Tesla fleet, and not necessarily just the vehicles that will be involved in the initial rollout in Austin.
First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX
His first tidbit is one that many Tesla owners and fans will already know: many Teslas are capable of this driveless performance, but Full Self-Driving is not yet refined to the point where the software is quite ready to handle it. Current versions are robust, but not prepared for driverless navigation. The hardware, however, will enable Teslas to be Robotaxis, even if they’re already purchased by owners:
These are unmodified Tesla cars coming straight from the factory, meaning that every Tesla coming out of our factories is capable of unsupervised self-driving! https://t.co/n94ln0Uas6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2025
This is one of the biggest advantages Tesla has over other vehicle makers. Simply put, the Over-the-Air software updates that will roll out to FSD users will eventually make their cars into Robotaxis as well.
However, Musk shed some details on the version of FSD that is being run in these new Robotaxis that were spotted. Musk said that the version these Robotaxis are running is a new version, but will soon “merge to main branch.”
There is also an even newer version that has four times the parameters as this newer version that the test-stage Robotaxis are using, but Musk admits that this needs significant refinement before it is released to the public.
It’s a new version of software, but will merge to main branch soon.
We have a more advanced model in alpha stage that has ~4X the params, but still requires a lot of polishing.
That’s probably ready for deploy in a few months.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2025
As of now, Tesla is simply teasing the actual launch date of the Robotaxi program, but Bloomberg reported earlier this month that it will occur on June 12.
News
First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX
The short clip suggests that Tesla may be ramping up its preparations for its robotaxi rollout in Austin.
A recent video posted on X has provided a first look at Tesla’s driverless robotaxi, which is expected to be deployed in Austin, Texas, this month. The vehicle was a new Tesla Model Y, which was followed by what appeared to be a manned chase car.
The short clip suggests that Tesla may be ramping up its preparations for its robotaxi rollout in Austin.
The First Robotaxi Sighting
It was evident from the short clip that the Tesla robotaxi was operating completely driverless. In the video, which was posted on X by @TerrapinTerpene, the driverless Tesla could be seen confidently making a turn. The vehicle looked and behaved like any other car on the road, save for the fact that there was no one in the driver’s seat.
Interestingly enough, the short video also provided a teaser on where Tesla will place its “robotaxi” logo on its self-driving cars. Based on the video, the robotaxis’ logo will be tastefully placed on the front doors, making the vehicles look sleek and clean.
Initial Rollout Imminent
Recent reports have suggested that Tesla is already starting the testing phase of its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. Expectations are also high that Tesla’s initial fleet of self-driving vehicles will be utilizing a lot of teleoperation to ensure that they operate as safely as possible.
Updates to Austin’s official website recently have hinted at Tesla’s robotaxi launch. Just this Monday, Tesla was listed as an autonomous vehicle (AV) operator on Austin’s official Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Other AV operators listed on the site are Waymo and Zoox, among others.
Elon Musk, for his part, has noted that by the end of June, the public in Austin should be ready to take rides in Tesla robotaxis without an invitation. He also noted in late May that Tesla has been busy testing driverless cars on Austin’s city streets without any incidents.
News
Tesla Model Y proudly takes its place as China’s best-selling SUV in May
The Model Y edged out competitors like the BYD Song Plus.
The Tesla Model Y claimed its position as China’s best-selling SUV in May, with 24,770 units registered, according to insurance data from China EV DataTracker.
The Model Y edged out competitors like the BYD Song Plus, which recorded 24,240 registrations, as well as Geely’s gasoline-powered Xingyue L, which took third place with 21,014 units registered, as noted in Car News China report.
Return To The Top
The Model Y’s return to the top of China’s SUV market follows a second-place finish in April, when it trailed the BYD Song Plus by just 684 units. Tesla China had 19,984 new Model Y registrations in April, while BYD had 20,668 registrations for the Song Plus.
For the first five months of 2025, Tesla sold 126,643 Model Ys in China, outpacing the Song Plus at 110,551 units and BYD’s Song Pro at 80,245 units. This is quite impressive as the new Tesla Model Y is still a premium vehicle that is significantly more expensive than a good number of its competitors.
Year-Over-Year Challenges
Despite its SUV crown, Tesla’s year-over-year performance in China is still seeing headwinds. May sales totaled 38,588 units, a 30% year-over-year decline. From January to May, Tesla delivered 201,926 vehicles in China, a 7.8% drop year-over-year. These drops, however, are notably affected by the company’s changeover to the new Model Y in the first quarter.
Exports from Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory also fell, with 90,949 vehicles being shipped from January to May 2025. This represents a decline of 33.4% year-over-year, though May exports rose 33% to 23,074 units.
China’s electric vehicle market, meanwhile, showed robust growth. Total NEV sales, which includes battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), reached 1,021,000 units in May, up 28% year-over-year. BEV sales alone hit 607,000 units, a 22.4% increase.
Considering the fact that China’s BEV market is extremely competitive, the Tesla Model Y’s rise to the top of the country’s SUV rankings is extremely impressive.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk reveals new details about Robotaxi rollout
First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX
Tesla Model Y proudly takes its place as China’s best-selling SUV in May
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