Hyundai And Kia Owners: For The Quickest Charge, Don

It’s confusing, I know. Hyundai and Kia recently gained access to Tesla’s widespread Supercharger network. Their latest electric vehicles even come with the Tesla-style charging port from the factory, so owners can visit those chargers without fumbling with bulky adapters. 

And now here I am, telling you to think twice before using a Tesla Supercharger in a Kia EV6 or EV9, or a Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, or Ioniq 9. Let me explain—and, hopefully, save you a bit of time at the charging station. 

If you’re a regular reader of this site, you may already get the nuances of charging, battery pack voltages and such. But not everybody does. Case in point: I rode in a Lyft the other day and chatted up the driver about his EV9—a great car that we at InsideEVs recommend wholeheartedly. He said he loved the SUV —loved it!—but wouldn’t buy another EV because charging was a hassle.

But the EV9 is one of the quickest charging mainstream EVs you can buy. Part of the headache, it turns out, came down to how he was charging: at the nearest Supercharger every morning before work, getting around 120 kilowatts of power. I told him he’d see way quicker charging stops at EVgo or Electrify America.

Kias And Hyundais Charge Slower At Superchargers

Hyundai and Kia’s latest EVs, all built on the same underlying platform called E-GMP, have the capability to charge at well over 200 kW. The Ioniq 5 has even been known to hit over 260 kW, well above its official rating. That’s all very good, especially for a non-luxury EV. But you won’t see that at Tesla Superchargers. This is bad news because the more kW you see, the quicker the charge. 

The 2024 Kia EV6 only hit 97 kW on a Tesla charger in our tests, less than half its peak rating. 

Photo by: Patrick George

InsideEVs Editor-in-Chief Patrick George witnessed a measly 97 kW when he charged his EV6 at a Supercharger. Owners of newer EV6s report seeing more like 120 kW. 

The Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 are limited to 126 kW on Superchargers, and we’ve seen the same when charging the EV9 at a Tesla station. So, while Supercharger access opens up thousands more potential charging points to Kia and Hyundai owners, they may not always be the optimal place to juice up. 

How To Get The Quickest Charge On A Kia Or Hyundai: Avoid Tesla Chargers

The problem has to do with voltage. E-GMP cars operate at 800 volts. That allows for greater efficiency, quicker charging and weight savings due to slimmer wiring. But it means that they don’t automatically play nice with Superchargers, which work at 500V because Teslas historically have done so as well. Hyundai and Kia cars employ a voltage booster to interface with those lower-voltage plugs. 

That’s why even though a Supercharger will dispense 250 kW to a Tesla, it won’t do that for a Kia, Hyundai or any other 800V-class vehicle. (Similar issues apply to the Porsche Taycan, Lucid Air and Lucid Gravity as well.)

The Hyundai Ioniq 9 hits 80% about 16 minutes faster when hooked up to the right high-powered non-Tesla station. 

Photo by: Suvrat Kothari

However, go to an 800-plus-volt charger (which many are, especially newer infrastructure) and these cars are much more likely to reach their full potential. Any Electrify America station should be better, and ones rated at 350 kW are ideal.

The growing number of Ionna Rechargeries will do the trick too. Tesla is slowly rolling out V4 Superchargers as well, which will work better with higher-voltage vehicles—like its own Cybertruck. You may need to try out different chargers in your area to figure out what works best, and what consistently gets you north of 200 kW. 

The issue is that if you bought a car with the Tesla-style NACS port, you’ll likely need to use a CCS-to-NACS adapter. It’s not exactly intuitive. And it’s just one speed bump in the transition to Tesla’s charging plug design. 

How Long Does It Take To Charge A Hyundai Or Kia On A Tesla Supercharger?

How much time will you save by maxing out your Hyundai or Kia’s roughly 240 kW charging rate? It could be significant. According to Hyundai, the new Ioniq 5 with the larger 84 kWh battery option will do 10%-80% in 20 minutes under optimal conditions. At a Supercharger, that extends to 30 minutes.

In the Ioniq 9, with its bigger battery, it takes longer. When hooked up to the right charger, the three-row SUV will do the 10%-80% sprint in 24 minutes, according to the manufacturer. It’ll only manage that in 40 minutes at a Tesla station. 

That may not matter much if you’re only fast charging for a few minutes here and there. But if you’re in a hurry, on a long road trip or drive all day for work, finding the right charger could make all the difference. 

Got an EV ownership story to share? Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com