The electric vehicle (EV) race is a lot like formula 1. Sure, you can decide to pop into the sport, pump a ton of money into a car and team, and hope to win. In some cases, it can work. But at the end of the day, the true winners are those who have had the longest hands-on experience on the matter.
Like in formula 1, the EV world is all about micro iterations that lead to great results. And often, these iterations come from hands-on experience that money simply can’t buy. The longer you’ve been building, selling and troubleshooting EVs, chances are, the better you’ll be at releasing industry-competitive products and, hence, adapt easier to rapidly changing times.
As far as legacy carmakers go, the South Korean car companies, all under the Hyundai Group umbrella, are proving in LA this week with their integrated NACS charge port that their EV expertise is way ahead of the curve.
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Why NACS Is Such A Big Deal For EVs
In case you haven’t been keeping track, 2024 was the year when all carmakers flocked to Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS). This not only means that all EVs are now compatible with Tesla’s famed Supercharger network of fast chargers, but also standardizes the way EVs will fast charge in the future.
Up until now, fast-charging ports were either comprised of the Combined Charging System (CCS) setup, or the older, Japanese-invented CHAdeMo (Charge the Move) interface. A bit like what USB did to the electronics industry, NACS will allow all EVs to live under a single, unified charge port.
Furthermore, the smaller, lighter design of an NACS connector is easier to manipulate for elderly or physically impaired users. Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, NACS automatically detects the vehicle as it approaches the charger. It clears payment through your online subscription before you even get out of your car. This simplifies the charging process by preventing the user from whipping out an app or credit card, or having to deal with at-the-charger payment issues. In other words; NACS will make everyone’s life easier, further helping the mass-adoption of EVs.
Hyundai, Kia And Genesis Are Putting Their Money Where Their Mouth Is
I feel like this year, I wrote more news pieces about a carmaker announcing NACS compatibility than any other topic. But while all of them seem enthusiastic about the idea of embrassing Tesla‘s technology, I haven’t seen much progress out there in the field. At least not yet. Sure, Ford and GM have announced that CCS to NACS connectors would be shipped to existing customers, but the shipping delays were, long.
Furthermore, newly launched vehicles like the 2025 Volvo EX90, Cadillac VISTIQ, Cadillac OPTIQ and GMC Sierra EV are all brand new EVs with fantastic potential. GM, particularly, is dishing out seriously capable EVs, which partly explains why the Chevrolet Equinox EV – a vehicle I like very much – is selling so well. Yet, these models are all fitted with CCS charge ports.
At each of these vehicle product launches, I attempted to get a clear answer from their respective representatives as to why that is. Their answers were so convoluted and vague, that this can only be the result of a lagging iterative process. The best answer I got was that NACS would be added to these vehicles at their midcycle refresh, which confirms this hypothesis.
Meanwhile, in LA, the 2025 Kia EV6 (except for the GT), 2026 EV9 GT, 2026 Hyundai IONIQ 9 and 2026 Genesis GV70 Electrified were all presented with NACS. It’s also the case for the updated 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5. In other words, the Hyundai Group isn’t just saying that it’s stimulating the fast adoption of EVs through NACS. It’s actually doing it. By giving their EVs a way to charge easier, faster and with less hassle, more consumers will trust and embrace the technology.
Of course, I’m well aware that there is a wide range of different factors that could prevent a carmaker from being able to dish out NACS connectors off the factory floor just yet. Vehicles take time to develop, engineer, homologate, test and put to market. There’s also the notion of regulations and lastly, supplier agreements that would require a carmaker to have to use a certain part for a while.
By the time the big boss announces that the company moves to NACS, most of these cars are ready to hit production. That’s how fast the industry is shifting. You can’t just wind back production to integrate a new charge port. Yet, Hyundai somehow did it. And it showed up in LA as the true winner of the constantly-evolving EV race.
