Hot on the heels of Kia being added to Tesla’s “coming soon” page for Supercharger access, we’re now learning that Supercharger support won’t actually come nearly as soon as expected for Kia – with a delay of weeks or months before Kia owners can plug in at North America’s largest fast charging network.
Earlier today, Kia and several other brands were added to Tesla’s next page, suggesting that it may be imminent.
This squared with a previous September announcement that access would come in January – with a planned date of January 15, just two days away from now.
Specifically, Kia updated a press release on its online page that previously listed a January 15 release date. The press release now states that “access to DC fast chargers is planned for the first quarter of 2025. ”
This means it can happen at any time over the next 3 months, assuming there are no further delays.
PC Magazine quoted James Bell, Kia’s public relations manager, as saying that “a delay has occurred and we are working with the appropriate groups to verify the new availability/date. ” We also reached out to Bell to see if we could get more information, but as of press time we had a reaction.
It is unclear if this delay will affect other brands, such as Hyundai and Genesis.
Kia and Hyundai (and Hyundai sub-brand Genesis) share a platform for their electric vehicles, and have been the first to offer vehicles with native NACS ports on 2025 models, as opposed to using adapters like all other brands have so far. Older Kia/Hyundai vehicles without a native NACS port will still be able to use an adapter once cars gain access to the network.
We reached out to Hyundai to see if they were affected by the same delay, but have not yet gotten a response. We will update it if we do. We’ve heard that Hyundai homeowners are having good luck charging on Tesla’s network, although it’s still indexed as “coming soon” on Tesla’s site.
In 2022, Tesla announced it would open its charging network, lured by big money promised in President Biden’s federal EV charging grants.
For a while, this seemed like a bit of a hailstorm, as many believed that most of the industry had already committed to the popular SAE CCS for fast charging.
But then, in 2023, Ford announced it would adopt Tesla’s “NACS” connector, and all the dominos started to fall. Soon enough, basically the entire industry had announced a shift to Tesla’s charging standard.
But those things take time, and he’s had to put in the effort to redesign vehicles, create adapters, organize software negotiations, and come up with a formal standard. Now, several brands can already use Superchargers, and there will be more to come.
The rollout seemed to be slowing down for a time, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk abruptly fired the entire Supercharging team which had been responsible for successfully executing this coup that could see Tesla gaining a lasting lead in EV charging, with those firings causing total chaos and jeopardizing the transition.
Earlier today, when so many brands were added to the “coming soon” page, it seemed like the dust had settled on the chaotic loading scenario that had caused my Musk to become unstable. But perhaps this news from Kia indicates that there are still problems to be resolved. be solved.
But when you rate at *home*, rate the solar panels on your EV’s roof. Find a reliable, competitively priced solar installer near you for free at EnergySage. They have pre-selected installers competing for your business, ensuring high-quality responses and 20-30% savings. It’s easy, no sales calls until you decide on an installer. Compare personalized solar quotes online and get recommendations from independent energy advisors. Start here. – advertisement*
Jameson has been driving cars since 2009 and covering vehicles, sustainability and policy for Electrek since 2016.
You can reach him at [email protected].