Hyundai Hops Aboard the Tesla Express

Guys and Gals, hold onto your driving gloves because there’s some electrifying news in the automotive world! Hyundai, not one to be left in the dust, has just announced that it’s joining the Tesla revolution. They’ve unveiled plans to embrace the North American Charging Standard (NACS), or as we fondly call it, the “Tesla plug,” for their future electric vehicles.

Now, don’t get too revved up just yet. You’ll have to wait until the fourth quarter of 2024 to see Hyundai’s NACS-compatible models hitting the streets. But here’s the kicker – in the first quarter of 2025, they’ll be dishing out adapters to their loyal customers, giving them the golden ticket to Tesla’s Supercharger stations. Talk about a plug-and-play strategy!

Hyundai’s current electric lineup, featuring the sleek Ioniq 5 and the sporty Ioniq 6, currently rocks the Combined Charging Standard (CCS) for DC fast charging. But in the great electric vehicle showdown, let’s take a peek at the scoreboard, shall we?

On Team NACS, we’ve got heavy hitters like Ford, GM, Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar Land Rover, and Fisker. But holding out on the sidelines are two of the auto industry’s titans: Volkswagen and Toyota. As for Hyundai’s sibling, Kia, mum’s the word.

But wait, there’s more! Hyundai and Kia are joining forces with the likes of BMW, GM, Stellantis, and Mercedes-Benz in a grand scheme to pepper the US landscape with fast EV charging stations. The plan? To roll out a jaw-dropping 30,000 high-speed EV chargers by 2030, with the first ones humming to life in the summer of 2024. It’s a charge-tastic party, and everyone’s invited!

Now, we can’t talk about EV charging without mentioning Tesla’s Supercharger network. It’s the crown jewel of charging infrastructure, with a reputation for being smoother than a well-tuned engine. With a staggering 45,000 Superchargers worldwide, including 12,000 in the good ol’ US of A, it’s the envy of the charging station block.

While other charging stations fumble with software hiccups and temperamental chargers, Tesla’s Superchargers boast near-perfection. They claim an impressive 99.95% uptime last year, only a hair’s breadth away from their 99.96% score in 2021. That’s some serious charging reliability, folks.

But the plot thickens! Tesla, once known for keeping its Superchargers under lock and key, has started to open its doors to non-Tesla electric vehicles. This shift began a few years back, and thanks to the Biden administration’s push, it’s set to expand further under the $7.5 billion EV charging bonanza in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Now, there’s a little twist when it comes to Superchargers in the US. They use a proprietary connector, which Tesla considered its secret sauce for years. To let other EVs join the Supercharger party, Tesla introduced a nifty contraption called the “Magic Dock.” It’s essentially a CCS adapter that transforms the proprietary connector into an all-inclusive charging haven.

The electrifying saga of Hyundai’s leap onto the Tesla bandwagon and the ever-evolving world of electric vehicle charging. Stay tuned for more sparks in this high-voltage showdown!