Tesla charging stations in WA. are now open to Kia. Well, kind of

OK, let's start with this. Where I work, I'm the electric car guy. If anybody has a question about EV's they usually come to me. I'm also very active in keeping up to date on electric car news whether it's batteries, drivetrains, manufacturers, you name it, I keep an eye on it. 

When I bought my Kia EV, I was led to believe that the Tesla charging stations would open up to all Kia electric cars at the end of January 2025. That did not happen. Then I was told, well, maybe in a couple months. Now here we are near the end of March, and it still hasn't happened. 

Then on Monday (3/24/25) Tesla officially announced opening up their charging stations to Hyundai. This got me excited because Hyundai and Kia both use the same electric car platform. Then on Tuesday (3/25/25) I read this article. 

According to Electerk.co,
‘Due to the similarity between Kia and Hyundai’s vehicles, since they are both built on the E-GMP platform and thus share powertrain and charging components, Kia owners found a loophole that allowed them to charge if they told Superchargers they had a Hyundai Ioniq, instead of a Kia. But that loophole only lasted a week.
However, now, it seems a similar loophole is back. This morning, Hyundai officially got access to Tesla’s network as the brand started shipping NACS adapters to owners. It also got moved into the “supported” section from the “coming soon” section on Tesla’s website.” 

Needless to say, this gets me very excited because I want to try it out. If this actually works, that means that I can go on more extended road trips and have an easier time charging. So, I decided it was time to take a run up to Entiat and try to use the Tesla charging station there. 

Since my house is halfway between Wenatchee and Entiat it was no big deal. The charging stations are located in town right next to the Shell station, so they were very easy to find. I parked the car, opened my handy dandy Tesla charging app and told it what charger I was using, and it said OK to plug in. I took my charging adapter, plugged it into the car, took the Tesla Charging cable and plugged it into the adapter and that was it. The car started charging. It was a beautiful thing. 

Another advantage of using the Tesla charging stations is they're a little bit cheaper to use than the other DC charging stations I've used. Since this was just an experiment, I didn't bother charging the car all the way up. I just charged it long enough to confirm that everything worked properly and then went home a happy boy. 

One thing you will notice on your Tesla charging app if you use it is that not every Tesla charging station is open to be used. I think that's because of the older charging station software not being compatible with the diversity of vehicles. As an example, Cle Ellum has two locations with Tesla charging stations. One on either end of town. The old Tesla charging stations don't show up on my app at all. The new charging stations up near Safeway on the other end of town do. 

So, if your EV has been approved for use of Tesla charging stations, keep in mind that not every charging station is compatible. 

Check your app first, and happy driving.
The loophole is back open – Kias can charge at Tesla Superchargers again | Electrek
Hyundai EV drivers get free adapters for Tesla Superchargers
Kia access to Tesla Superchargers delayed, had been expected this week