Just done a winter run down through Europe, so using lots of fast charging points. Previously done this in summer so no problem, but in winter you really have to precondition the battery before charging or it is painfully slow. So that means grappling with Kia EV6 built in navigation as it is the ONLY way to tell the car to initiate preconditioning. You have to be navigating to a Kia listed fast charger.
The problem comes when the charger you want is not in the Kia database. One trick is to put in a nearby fast charger and ignore the navigation prompts when getting close. The preconditioning kicks in when about 30 mins away and runs for about 20 mins. So works if you go to another charger. That is sort of OK until you get to the remoter parts of Europe where there isn’t another close-by fast charger. There is no way to precondition the battery.
Kia, if you are reading this, please consider this use case for fast charging. There really needs to be a way to manually trigger preconditioning. Or how about a flag when setting a destination to say that I intend to fast charge at that location. Then the car still controls the preconditioning process - but it becomes usable with other fast chargers.
There is a similar problem when wanting to go-long on a run to a fast charger. The Kia nav is fairly conservative and often stops short for a charge - using a charger in its database. It insists on the charging stop - I can’t find a way to override it and say I want to go a bit further. I know how I intend to drive that section. Even worse, with preconditioning on, it dumps precious kWh into heating the battery for the forced stop only for the battery to have cooled down again when I get to my changing point. This isn’t well thought out.
I could also make comments about Kia navigation app too. Really a poor second to other alternatives. But when travelling in winter you have no choice but to use it.
The problem comes when the charger you want is not in the Kia database. One trick is to put in a nearby fast charger and ignore the navigation prompts when getting close. The preconditioning kicks in when about 30 mins away and runs for about 20 mins. So works if you go to another charger. That is sort of OK until you get to the remoter parts of Europe where there isn’t another close-by fast charger. There is no way to precondition the battery.
Kia, if you are reading this, please consider this use case for fast charging. There really needs to be a way to manually trigger preconditioning. Or how about a flag when setting a destination to say that I intend to fast charge at that location. Then the car still controls the preconditioning process - but it becomes usable with other fast chargers.
There is a similar problem when wanting to go-long on a run to a fast charger. The Kia nav is fairly conservative and often stops short for a charge - using a charger in its database. It insists on the charging stop - I can’t find a way to override it and say I want to go a bit further. I know how I intend to drive that section. Even worse, with preconditioning on, it dumps precious kWh into heating the battery for the forced stop only for the battery to have cooled down again when I get to my changing point. This isn’t well thought out.
I could also make comments about Kia navigation app too. Really a poor second to other alternatives. But when travelling in winter you have no choice but to use it.
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