Three things from late September worth your time, and one thing I would do about them.
1. Ionna went NACS-only. I wouldn't, yet.
Ionna opened its first fast-charging sites with no CCS1 cable at all: two Rechargery Relay locations at Circle K stores in Lancaster and Perris, California, with 4 NACS stalls each, reported by State of Charge on September 22. Ionna's Perris page lists four NACS connectors at up to 400 kW for $0.39 per kWh. Ionna hasn't said why.
For scale, Paren's Q2 2026 report had NACS at 22.9% of new non-Tesla fast-charging connectors installed last quarter. CCS is still 74.6% of the 48,371-port non-Tesla base.
Why it matters: we're not close to the point where a third-party site should be NACS-only. A lot of non-Tesla EVs on the road still have a CCS port, and those are the drivers a third-party charger lives on. If I'm speccing four DC stalls for a c-store today, at least half the cables are CCS.
We'll get there in a few years, as more models ship with NACS and people trade their CCS cars in. My line is roughly 80% of new vehicles sold with a NACS port, plus Supercharger lines long enough to push Tesla drivers onto third-party chargers. Parts of California may be close. But unless Ionna knows something about who drives past those two Circle Ks, going NACS-only now doesn't make a ton of sense.
2. The Tesla Semi is in production. Adoption is the hard part.
Tesla started volume production of the Semi on September 25 at a new plant in Sparks, Nevada, built for 50,000 trucks a year (Electrek, TechCrunch). Loaded to 82,000 pounds it uses about 1.7 kWh per mile, and it charges at up to 1.2 MW, enough for 60% of its range in 30 minutes (The Autopian). Earlier this year Tesla quoted $260,000 for the 325-mile Standard Range and $290,000 for the 500-mile Long Range. Tesla's own math puts electricity at $0.20 to $0.30 a mile, against about $0.80 for a diesel truck at 7 mpg.
Some arithmetic for anyone with a depot: at 1.7 kWh a mile, a truck running 300 miles a day needs about 510 kWh every night. Ten of them need about 5 MWh.
Why it matters: when ZET SCALE ordered 2,500 electric semis, I called it chicken and egg. My answer doesn't change. Production is the chicken now, but adoption is the bigger thing. Tesla producing a truck doesn't mean it gets built at scale, or deployed at scale in time. Trucking is a legacy industry, and new technology that challenges it takes time and a lot of testing before fleets start trading in their diesel trucks. It's a good start. Give it some time.
3. Colorado funds 270 more fast-charging ports
Colorado awarded $23.2 million on September 22 for 270 fast-charging ports at 35 locations, using federal NEVI money and the state's Community Access Enterprise. That's about $663,000 per site, or roughly $86,000 per port. The state says it adds 16% to a network of more than 1,680 ports.
The winners range from Tesla, Electrify America, EVgo and Blink to 7-Eleven, Love's, Phillips 66 and regional operators like Helios and Red E (KRDO). Projects have two years to finish.
What I'd do
If you're speccing DC chargers for a site today, keep at least half the cables CCS. Revisit that when NACS is on roughly 80% of new EVs sold, or when Tesla drivers start showing up because the Supercharger down the road has a line. Until then, a NACS-only site turns away the drivers third-party charging depends on.
The buying guide covers hardware and connector choices, and the site selection guide helps you figure out who actually drives past your lot. For depots, the fleet charging guide and fleet charging calculator take your own numbers. If you're chasing grant money, start with the financing guide.
