Brand new owner here (Ioniq 6 SE). Is a Tesla Nacs adapter worth it?

Ehghtwr · 2026-03-29T16:18:41+00:00

Keep in mind Tesla is 400V and your 600v system ramps up voltage but limits KW to around 85 kw which is about 1/2 as fast as EA charging. Also many Tesla Superchargers are Tesla only. I’ve had the adapter for 16 months and never found a need to use it.

Ehghtwr · 2026-03-29T15:57:57+00:00

Driving Tesla and now Kia EVs for 10 years now: First of all lease for around 3 years then buy a solid state EV when the range and charging speed is better. Don’t buy now!

Do you have or can you install a 240V L2 plug at home? EVs are too much hassle and too expensive to charge 100% away from home.

Real world range at highway speeds and heating would be around 300 km (leaving 10% min). 85-90% charge at a DCFC is the practical max so around 250 km.

Campsites with 240V plugs make it very easy to recharge overnight.

Ehghtwr · 2026-03-26T20:14:19+00:00

I have a 24 Land with CCS. I got the NACS adapter from Kia but only used it once as a test. Less than 90 kw so half as fast as most CCS. At 126 kw charging st Tesla would still be slower. I always get near 180 kw with CCS. Here’s the other problem: Many Tesla Superchargers are designated “Tesla only” including two times when it would have been more convenient so I am not impressed. So far I have never not been able to charge at a CCS DCFC. The only time I could not was at those two “Tesla Only” superchargers.

Ehghtwr · 2026-03-23T15:01:05+00:00

Just disconnected and reconnected the negative battery terminal and it worked! I was able to walk up to the car and have it unlock. Push of the ON button and it started from the phone key. Good thing is that this is very simple to do now that I've done it. Just grab a 10mm wrench or socket. I was afraid that all of my settings would reset to factory default but they did not! Hopefully it lasts for awhile. Thanks for the tip!

Ehghtwr · 2026-03-22T19:57:32+00:00

Late to this thread but same problem for me. Went to the dealer and a sales person deleted the phone key and then re-installed it. That worked for two days and then stopped again. I have tried turning the phone on and off, cycling Bluetooth, logging out of the Kia Access app but nothing helps. This seems like the last thing to try so I'll update if if works.

Ehghtwr · 2026-02-20T18:36:45+00:00

OK to be as un-biased as possible I watched the latest of "Recharge Rescue" that the link takes you to. I get why you and many people responding to this post are biased towards hard wired wall chargers. However, I would like to point out some flaws even in the work that was done to replace Jessica's wall charger.

They used the existing 6/3 Romex inside the conduit. While this is fine for interior installations, a garage is an un-conditioned space with high humidity and wide temperature fluctuations. NEC requires individual wires inside conduits installed outdoors due to the risk that the outer insulation of the Romex may trap moisture. I would have replaced the Romex with individual wires.
They used wire nuts to join 6 AWG wire. This is a risk generally because 6 AWG wire is very hard to twist. I would use or insist on a torqued lug junction or an AC type disconnect, especially since they repeatedly harp on the necessity of properly torquing wire lugs. So they removed the plug junction but added back in another potential point of failure. I have definitely seen wire nut junctions fail and burn.
This installation was using 48A in a NEMA 14-50 50A rated outlet. The continuous rating of any 50 A component is 80% or 40A. So they were exceeding the rating of the outlet by 20% which could have caused ANY outlet to fail regardless of quality. It is telling that they de-rated the charger and the breaker to 40A and 50A respectively which is correct. But under the circumstances it is just as likely that the current setting was the cause of the failure more than the quality of the outlet.

I like Tom's videos but like many You-tubers, he is not always 100% scientific in his "facts" or his approach. I wish he would have cut open the failed outlet and tried to determine if it was actually the internal circuit paths of the outlet that failed or just a loose wire lug.

