Hyundai and Kia finally announced their plans to adopt Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) ports for their electric vehicles in the US and Canada, joining the wave of automakers that have also promised to do so.
The move will give Hyundai and Kia drivers, as well as drivers of Ford vehicles, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Rivian, access to thousands of Tesla Superchargers in both countries and Mexico.
With NACS looking to overtake the Combined Charging System (CCS) as the new charging standard, the question on the auto industry's mind is where Volkswagen will stand?
In June, the subsidiary of electric vehicle charging VW's Electrify America said it would add the NACS connector to Electrify America and Electrify Canada's fast charging networks by 2025. Many thought that day wouldn't happen, given the amount of money VW had to shell out to build that CCS. -Charging network based first. VW invested $2.000 billion in building Electrify America (EA) as part of a settlement over the VW diesel emissions scandal.
Like most other charging companies, EA said it would also continue to provide CCS connectors across its network. And Tesla will include CCS connectors at some of its U.S. charging stations to take advantage of some of the rewards of the Biden administration's IRA subsidies. The Tesla Supercharger network It accounts for about 60% of fast chargers in the US, according to the Department of Energy.
Volkswagen did not respond, but the company has been in talks with Tesla to adopt the NACS charging port in future vehicles from summer 2023. VW is one of the largest car manufacturers in the world, representing brands such as Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche and Lamborghini.
In the coming years, under the VW brand, the automaker expects to launch a range of new electric vehicle models, including the ID.3 2024, ID.7 2024 and ID.7 Wagon 2025.
Most automakers that have signed up to make Power Plants equipped with NACS ports aim for 2025 models. Hyundai aims to arrive even earlier.
The automaker said Thursday that Hyundai's new electric vehicles in the U.S., such as the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and the upcoming Ioniq 7, will arrive with the NACS port starting in the fourth quarter of 2024. That will begin in Canada in the first half of 2025. Genesis, Hyundai's luxury brand, will also jump on the NACS bandwagon.
Kia also said it would build the NACS port into new electric vehicles sold in North America in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Both Hyundai and Kia said they expect to have adapters available at dealerships in the first quarter of 2025, for customers who own vehicles with CCS ports.
Tesla's NACS is quickly becoming the industry standard, in part due to Tesla's already strong footprint of superchargers in good locations along highways. The drivers of Power Plants They also say that Tesla offers a faster and easier charging process.
In late June, SAE International, formerly known as the Society of Automotive Engineers, said it would develop a industry standard around NACS, which would calm other companies wary of allowing a competitor to control a key part of the electric vehicle experience.
