South Korean automaker Hyundai is reportedly considering adopting Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) - with one caveat: it wants to know what its customers think before pulling the trigger.
At the company's recent investor day, Hyundai President and CEO Jaehoon Chang said, "[t]hat's what we will look into from the customer's perspective."
Even as Tesla Superchargers corner about 60 percent of all fast chargers in the United States, Hyundai has concerns, and for a good reason - the Superchargers don't support 800-volt charging. That's a problem, as the Ioniq 5 and 6 can use that voltage, while Superchargers only support up to 480-volt charging. The NACS connector does support up to 1,000-volt, however.
Chang did say the company is willing to talk with Tesla to address this issue and maybe even seek adjustments for the voltage difference. At any rate, a universal charging standard in the US might benefit everyone involved, especially car buyers.
Recent weeks have seen more automakers commit to NACS as at least one way forward, with Ford and GM leading the charge (pun intended). Could Hyundai soon join the fray? We'll see, but its customers should consider taking their stamp of approval directly to the company to make their voices heard.