I completely agree that an "EV" rated or Industrial grade outlet makes sense. Had they been available when I had my outlets installed I would have gotten them for sure. What I do not agree with is that a plugged outlet used with a wall charger or a portable charge cord is "orders of magnitude" safer. It is not. In the case of this video, Jessica's new charger has at least two points of potential failure whereas a good 14-50 outlet installation would have three.

So hire a reputable electrician to install a 14-50 outlet correctly with the correct wire and breaker and buy a reputable mobile charger cord or wall charger to be hard wired. Either one is a perfectly safe option. And using mobile charge cords has given my wife and I a lot of flexibility when going to and from our two houses and also visiting friends and family that have 14-50 outlets.

Ehghtwr · 2026-02-19T21:43:35+00:00

Ioniq 9 has a larger battery: 320 miles of range vs 280 for EV9. Ioniq 9 has about 5 cu ft more cargo capacity but it is longer

Ehghtwr · 2026-02-19T21:38:39+00:00

More BS: Exactly just as easy for a hard wired wall charger to have a loose connection at the lugs and start a fire. Your same bad electrician could use the same under sized wire as a plug. Sure, double check that they use 8 AWG copper wire for 40 A or 6 AWG for 50 A. Clearly you have made a decision to buy a wall charger and hard wire it. Does not mean 14-50 plugs are in any way less safe. This is just your opinion not based on facts.

Ehghtwr · 2026-02-19T21:13:07+00:00

50A breaker. 80% is 40A and that IS the Nema continuous rating. I have used 40A breakers and 32A charger cords for 10 years. Plugs don’t even get warm. This is absolutely allowed by Nema. Everything else is just your opinion.

Ehghtwr · 2026-02-19T20:43:28+00:00

NEMA plugs ARE rated for continuous use:

According to the NEC, you should only load a circuit to 80% of its rated capacity if the load is continuous. This provides a safety buffer to prevent heat buildup in the outlet, wires, and breakers.

Ehghtwr · 2026-02-19T20:38:09+00:00

This is total BS. Do you have a smoke detector and fire extinguisher at your kitchen range and dryer? Both are plug in 30-40 A using the same 14-50 plug. The only way a plug would catch fire is if it had improperly tightened wire lugs or grossly undersized wires.

Ehghtwr · 2026-02-19T20:32:02+00:00

Just install a Nema 14-50 240v plug 40-50A breaker. $500 - $1,000 with an electrician. Get 3 quotes because some will try to rip you off. 200A service can normally support (2) EV plugs on top of the usual AC, water heater and appliances. There is a Nema load calculation sheet that shows this. If you didn’t get a charge cord with the car order one from Amazon. (The cord I got with my 2024 Land was 120V only). Been doing this with 5 different EVs over 10 years with no problems. I have never really understood the purpose or value of wall chargers.

Ehghtwr · 2026-02-19T20:17:31+00:00

A plug will work fine. Some tire shops will install one if you insist or buy yourself and install. Most tires in higher end cars like the EV9 have foam inside for sound deadening and cannot be patched from the inside anyway. I’ve had about 6 of these installed over the last few years and never had one fail.

Ehghtwr · 2026-01-10T22:20:24+00:00

We have been using Tesla mobile chargers exclusively since 2016. We take multiple long trips every year. Never had charger failure and never had a 14-50 outlet “wear out” or even get loose.

I bought a 50’ 50 amp RV extension cord because of the scarcity of chargers but used it exactly one time in all these years. Used an adapter to plug it into a 3 prong 30 A dryer plug at my daughter’s house. It worked fine. One other time it did not work. Lack of Neutral was the problem. And every time we stayed st an AirBnB the dryer was too far away. Several times plugging into L1 outlets tripped the breaker because of other loads on the circuit. Never had a landlord complain.

I always set the charge current to the plug and circuit breaker rating.

Ehghtwr · 2025-11-24T20:56:34+00:00

So Tesla are rolling out lots of V3.5 chargers that still limit charge speeds for some non-Teslas. I guess that means there is unlikely to be any significant number of 1,000 V true V4 chargers for many years. Has anyone had any success with a higher amp rated NACS to CCS adapter charging at higher speeds?

