Kia electric vehicle (EV) owners will be able to plug into Tesla Superchargers starting Jan. 15, 2025. Buyers who take home a Kia EV today will get a free adapter from the company, which will allow them to plug into Tesla's public chargers. Those who already own a Kia EV can buy an adapter from the automaker.
Most EV owners do most of their charging at home, where electricity is less expensive than gasoline. But most of today's EVs can travel 300 miles or less between charges. So, on longer road trips, owners must charge from public charging stations.
Those come in three types. Trying to plug into the wrong station is like plugging your U.S.-model laptop in Europe -- the plug won't fit the port.
Tesla has its own plug (which it calls the North American Charging Standard). Most other EVs use a second design, the Combined Charging System. A small and shrinking number use a third, CHAdeMo.
Last year, the auto industry finally realized that the current system is wasteful. Every major EV builder agreed to switch to Tesla's plug. Tesla made its plug design available for free to other networks, which began adding it almost immediately. The nation is now on a glide path toward a day when every EV can plug into every public charger.
Converging on one plug will take time. Tesla must program its public chargers, which it calls Superchargers, to work with each automaker's software, and each automaker must program its cars to talk to Superchargers.
Next year, most automakers plan to simply build the Tesla-style NACS plug into their cars. For now, owners who have a CCS-equipped car will need an adapter to use Superchargers (and the growing number of non-Tesla-owned public chargers equipped with NACS cords).
Some, like Ford, are sending the adapters to owners for free. Others charge for them -- GM sells the adapter for $225.
Kia is splitting the difference between those two approaches. As of Sept. 4, those taking delivery of a new Kia EV get the adapter for free.
"Kia EV6, EV9, and Niro EV customers who took delivery prior to September 4, 2024, will have the opportunity to purchase an adapter from an authorized Kia dealer at a later date," the company says. It hasn't specified a price.