- Those that bought a Kia EV after Sept. 4 will get free NACS adapters
- Adapter will in any other case price $249, by way of Kia or dealerships
- Kia EVs will be capable of cost at Tesla Superchargers earlier than the tip of the primary quarter
Kia on Friday confirmed that it is transport out North American Charging Normal (NACS) adapters to prospects, 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 homeowners—together with EV6 and EV9 homeowners who took supply of their automobiles earlier than the cutoff date, in addition to all Kia Niro EV homeowners—must pay for his or her adapters. The Kia NACS adapter prices $249, the corporate confirmed to Inexperienced Automobile Stories.
2024 Kia EV6 GT
Most main automobile manufacturers have introduced plans to undertake the NACS cost port, however solely a handful have adopted by way of with plans to supply adapters and Supercharger entry. Of these, solely Common Motors is making all prospects pay for adapters. However Kia is being stingier than Ford, which supplied one free adapter per automobile to all current EV prospects initially.
Kia plans to open up Supercharger entry by the tip of the primary quarter. Initially Kia EV homeowners have been to get entry to the Supercharger community on January 15, however on the fifteenth the automaker modified that timeline. A number of homeowners reported that they might entry Supercharging with their EV6 or EV9 by figuring out it as a special Hyundai E-GMP automobile just like the Ioniq 5, however homeowners reported in latest days that loophole has been closed.
Kia did not particularly point out Tesla or Superchargers, solely saying that prospects will be capable of cost at “greater than 16,500 NACS DC quick chargers within the U.S.” That quantity is predicated on the rely of whole NACS connectors by the Vitality Division’s Different Gasoline Information Middle (AFDC) as of September 2024.
2023 Kia Niro EV
One different potential problem Kia homeowners should be aware 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 automobiles, the present by no means rises above 350A, however automobiles with 400V charging—like GM’s Ultium EVs—push close to 500A. That is one thing client EV charging guru Tom Moloughney has warned homeowners with a number of EVs about, and Kia confirmed to Inexperienced Automobile Stories that the adapters will embody a cautionary notice that they are meant just for its automobiles.
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.
