Nearly a year after Hyundai Motor Group announced plans to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS), Kia America is in the process of shipping plug adapters to its current customers and its umbrella company is working on new models of charger inlets. .
The North American Standard (NACS) was originally introduced as a proprietary plug for American Automaker Tesla, giving its owners access to its Supercharger network across North America.
After Tesla renamed the inlet NACS and shared intentions to open access to other OEMs, die automakers such as Ford and GM quickly announced this change. Over the past year, nearly every EV automaker has followed suit and adopted the North American Charging Standard, bringing the hopes of a universal charging inlet much closer to reality—even if it will take adapters to get started.
Last year, Hyundai Motor Group said it would have to assess the quality “from the customer's perspective” before deciding to use NACS. However, the Korean automaker confirmed that the switch was active after we reported that the IONIQ 5 and Kia EV9 had been spotted on Tesla chargers.
Hyundai and Kia are working to use native NACS ports in future EV models, including the EV9, but current owners and those buying one of the brand's BEVs this year will still need an adapter.
However, starting in early 2025, those EV owners can get a NACS adapter from Kia, and some will get it for free.
Kia will release NACS adapters to customers in January 2025
According to an update from Kia America this morning, it plans to start shipping the NACS adapters to EV6 and EV9 owners on January 15, 2025. The automaker relayed that any customer who buys and takes delivery of the new 2024 Kia EV9 or 2025 or 2024 Kia. The EV6 from 4 September 2024 onwards will get a NACS adapter.
The adapter will give those Kia owners access to more than 16,500 Tesla DC fast chargers in the US. Kia America's VP of sales, Eric Watson, commented on the release of the NACS adapters:
As a leader in electrified mobility, it is important for Kia to provide our EV customers with the best ownership experience possible, and offering NACS adapters is a great way to open up a large number of charging points across North America, increasing the number of accessible DC points in Kia in addition. more than 83 percent. Kia EVs are known for their range, with the EV6 RWD Light Long Range going an EPA-rated 310 miles on a full charge. Now, with access to this widespread network of DC fast chargers, our EV owners can feel even more confident in their ability to reach remote locations electrically.
According to Kia, NACS adapters will be available in three versions: NACS to CCS1, CCS1 to NACS, and J1772 to NACS. NACS to CCS1 enables existing Kia EVs to use Tesla-branded DC fast chargers. The CCS1 coupler to the NACS port enables NACS-equipped Kia EVs to charge on existing CCS DC chargers, and the J1772 to NACS adapter allows NACS-equipped Kia EVs to charge AC from existing Level 2 chargers.
If you took delivery of a Kia EV6 or EV9 before September 4 this year, you can still get a NACS adapter, but you will have to pay for it. Kia says those owners will have the opportunity to purchase the adapter from an authorized Kia dealer “at a later date.”
How much that will cost has yet to be determined. In comparison, GM just started rolling out its own NACS-approved adapter to its customers, starting at $225.
Finally, Kia said it will launch an OTA software update in early 2025 that will allow its EV owners to receive and pay for charging through the Kia Access app.
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