- Those that bought a Kia EV after Sept. 4 will get free NACS adapters
- Adapter will in any other case value $249, by way of Kia or dealerships
- Kia EVs will be capable to cost at Tesla Superchargers earlier than the top of the primary quarter
Kia on Friday confirmed that it is delivery out North American Charging Commonplace (NACS) adapters to clients, with entry to the Tesla Supercharger community coming quickly.
Prospects who’ve taken supply of a 2024 or 2025 Kia EV9 or a 2024 Kia EV6 from Sept. 4, 2024, will obtain a free NACS adapter. All different Kia EV house owners—together with EV6 and EV9 house owners who took supply of their autos earlier than the cutoff date, in addition to all Kia Niro EV house owners—should pay for his or her adapters. The Kia NACS adapter prices $249, the corporate confirmed to Inexperienced Automotive Experiences.
2024 Kia EV6 GT
Most main automotive manufacturers have introduced plans to undertake the NACS cost port, however solely a handful have adopted via with plans to supply adapters and Supercharger entry. Of these, solely Common Motors is making all clients pay for adapters. However Kia is being stingier than Ford, which provided one free adapter per automobile to all current EV clients initially.
Kia plans to open up Supercharger entry by the top of the primary quarter. Initially Kia EV house owners had been to get entry to the Supercharger community on January 15, however on the fifteenth the automaker modified that timeline. A number of house owners reported that they might entry Supercharging with their EV6 or EV9 by figuring out it as a unique Hyundai E-GMP automobile just like the Ioniq 5, however house owners reported in latest days that loophole has been closed.
Kia did not particularly point out Tesla or Superchargers, solely saying that clients will be capable to cost at “greater than 16,500 NACS DC quick chargers within the U.S.” That quantity is predicated on the rely of complete NACS connectors by the Power Division’s Different Gas Information Heart (AFDC) as of September 2024.
2023 Kia Niro EV
One different potential challenge Kia house owners have to be conscious about is that the official adapters are rated at 350 amps, not 500 amps as different DC fast-charging adapters are typically. As a result of the EV6 and EV9 are 800-volt autos, the present by no means rises above 350A, however autos with 400V charging—like GM’s Ultium EVs—push close to 500A. That is one thing shopper EV charging guru Tom Moloughney has warned house owners with a number of EVs about, and Kia confirmed to Inexperienced Automotive Experiences that the adapters will embrace a cautionary word that they are meant just for its autos.
With reporting by Bengt Halvorson. This story was up to date on January 24 to replicate official pricing, specs, and availability of the adapters as they shipped out.
