Tesla Supercharger stations are seen near Affoltern am Albis. Photo: yahoo finance
Hyundai Motor is positive about the adoption of the Tesla NACS plug, although it is still weighing whether to go for it. The president of the company said he would do what the customers wanted.
Chung Jae-hoon, President of Hyundai Motor Company, discussed the company's plans for electric vehicle charging during the Goodwood Festival in West Sussex, England. This comes after the unveiling of the first high-performance electric vehicle, the Ioniq 5 N, as part of Hyundai's main N Brand electrification strategy. Chang was asked if Hyundai would adopt Tesla's charging standards, the North American Charging Standard (NACS).
“We must consider how helpful it would be to our customers if we used Tesla’s standards and verify whether the charging efficiency is effective.
“After considering various aspects, I’ve concluded that the right thing to do is to do what customers want,” he said. “Tesla also has a lot to help us with,” the president added.
The question of whether Hyundai will accept Tesla's NACS plug comes after automakers who are selling electric vehicles in the US adopted the new charging standard. Mercedes-Benz recently also joined the alliance, becoming the first German manufacturer to take this step. Through a partnership with Tesla, EV manufacturers in the Alliance will have access to more than 12,000 Superchargers in North America starting in 2024. Starting in 2025, they will start equipping their vehicles with a Tesla charging port. In addition to Mercedes, the alliance includes Ford, General Motors, Rivian, Polestar, and Volvo. Volkswagen is also reportedly weighing joining.
Chang noted: “We will decide soon on whether to join the charging alliance, taking into account the benefits to our customers, such as how to apply the charging fees discount that Tesla customers get if our customers go to Tesla for charging and it takes longer.”
Last month, Chang clarified the reasons why Hyundai still has not joined. He reported that the voltage offered by Tesla's current charging system cannot meet the ultra-fast charging speed of Hyundai vehicles.
“When a Hyundai vehicle is connected to a Tesla supercharger, it currently takes longer to charge,” he said, adding that “customers need to accept this, or Tesla needs to improve the charging speed. We need to negotiate this part.”
Another reason is the widespread use of the CCS1 standard in domestic electric vehicle charging stations in Korea. If Hyundai accepts Tesla NACS, then it will have to stick to the existing CCS1 standard in Korea, use a different standard in Europe, and in the US, which will lead to a decrease in the efficiency of car production.
© 2023, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
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About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
