Automakers are opening up charging access to their customers, with Honda being the latest to do so.
Over the past couple years, we’ve usually left any EV review with a the same general impression: the car’s fine (or even great), but the charging experience sucks. That varys a bit depending on which electric car you’re shopping for, but the experience is getting easier as more vehicles jump onto the Tesla/NACS bandwagon. Honda and Acura are the latest to do so, actually opening up access to Tesla’s Supercharger network and offering an adapter to plug in after announcing their intention to do so back in March.
So, if you own or lease a Honda Prologue or Acura ZDX, your world just opened up tremendously in terms of where and how you can charge. Of course, it’s not a completely free upgrade, as you’ll have to shell out $225 for a Honda-approved adapter. You can either go into your local dealer and order one, or pick up a CCS-to-NACS adapter through Honda’s “DreamShop” website. Some automakers have been throwing these in to sweeten the deal for prospective EV buyers, but Honda is having no trouble at all moving Prologues, so that doesn’t seem to be on the table here.
For how much you may be DC fast-charging though, $225 may not be that steep of an investment in the long-run. That said, you can technically order a third-party adapter, but Honda stresses using a non-approved adapter may void your warranty if something goes awry. This particular unit is one that is actually validated by Honda, so while you can go whichever route you like, there’s the OEM peace-of-mind argument to consider before you pull the trigger.
While Electrify America and several competing EV networks exist — and Honda is part of the growing Ionna network — the NACS adapter will open owners up to Tesla’s 23,500 Supercharger stations across the United States. Honda’s swap to Google Built-in infotainment means you’ll be able to find the charging stations easily enough using the baked-in navigation. However, once you do arrive at a Tesla Supercharger, you’ll have to use the Tesla app to actually connect and pay, at least for now. (On that note, I used it with the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT, and it worked flawlessly once I plugged my payment information into the Tesla app.)
Honda will eventually roll out its own plug-and-charge app solution, but that’s not available at this point in time. Moving forward, the automaker said back in April it would incorporate native NACS ports into their vehicles directly, so newer EVs won’t need to use a NACS adapter. Though, in that instance, you’d have to adapt in the other direction if you want to use a CCS charging station. Hey, at least this stuff is getting a little bit easier — we could still be dealing with CHAdeMO.
