Kia EV9 Charging Is Held Back by the Tesla Supercharging Network
insideevs.com
insideevs.com
I'm curious why Hyundai used such a low capacity DC-DC converter... Maybe they didn't expect Tesla to open their network? Wonder if they'll revise the convertor component for newer models (e.g. NACS port stuff in 2026) or just ask their customers to use EA and V4 superchargers. I expect they'll at least try to make the experience better.
Very few other car manufacturers do that. Anyone else who doesn't needs a very expensive boost converter if they want to charge fast.
Indeed very few. I believe the Porsche Macan can do it, and also the monstrous Hummer EV. That's all three I know.
Damn, sounds like Kia should uh... build a charging network then. lol.
And what is the probability of that ...
seriously though, even charging a tesla, their superchargers have always had "tiers", with the plentiful superchargers (like 20+ stalls) at malls usually 75kw, and the faster ones between cities being 150kw or newer ones 250kw. You just pick the charger that fits your needs and drive there.
A lot of the chargers are at supermarkets and such. If you're shopping for 30+ minutes anyway, what's it matter if charging takes that whole time?
If the charger is nearby an errand, you can match it to your charging time.
For example, if you need to get only a few groceries, a full-speed supercharger might be ok.
If you need to spend more time, a slower 72kw supercharger might be what you need.
and L2 chargers might match a few hours at the mall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEJ2KtzMeh8
Telsa's chargers don't work well with 800 volt cars. It would be better if they supported higher voltages like other CCS chargers do.
The V4 is a step in the right direction and is nearly there except for the voltage problem:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yflZN0dLT8s
Tesla must try harder. Kempower and Alpitronic both build better chargers than Tesla:
And this is specially true if you want to make stations that have more then a low number of chargers. Because the connection to the local grid becomes a huge problem, and this problem is increased is you move to higher voltage.
Tesla moves at the pace of the market, and their own cars. Not at a pace that to enable Hyundai to make as much money as possible without investing themselves.
Hyundai should be grateful Tesla opened their charges at all. Because actual 350kW chargers are incredibly rare and broken incredibly often.
Of course they must. Better EV infrastructure is required.
> Building 'better' chargers isn't hard.
Good. Then Tesla can achieve it. They haven't achieved Alpitronic's or Kempower's level yet but if Tesla works at it they'll get there.
> Because actual 350kW chargers are incredibly rare and broken incredibly often.
There are a lot of them in Europe. 400 kW chargers are being deployed these days.
First of all, better infrastructure doesn't just mean faster chargers.
Second, Tesla is a private company that want to make profit. Developing better infrastructure is not their primary goal.
Tesla builds its own charger for its own network that charges cars that they know. They don't need to sell superchargers to other networks or costumers.
Tesla has the technical capability of building 400kw charges, they build even faster charger for the Semi. But it just doesn't strategically make sense to build those kinds of chargers.
Take make about 3000 DC Fast Chargers per Quarter, they will upgrade those to 350kw/h at some point, and then higher then that eventually. But only if they can continue to build and deploy 3000 or more of them per quarter. The 'how many per Quarter' is actually the import number.
It means faster chargers and more. Not point in defending mediocrity.
Mercedes has 400 kW chargers: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a45847770/mercedes-chargep...
Gravity has 500 kW chargers: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/gravit...
North America's EV infrastructure is slowly improving.
> Second, Tesla is a private company
No, it's a public company.
> Tesla builds its own charger for its own network that charges cars that they know.
They've been charging all brands in Europe for a long time now.
> They don't need to sell superchargers to other networks or costumers.
But that's exactly what they are doing. Not even Tesla agrees with you.
Like this one: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RC-hipaK3GY
Their Korean stations are custom builds but they're not doing that everywhere: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210121000481
The main issue is that North America's charging infrastructure is in a bad state due to a lack of standardization and regulation. Lack of direction means lack of investment.
Europe set their standards and direction early which is why the EV infrastructure is better. This is the European plan to 2030: https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/new-energies/europe/article/f...
North America will get its act together eventually.