I’m an enormous fan of the Kia EV6, significantly in GT kind. However one frequent grievance about that trim degree is that whereas its 576 horsepower score and nil to 60 mph time of three.4 seconds are commendable, the vary is lower than stellar at 206 miles. (Different EV6 trims do significantly better, fortunately.) Happily, Kia and its company cousin Hyundai are switching to Tesla’s once-proprietary North American Charging Normal (NACS) port within the coming years, giving house owners the identical degree of comfort that Tesla drivers have loved for years. It’s an enormous shift, and at Kia’s inaugural EV Day occasion in Seoul this week, we realized that the EV6 is first in line to reap the advantages of that plan.

Min Woo Park, Kia’s head of worldwide product planning, instructed reporters that because the automaker rolls out the adoption of the Tesla-developed plugs by This autumn 2024 (which is able to occur with Kia’s cousins at Hyundai and Genesis across the similar time) the EV6 will get it first. The plug will then roll out to different Kia automobiles. Then, utilizing an adapter, present Kia, Hyundai, and Genesis automobiles will have the ability to entry that community beginning in Q1 2025.

After Ford kicked off the pattern, a number of main automakers have introduced plans to transition off the widespread Mixed Charging Normal (CCS) plug and transfer to Tesla’s NACS plug — a smaller, sleeker, easier-to-use unit that additionally permits entry to Tesla’s ubiquitous Supercharger community. Specifically, automakers are fed up with the sluggish progress and continued reliability issues seen with almost all third-party charging suppliers; the difficulty is usually cited as a barrier to EV adoption. However by taking the “When you can’t beat ‘em, be a part of ‘em” strategy and switching to Tesla’s plug and community, automakers have additionally spurred charging corporations like ChargePoint to put money into NACS plugs and stations as properly.

However few automakers have as bold, “we’re doing this” EV plans as Kia and Hyundai, so their choice to go that route makes it look like Tesla’s plugs will certainly develop into the true charging normal in North America. For Kia, that begins with the EV6 earlier than shifting to the bigger EV9 and the opposite electrical automobiles Kia has deliberate for our market. At EV Day, Kia was cagey on these particulars, saying (finally) that the lately unveiled EV5 and upcoming EV3 and EV4 are being “studied” for North America, not confirmed for it.

No matter Kia finally ends up sending our method, they may take pleasure in Tesla Installs First V4 Superchargers In The US, and that every one begins with the EV6. Perhaps that vary anxiousness gained’t be so unhealthy anymore.