- Hyundai Motor Group is racing to place Tesla’s NACS charging port in its Hyundai, Kia and Genesis electrical automobiles.
- 5 fashions happening sale quickly will come geared up with the Tesla-designed port.
- Hyundai and Kia officers advised InsideEVs the transfer was all about destroying a key barrier to EV adoption: dangerous charging entry.
The Hyundai Motor Group has quickly emerged as one of many largest challengers to Tesla’s EV dominance. It’s nonetheless a distant second when it comes to U.S. EV gross sales. However the South Korean automaker is nipping at Tesla’s heels in one other method: Electrical fashions geared up with Tesla’s charging port design, often called the North American Charging Commonplace (NACS).
HMG’s manufacturers—that’s Hyundai, Kia and Genesis—are about to promote as many NACS-equipped fashions as Tesla itself does. It’s a sign that the auto industry-wide migration to NACS from the older customary is properly underway. And HMG is main the cost.
“A large barrier to entry is infrastructure accessibility, so I feel it was sort of a simple one to say, ‘Hey, if we’re going to do it, let’s do it fast,’” Andre Ravinowich, senior supervisor of product planning at Hyundai, advised InsideEVs in an interview. “You see the necessity. You see the chance. It’s now accessible. Why wait?”
Picture by: InsideEVs
Hyundai’s manufacturers have introduced 5 automobiles up to now that’ll come from the manufacturing facility with an NACS port, with three making their debut final week on the Los Angeles Auto Present. These are the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5, 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9, 2025 Kia EV6, 2026 Kia EV9 and 2026 Genesis Electrified GV70. They’re not on the street fairly but, however shall be within the coming months.
Additionally, from Hyundai’s previous statements and photographs, we are able to presume that an up to date Ioniq 6 sedan will even use the NACS plug: “In the USA, all-new or refreshed Hyundai EVs will come solely with a NACS port, starting in This fall 2024… Tesla’s dedication to increasing its community will improve buyer entry to out-of-home charging and totally help the ultra-fast charging speeds on Hyundai’s superior Electrical-International Modular Platform (E-GMP) automobiles, together with Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and the upcoming EV fashions.”
Tesla sells 5 shopper fashions, all geared up with the NACS the corporate originated: the Mannequin S, Mannequin X, Mannequin Y, Mannequin 3 and Cybertruck. The Semi, a class-8 truck, makes use of a distinct plug. Tesla says the Cybercab, an autonomous taxi due out in 2026, received’t have a port in any respect. It’ll solely juice up via wi-fi, inductive charging.
With this transfer, the Hyundai Motor Group has beat principally your entire auto {industry} to the punch. Whereas all main automakers have mentioned they’d change to Tesla’s plug design shifting ahead in trade for entry to Tesla’s huge Supercharger community, barely any have NACS-equipped fashions hitting roads imminently.
Traditionally, Superchargers have been solely for Tesla homeowners, and different automobiles have been incompatible with them from each a {hardware} and software program perspective. Beginning with Ford final yr, numerous carmakers struck offers with Tesla to get their clients entry—first via adapters, and later via NACS ports constructed natively into their automobiles.
Picture by: Hyundai
Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 at Tesla Supercharger station in San Clemente, California
The corporate wished to maneuver shortly since entry to EV charging is among the largest hurdles going through wider EV adoption, Kia and Hyundai officers advised InsideEVs. By linking up with Tesla, homeowners of Hyundais and different collaborating manufacturers will get entry to a further 17,000 EV charging stalls and counting.
“When it’s one thing that must be universally accessible, you’re not serving to the general public by having an A and a B and never permitting public entry to each,” Steve Heart, Kia America COO and Govt Vice President, advised InsideEVs final week. “Which one needs to be the usual? Don’t know, don’t care. Proper now there’s extra of these chargers,” he mentioned, referring to Tesla Superchargers.
Picture by: InsideEVs
Timing was additionally on the corporate’s aspect, the officers mentioned. The Ioniq 9 is a brand-new mannequin popping out subsequent spring, whereas others have been due for mid-cycle refreshes anyway. That offered the chance to change up the charging port. Within the EV6’s case, Kia additionally moved its charging port from the fitting rear to the left rear, mirroring Tesla’s setup for its automobiles. EVs with their ports somewhere else generally want to dam a number of Supercharger stalls simply to plug in, and Kia wished to make Supercharging extra handy.
In the meantime, different manufacturers haven’t been as fast to roll out NACS-native automobiles. Ford refreshed the Mustang Mach-E crossover for the 2024 mannequin yr, so it missed the boat. Common Motors launched a number of new EVs this yr and has a number of coming quickly from Cadillac, however we have not seen any with a local NACS port out of the gate fairly but. Porsche simply began delivering its electrical Macan, which additionally makes use of the outdated customary. These tasks have been all doubtless deep into growth when all of the Tesla offers kicked off.
Picture by: Lucid Motors
Lucid Gravity with Tesla NACS charging port.
Nonetheless, the Gravity, a three-row SUV from the EV startup Lucid Motors, will launch with a NACS port later this yr.
HMG is all however sure to surpass Tesla when it comes to NACS-equipped automobiles quickly sufficient. Going ahead, all of its new and refreshed EVs bought within the U.S. will come from the manufacturing facility with NACS charging. So current fashions just like the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Genesis GV60, together with forthcoming ones just like the Kia EV3, ought to be a part of the celebration quickly.
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