Hyundai Motor, Kia to adopt Tesla’s charging standard for EVs

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. have joined Tesla's Supercharger network for electric vehicles (EV).

The North American branches of the two South Korean automakers on Thursday said that from late next year, they will use the Tesla-developed North American Charging Standard (NACS), also known as the Tesla charging standard, for EVs sold in the US and Canada. This will apply to new models launched in America from October next year and Canada from the first half of 2025.

The charging port for the composite charging system (CCS) will be discontinued.

An EV with the NACS charging port can receive rapid charging at some 12,000 Tesla stations throughout North America including Mexico. Hyundai Motor and Kia will provide NACS adapters from the first quarter of 2025 to allow EVs with the CCS charging port to use Superchargers.

“By teaming up with Tesla Supercharger, we will double the scale of the fast-charging network usable by Hyundai Motor and Kia EV users,” Hyundai Motor said.

The problem of slow charging speed for Hyundai Motor EVs at Tesla stations is also seen to be resolved. “Tesla is pursuing optimization to perfectly support the ultra-fast charging speed of Hyundai Motor’s Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) models,” a Hyundai Motor source said.

Hyundai Motor and Kia, however, will have their EVs use their respective company’s apps, not Tesla's, when using Superchargers. This is to avoid giving consumer data to the American corporation while sharing the Supercharger network.

In addition, Hyundai Motor and Kia will join a proposed EV-charging network through a joint venture with General Motors, Stellantis, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Honda. This seven-company project eyes the installation of at least 30,000 high-output chargers in downtown areas and highways of major North American cities between the second half of next year and 2030.

Write to Nan-Sae Bin at binthere@hankyung.com