SEOUL — Hyundai Motor Co. will consider making its vehicles more readily compatible with the charging standard Tesla Inc. is pushing for in North America, the South Korean automaker's CEO said on Tuesday.
Tesla's Superchargers make up about 60 per cent of available U.S. fast chargers. Canadians would have access to a few hundred at home and about 12,000 in North America. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors have in recent weeks struck deals with Tesla to use its charging technology, now dubbed the North American Charging Standard, or NACS.
Jaehoon Chang, who is also Hyundai's president, said the company would consider joining the alliance of automakers shifting to Tesla's standard, but that it would have to determine that was in the interest of its customers.
One issue, he said, is that Tesla's current network of Superchargers does not allow for the faster charging Hyundai's electric vehicles can achieve on other chargers.
"That's what we will look into from the customer's perspective," Chang told analysts at the automaker's investor day.