Supercharger Access Is Working Out Well for Hyundai EV Drivers

A recent test gave high marks to the Ioniq 5

Hyundai IONIQ 5 at a Supercharger
Charging data reveals something interesting about Hyundai's IONIQ 5.
Hyundai

In 2023, Tesla announced that it would open its Supercharger network to EVs from other automakers. While that process has had some hiccups along the way, it’s also gotten the country closer to something many EV drivers say they want: access to more charging stations. More fast charging resources are a good thing for EVs as a whole, but data now suggests an interesting wrinkle to all of this: there’s an EV that may make more efficient use of the Superchargers than Tesla’s own offerings.

Specifically, that EV is the Hyundai Ioniq 5. As Electrek’s Jameson Dow reports, a side-by-side charging comparison between an Ioniq 5 and a Tesla Model 3 resulted in the Hyundai outperforming the Tesla. The test was conducted by Out of Spec Reviews, and involved a 2025 Ioniq 5 — in other words, the first Ioniq 5 with a built-in NACS port.

The test involved parking the two cars side by side at Supercharger stations and getting their respective batteries from 10% charged to 80% charged. The full video of the test is well worth watching, as it gets into to some highly specific information about charging curves and port technology.

Drivers Are Just Trying to Get Used to EVs. Why Complicate It?
Electric cars are increasingly different just to be different. Case in point: the Chevrolet Blazer EV.

At the end of the video, the data shows that the Ioniq 5 reached its charging goal almost 90 seconds before the Model 3 — and charged at a slightly faster rate. And as the host points out, the charging metrics only go so far — the Model 3 was capable of translating that charge into more distance covered.

Even with those caveats, the review is a good reminder of how far EV charging technology has come in the last decade. And it’s a good reminder that you don’t need to be driving a Tesla EV to benefit from its charging network.

The InsideHook Newsletter.

News, advice and insights for the most interesting person in the room.