The Speed Illusion: Charging Isn’t Just About the Plug
Hyundai’s new Ioniq 9 is more than just a good-looking family SUV—it’s an electric powerhouse. With its spacious interior, bold styling, and rapid charging capability, it’s quickly turning heads. But there’s one thing even some early adopters might not know: plugging into a Tesla Supercharger doesn’t guarantee the fastest charge.
That’s because when it comes to charging, voltage matters more than the plug shape.
800V vs. 400V: The Power Behind the Plug
The Ioniq 9, like Hyundai’s other cutting-edge EVs, is built on an 800-volt electrical platform. This high-voltage architecture is designed for ultra-fast charging. Connect it to a 350 kW DC fast charger—like those from Electrify America or EVgo—and you can go from 10% to 80% in as little as 24 minutes.
However, Tesla’s vast Supercharger network operates mostly on 400 volts. While the Ioniq 9 is compatible with these chargers thanks to its new NACS port, it can only pull around 126 kW of power. The same charge takes 40 minutes or more, depending on conditions.
Supercharger Compatible, but Not Optimized
Hyundai’s engineers anticipated the voltage mismatch. So they added a built-in booster that lets the Ioniq 9 adapt to lower-voltage stations. Still, this solution isn’t as efficient as plugging into a charger designed for 800V systems.
Access to Tesla’s network is certainly a win in terms of availability, but for speed, non-Tesla chargers remain the better option—at least for now.
The Charging Future Is High-Voltage
Tesla is preparing to deploy 1000V Superchargers, which will better support high-voltage vehicles like the Ioniq 9 and even the Cybertruck. Meanwhile, other charging networks are also scaling up to match the growing number of 800V EVs hitting the road.
Bottom Line
Your Ioniq 9 can charge fast—but only if the charger speaks its voltage. Until Superchargers catch up, choosing the right station could mean cutting your charging time in half.
