- Those who bought a Kia EV after September 4 will receive free NACS adapters in 2025
- Kia hasn't said how much the adapters will cost for everyone else
- Kia EVs will be able to charge at Tesla Superchargers before the end of the first quarter
Kia on Tuesday updated its schedule for the release of Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS) adapters and access to the Tesla Supercharger network.
Customers who take delivery a 2024 or 2025 Kia EV9 or 2024 Kia EV6 starting September 4, 2024, will receive a free NACS adapter. All other Kia EV owners—including EV6 and EV9 owners who delivered their vehicles before the closing date, as well as all Kia Niro EV owners—will have to pay an undisclosed amount their adapters.
2024 Kia EV6 GT
Most major car brands have announced plans to adopt a NACS charging port, but few have followed through with plans to offer adapters and Supercharger access. Of those, only General Motors does it all customers pay for adapters. But Kia is tougher than Ford, which offered one free adapter per vehicle to all existing EV customers initially.
Kia plans to start adapters to ship in early 2025and plans to open Access to the supercharger at the end of the first quarter. Kia EV owners were originally supposed to get access to the Supercharger network on January 15, but on the 15th the automaker adjusted that timeline. Kia didn't specifically mention Tesla or the Superchargers, saying only that customers will be able to charge at “more than 16,500 NACS DC fast chargers in the US.” That number is based on a count of total NACS connectors by the Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels data. Center (AFDC) from September 2024.
2023 Kia Niro EV
Most other automakers — Stellantis being the only exception — were quick to mention Tesla in their announcements. Kia is one of the automaker partners in the Ionna North America fast charging network, which has expressed its commitment to both the NACS and CCS standards. So maybe Kia is looking to emphasize the concept of NACS connectors that aren't part of the Supercharger network expected for the Ionna's buildout.
Kia, along with brand siblings Hyundai and Genesis, announced support for NACS. Hyundai has begun building Ioniq 5 EVs with Tesla NACS ports, but Kia has not discussed a timeline for adding NACS ports to their vehicles.
This story has been updated to reflect the new timeline for Kia EV access to Tesla's Supercharger network starting January 15th.