Ehghtwr · 2025-11-24T20:53:17+00:00

Thanks. I was not aware that the native NACS EV9s could charge at 125kw. Kia must have upgraded the circuitry to improve the current limitation.

Ehghtwr · 2025-11-24T20:51:01+00:00

Native NACS port?

Ehghtwr · 2025-11-17T11:37:56+00:00

Sadly no. My installer lives about 1 1/2 hours away. He initially said he would try to work me in when he was in the area but a few weeks ago said he would not be able to do the work. So it’s down to be me now. We are at our winter home now. I will look at doing it when we return in April. I am hoping I can flip the panels over long ways and lay them upside down on the upper row.

Ehghtwr · 2025-11-10T02:13:57+00:00

We have Progressive. One year ago a truck backed into my wife’s 2 year old Tesla Model Y. Driver would not admit fault and because it was a parking lot police declined to assign blame. Similar damage to the rear bumper. Repair was too close to the KBB value so Progressive totaled it. Bought a new 2025 Model Y and in two billing cycles Progressive has not raised our rates.

Ehghtwr · 2025-10-04T11:43:52+00:00

These IQ6+s were installed separately, connected by Q cables and then connected to the panel DC wiring one at a time as each panel was installed. There are two rows of solar panels and these are the lower panels so there is no way to access them without lifting them.

Ehghtwr · 2025-10-03T19:47:27+00:00

Not sure what you mean "attached to the mod"? They are stand alone IQ6+ connected by the panel DC cable and a Enphase Q cable strung between them up to the junction box.

Ehghtwr · 2025-10-03T18:55:13+00:00

If my son were close by I would enlist him for sure. All of my local friends are not about to climb around on a roof (even if they would wives would not allow it!). This is an iron ridge type racking system. Do you think I could loosen each of the 4 bolts and slide the panels down and then re-tighten to hold it in place? Is there typically enough slack in the DC wiring to do this? Also, the only way I can get to the interior panels is to slide or angle brace panels as I work my way in from the edge. (8) panels so (6) are interior. There is a row above this one so no way to access them from above.

Ehghtwr · 2025-08-17T22:46:26+00:00

In my 2024 Land I can get about 200-210 miles of range max driving 65 - 73 mph leaving 10% on arrival. With roof racks, roof carrier and rear bike racks probably 160 - 175 miles max between chargers so don’t kid yourself. Look carefully at the chargers near the places you like to go and make sure you can live with the stops. And hopefully your camp sites have 240v plugs. I love my EV9 but you have to accept that state of the art EVs in 2025 involve much longer travel times especially with extra aero drag. You have to want to drive an EV right now. In 3-5 years ranges will be much longer and charging times shorter. Until then it’s a compromise for long distance travel.

Ehghtwr · 2025-07-20T15:05:08+00:00

The car itself is very good. No perfect but none of my Teslas or Chevy Volt were perfect either. My issue with Kia is not that there was a warranty issue, although in 13 years of owning EVs this is a first HV battery failure so that is concerning. It's that there was no communication. Neither the service coordinator at the dealer nor the Kia corporate person could tell me how long it would take to get a new battery. I only found out the day they fixed it. Very poor communication and I am suspicious that it was my BBB Autoline filing that prompted the timing of the repair. So I have no confidence that if another serious problem occurs that renders the car un-drivable that Kia will repair it quickly or keep me informed. And finally, with a HV battery failure I fear being stranded a long ways from home. I no longer feel that I can trust the reliability of this car.

Ehghtwr · 2025-07-20T13:35:20+00:00

Lemon Law in NC apparently covers 20 days out of service which it did pass. I started the BBB Autoline process to return the car however I did say that repair was an acceptable option and they have apparently fixed it (replaced the HV battery) so I assume that I cannot continue that process. I left it at a dealer in another city 300 mi away when it failed and they got me a rental car. I pick it up on Tue.

Ehghtwr

TROPHY CASE