Kia EV NACS adapters shipping now, Supercharger access later in Q1

Kia on Friday confirmed that it’s shipping out North American Charging Standard (NACS) adapters to customers, with access to the Tesla Supercharger network coming soon.

Customers who’ve taken delivery of a 2024 or 2025 Kia EV9 or a 2024 Kia EV6 from Sept. 4, 2024, will receive a free NACS adapter. All other Kia EV owners—including EV6 and EV9 owners who took delivery of their vehicles before the cutoff date, as well as all Kia Niro EV owners—will have to pay for their adapters. The Kia NACS adapter costs $249, the company confirmed to Green Car Reports.

2024 Kia EV6 GT

Most major car brands have announced plans to adopt the NACS charge port, but only a handful have followed through with plans to offer adapters and Supercharger access. Of those, only General Motors is making all customers pay for adapters. But Kia is being stingier than Ford, which offered one free adapter per vehicle to all existing EV customers initially.

Kia plans to open up Supercharger access by the end of the first quarter. Originally Kia EV owners were to get access to the Supercharger network on January 15, but on the 15th the automaker modified that timeline. Several owners reported that they could access Supercharging with their EV6 or EV9 by identifying it as a different Hyundai E-GMP vehicle like the Ioniq 5, but owners reported in recent days that loophole has been closed.

Kia didn’t specifically mention Tesla or Superchargers, only saying that customers will be able to charge at “more than 16,500 NACS DC fast chargers in the U.S.” That number is based on the count of total NACS connectors by the Energy Department’s Alternative Fuel Data Center (AFDC) as of September 2024.

2023 Kia Niro EV

One other potential issue Kia owners need to be mindful about is that the official adapters are rated at 350 amps, not 500 amps as other DC fast-charging adapters tend to be. Because the EV6 and EV9 are 800-volt vehicles, the current never rises above 350A, but vehicles with 400V charging—like GM’s Ultium EVs—push near 500A. That’s something consumer EV charging guru Tom Moloughney has warned owners with multiple EVs about, and Kia confirmed to Green Car Reports that the adapters will include a cautionary note that they’re intended only for its vehicles. 

With reporting by Bengt Halvorson. This story was updated on January 24 to reflect official pricing, specs, and availability of the adapters as they shipped out.