- The Hyundai Ioniq 5 takes just 20 minutes to charge from 10-80% when it’s plugged into 350-kilowatt chargers.
- Last year it got access to Tesla Superchargers with a NACS to CCS adapter. MY2025 Ioniq 5 comes factory-fitted with a NACS port.
- The Ioniq 5 has a more consistent charging curve than the Tesla Model 3, but the latter has a higher peak.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 was America’s fourth best-selling electric car of 2024 with over 44,000 units sold. With broader access to Tesla Superchargers, 2025 could prove to be an even bigger year for the Ioniq 5. That’s because it now ships with a Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug right from the factory, with access to thousands of Tesla Superchargers across the U.S. without needing an adapter.
Improving access to charging stations remains one of the biggest challenges for broader EV adoption. However, this is slowly changing. In 2023 and early 2024, every major automaker in the U.S. agreed to equip their EVs with the Tesla charging port directly from the factory to benefit from the Tesla Supercharger network, which is by far the most extensive and reliable charging network in the U.S.
The 2025 Ioniq 5 is the first non-Tesla EV in the country to come natively equipped with the Tesla-developed NACS port, now standardized as the J3400 connector.
We previously explained how the U.S.-made Ioniq 5 with factory-fitted NACS port charges at Tesla Superchargers. Hyundai said it can reach peak charging speeds of 135 kilowatts on the 250 kW-rated V3 Superchargers. That means 10-80% takes 24 minutes for the smaller, 63 kilowatt-hour battery and 29 minutes for the more common 82 kWh pack. Of course, you can still charge the Ioniq 5 at much faster stations like the 350 kW Electrify America dispensers using a CCS adapter.
But how does it fare at the ubiquitous Tesla Supercharger, against a Tesla Model 3? Can it beat a Tesla at its own charging network?
Our pals at the YouTube channel Out of Spec Reviews conducted a charging test (video above) with the Ioniq 5 and the Model 3 at a V3 Tesla Supercharger to find out which one got to 80% faster. The hosts, Jordan and Corbyn, parked the vehicles next to each other at a charging station in Colorado in freezing temperatures. Then, they plugged in both EVs at 10% state of charge and let them charge to 80%.
The V3 Tesla Superchargers have a max charging speed of 250 kW. The Ioniq 5, thanks to its 800-volt architecture, can charge much faster at other non-Tesla stations rated for a higher output. The Model 3’s pack is rated at 355 volts. It can still achieve a higher peak charging rate, but it’s not as consistent as the Ioniq 5, which maintains a nearly flat charging curve between 10-80% state of charge.
While the Ioniq 5 doesn’t reach the peak speeds of the Model 3, which exceeds 200 kW in the test, it consistently holds a roughly 120 kW charging rate. By comparison, the Model 3’s charging rate tapers off significantly after the initial few minutes.
Finally, the Ioniq 5 narrowly beat the Model 3 to 80%. It added nearly 60 kWh in 30 minutes and 37 seconds. The Model 3 added less energy, 56 kWh, in 32 minutes.
However, there were some hiccups. The Ioniq 5 abruptly stopped charging midway. The hosts had to account for the lost time in replugging and then the build-up to 120 kW again. In the end, the Ioniq 5 was marginally faster to charge overall, but the difference was negligible.
Customers leaving their EVs plugged in during refreshment stops may not care much about a few minutes of difference in charging times. What they will be pissed about is if their EV suddenly stops charging while they’re away grabbing a meal or sipping coffee.
It’s good to know that Ioniq 5 owners will get awesome charging speeds at thousands of Superchargers nationwide—it could be a game-changer for Hyundai. But I’m afraid the bigger takeaway is that the NACS experience may not be as smooth and worry-free for non-Tesla EVs as it is for Tesla owners. There may be more work to be done to make this process totally seamless.
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