[NEWS ANALYSIS] Hyundai ponders stepping into Musk’s ‘walled garden’

With mainstream automakers like Ford, General Motors and Volvo embracing Tesla’s proprietary charging network, Hyundai Motor remains sat on the fence worried about losing ground to its biggest rivals in the intensifying EV battle.

Tesla Superchargers displayed in Mojave, California [REUTERS/YONHAP]

With mainstream automakers like Ford, General Motors and Volvo embracing Tesla’s proprietary charging network, Hyundai Motor remains sat on the fence worried about losing ground to its biggest rival in the intensifying EV battle.

Entering Tesla’s network may help it access more chargers in the United States, but it will mean massive charging-related data is entirely subordinated to the EV giant. Technical issues also remain.

Hyundai Motor confirmed it is mulling the adoption, but whether it will join Tesla’s ecosystem is still in question.

Volvo Cars said on Wednesday that it will adopt Tesla’s Superchargers and all new Volvo cars will be equipped with its North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging plug starting from 2025.

It is the first time a European automaker has announced it will join Tesla’s network, or "walled garden" in Elon Musk's words.

Tesla's EV charging connector is pictured at a charging station in Anaheim, California on June 9. Recently, Ford, General Motors, Volvo Cars and Rivian announced their adoption of Tesla's North American Charging Standard charging plug. [AP/YONHAP]

The Sweden-based carmaker’s decision came as Ford, General Motors (GM), and Rivian announced their adoption of Tesla’s Superchargers.

The decision of the four companies helps Musk to take a step closer to realizing his dream of making the Supercharger a new industry standard in North America. The four automakers dominate 75 percent of the U.S. EV market.

Tesla sells cars with a NACS plug, while others like Ford, GM, Hyundai Motor and most European carmakers sell cars with plugs using the Combined Charging System (CCS) plug. The two are not compatible. Tesla owns around 17,000 Superchargers and controls 60 percent of the U.S. fast charger network as of March. It is lighter and faster than most others with a maximum of 250 kilowatts of charging power, which allows drivers to charge their cars up to 200 miles in 15 minutes.

Earlier in the year, Tesla said it will open up part of its U.S. charging network to EVs made by rivals as part of efforts to qualify for the Biden administration’s $7.5 billion federal subsidy.

Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon hinted he is considering the adoption of Tesla's NACS, but expressed his concerns about technical problems and possible defeat in a tug-of-war with Tesla in the EV charging market.

“Hyundai cars use an 800-volt electrical architecture to provide faster charging, while Tesla’s Superchargers operate at a lower 500-volt system,” Chang said at a conference on June 20. “So if we connect Hyundai cars to Superchargers, charging time is longer.”

Hyundai Motor has been expanding its charging network in cooperation with local charger companies like Electrify America and ChargePoint.

It signed an agreement with Electrify America to offer Hyundai and Kia EV owners access to Electrify’s 3,500 EV chargers at 800 stations. Ioniq 5 and Kona Electric owners are also offered 30 minutes of free charging for a two-year period.

“Assuming that a driver uses [the] fast charger, 30 minutes is enough to fully charge an EV,” said Hyundai’s spokesperson, meaning that Hyundai owners are getting free charging for two years.

The Korean automaker also operates the Hyundai Home service, which allows customers to install their own charger at home, in 40 states in the United States. It also comes with solar panels which enable them to generate their own electricity to feed their cars.

It is yet to operate any E-pit stations, Hyundai Motor's ultra-fast charging stations, in the United States.

A driver charges his Ioniq 5 at an Electrify America charging station [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Tesla’s closed way of operating Superchargers is another issue as it may not provide the information of customers and charging facilities to partner automakers.

Thinking in the long-term, “Data and additional services will be entirely subordinated to Tesla,” Kim Heung-soo, head of the global strategy office at Hyundai Motor said.

“We must weigh the costs and benefits of whether joining the platform will be helpful in deploying our EV strategies,” Kim said.

However, experts say Hyundai Motor may have no choice but to follow suit, but it must maintain a bright lookout on Tesla’s expanded domination in the overall EV ecosystem.

“By opening the Superchargers to rival automakers, Tesla will be able to access their EVs and related data,” said Park Chul-wan, a professor at Seojeong University’s smart car engineering department.

“Superchargers are just the beginning, the ultimate goal of Tesla is to dominate the whole EV ecosystem by making automakers use its own technologies.”

Other Korean companies are scrambling to adopt the NACS charging connector.

SK Signet, 53.4 percent owned by SK Inc., said last week it will launch products with a NACS charging connector option within this year.

The charger will have both CCS and NACS plugs, it said.

SK Signet currently has around 2,500 ultra-fast chargers and has major charging station operators as clients, including Applegreen Electric and EVgo.

The charger with 400-kilowatt power, which is faster than Tesla’s Supercharger, can charge an EV6 from 20 percent to 80 percent in only 14 minutes and 44 seconds.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]