The Hyundai Motor Group is the latest to announce that it will join the growing ranks of automakers using Tesla’s charging plug for its electric vehicles. By the fourth quarter of 2024, electric vehicles from Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis will use the North American Charging Standard (NACS).
“Our collaboration with Tesla marks another milestone in our commitment to delivering exceptional EV experiences to our customers,” said José Muñoz, Hyundai’s COO. “This new alliance will provide Hyundai EV owners confidence in their ability to conveniently charge their vehicles and complements our joint venture company to create a new, high-powered charging network with at least 30,000 stations across North America.”
As with most other automakers, the three brands currently use the Combined Charging System (CCS). Bulkier and more complex, the system is favored in other global markets, and is the only plug type that automakers are allowed to use in Europe.
Read: Honda Strikes Deal With Tesla, Becomes The Latest Automaker To Adopt NACS Charge Ports
However, in North America, the CCS standard has been less successful. Charging stations that use the plug are less common and (importantly) less reliable than those that use Tesla’s NACS plug. Buoyed by its head start in the electric vehicle segment, and control over the plugs that charge its vehicles, Tesla was able to create a network that consistently rates highly in terms of customer satisfaction.
Starting earlier this year, that prompted a number of automakers, among them General Motors, Honda, Jaguar, Nissan, and Volvo, to adopt the NACS plug. However, the first third-party automaker to announce that it would adopt Tesla’s standard was Ford.
While many of the brands listed above have lofty ambitions for their electric vehicles, the Hyundai Group brands were among the last major holdouts to hang onto the CCS plug, until today. Hyundai and Kia, in particular, have become major players in the EV segment thanks to vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6, and the Kia EV6 and the upcoming EV9.
“As a leader in electrified mobility, Kia offers a growing number of world-class EVs with high-speed DC charging capabilities that will now be supported by the NACS charging network,” said Seungkyu (Sean) Yoon, president & CEO, Kia North America. “Having this kind of sprawling access to chargers will no doubt boost customer satisfaction, elevate the EV ownership experience, and enable drivers to reach more destinations across the continent on electricity.”
The brands say that by late 2024, their North American EVs will be sold with an NACS plug. Starting in the first quarter of 2025, existing owners will be able to get a charging adapter that will allow their CCS-equipped vehicles to plug in at Tesla charging stations, too.
