Much like when Apple removed the headphone jack on the iPhone 7, the newest EVs’ switch to Tesla’s charging ports has plunged the world into dongle hell.
With 2026 models of new and returning electric vehicles officially out on the streets, a new generation of EVs is finally here. These EVs such as the Lucid Gravity, Rivian R1S and R1T and Hyundai Ioniq 5 are all natively built with Tesla’s charging connector that allows a seamless connection to its Supercharger network.
But we can’t escape adapters.
The transition to Tesla’s NACS, or North American Charging Standard, now means that every plug at public charging stations like those from ChargePoint, Electrify America, EVgo and others outside the Supercharger network now require an adapter. Even home chargers will need an extra piece of plastic to work on new EVs. Like with the “courage” Apple summoned with its transition to Bluetooth connection from wired headphones, the next few years will require endurance—because it’s getting messy.
Until now, only Tesla EVs (the Model S, 3, X and Y and Cybertruck) needed an adapter to work at every charging station outside the Supercharger network, but now a growing portion of the 4 million EVs in America (as of 2024) are barreling into dongle overload.
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