Hyundai to offer free NACS adapters to its EV customers

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By Nick Godt Published December 25, 2024 6:12 PM

Hyundai appears to be in a Christmas kind of mood.

The South Korean automaker announced that it will start offering free North American Charging Standard (NACS) adapters in the first quarter of 2025.

The offer will be applicable to current and new Hyundai electric vehicle (EV) owners who have purchased or leased their vehicle on or before January 31, 2025.

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Hyundai says its authorized adapter will give Hyundai EVs equipped with combined charging system (CCS) ports access to more than 20,000 Tesla Superchargers in the U.S.

“To accelerate EV adoption, we started by listening to our current owners,” says Olabisi Boyle, senior vice president of product at Hyundai Motor North Americ., in a statement. “These adapters will make DC fast-charging more convenient for current owners.”

The NACS adapters will be available for all of Hyundai’s EVs available on the U.S. market. These include the model year 2024 and earlier Kona Electric, Ioniq hatchback, and Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, as well as 2025 Ioniq 6, Ioniq 5 N, and Kona Electric. The automaker’s Genesis luxury brand will also be participating in the program.

This differs from its Kia unit, as NACS to CCS adapters are only offered to Kia’s EV6 and EV9 models that were delivered after September 4, 2024. Earlier models and Niro EVs are not getting the adapters.

The new Hyundai 2025 Ioniq 5 will be the first non-Tesla vehicle to feature a native NACS port. Other new models, like the Ioniq 9, are also getting the native ports.

Meanwhile, both the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 will start off by charging slower with NACS on the Tesla Supercharger network than with their CCS adapter. Hyundai has told Green Car Reports that this is not about the vehicles but about the Supercharger network, which is due to get upgraded sometime in 2025.

Nick Godt

Nick Godt has covered global business news on three continents for over 25 years.

Hyundai 2025 Ioniq 5 is under $44,000, with more range and NACS port

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Hyundai is on a roll. In October, the South Korean manufacturer posted its best U.S. sales ever, largely driven by sales of its popular Ioniq 5 electric SUV.

Now, all eyes are on the Ioniq 5’s 2025 model, which is set to become available at dealerships before year-end. As Digital Trends previously reported, the crossover model adds a more rugged-looking trim level called XRT and provides additional driving range as well as new charging options.

Ford ships new NACS adapters to EV customers

Ford EVs at a Tesla Supercharger station.

Thanks to a Tesla-provided adapter, owners of Ford electric vehicles were among the first non-Tesla drivers to get access to the SuperCharger network in the U.S.

Yet, amid slowing supply from Tesla, Ford is now turning to Lectron, an EV accessories supplier, to provide these North American Charging Standard (NACS) adapters, according to InsideEVs.

Waymo’s Hyundai robotaxi deal may steal the show from Tesla

A Hyundai Ioniq 5 is equipped as a robotaxi.

Just days ahead of Tesla’s much anticipated robotaxi event on Thursday, Hyundai unveiled a partnership with Waymo that will add Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 to the fleet of the robotaxi operator.In the first phase of the partnership, Waymo will integrate its sixth-generation fully autonomous technology, called the Waymo Driver, into the all-electric Ioniq 5 SUV, which will be added to the Waymo One fleet over time.On-road testing with Waymo-enabled Ioniq 5s is due to start in late 2025 and become available to riders of the Waymo One robotaxi service the following year.Alphabet-owned Waymo currently operates the only functioning robotaxi service in the U.S., with a fleet of about 700 self-driving vehicles already on the road in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The service is also being tested in Austin, Texas.Last year, General Motors’ competing robotaxi service Cruise had to stop operations after one of its vehicles struck a pedestrian in San Francisco. Cruise’s GM vehicles are nonetheless expected to resume operations next year through a partnership with Uber.Driverless vehicles have stumbled on two main obstacles on the road to commercialization: The complexity of the technology and tight safety regulations.For now, Waymo’s existing footprint gives it a marked advantage over its competitors. Its sixth-generation technology is said to handle a wider array of weather conditions with fewer on-board cameras and sensors. In their joint statement, Waymo and Hyundai emphasized the proven safety of both the Waymo technology and the Ioniq 5. Waymo’s technology relies on pre-mapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar and lidar (a laser-light radar). It's an approach that might be very costly but has met the approval of safety regulators. All this adds pressure on Tesla to deliver the goods with the launch of its robotaxi -- expected to be called the Cybercab.Tesla’s ambition has been to eventually provide full driverless capacity directly to consumers. Tesla owners can already buy software called Full Self-Driving (FSD) that operates like an advanced driver assistance system and requires constant driver supervision.Tesla’s FSD relies on multiple onboard cameras to feed machine-learning models that, in turn, help the car make decisions based on what it sees.The technology, however, has not yet convinced all current and former traffic safety officials.

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