EV6 Battery Discharge!

[JoWic87]

Just got back from an out-of-country trip, and guess what? Found my EV6 totally dead in the driveway, 12V battery barely hitting 4.7V on the voltmeter. So annoying after it was running smooth for about 3 months. It was on IO charge before I left but got disconnected a couple times, so could those quick check-ins have drained it? Shouldn't the car have juiced up from the traction battery? No doors, sunroof, or bonnet left open, so what gives? Is the battery toast? Managed to get some juice back with a trickle charger and fired it up with my Noco mini booster, drove around for about 2 hours. Guess I'll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

 

[HenryC]

Your 12V battery may be dead. Unfortunately, 12V batteries tend not to last as long as they once did. Is the battery still under warranty?

 

[Jamie]

Just got back from an out-of-country trip, and guess what? Found my EV6 totally dead in the driveway, 12V battery barely hitting 4.7V on the voltmeter. So annoying after it was running smooth for about 3 months. It was on IO charge before I left but got disconnected a couple times, so could those quick check-ins have drained it? Shouldn't the car have juiced up from the traction battery? No doors, sunroof, or bonnet left open, so what gives? Is the battery toast? Managed to get some juice back with a trickle charger and fired it up with my Noco mini booster, drove around for about 2 hours. Guess I'll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

This sounds like thee quick check-ins while you were away might have caused some drain, especially if the 12V battery wasn’t getting a good solid charge. Even though the car should use the traction battery to keep the 12V topped up, it sometimes doesn't happen if there are frequent disconnects. I do hope that the trickle charger and your drive helped revive it.

 

[longTreep$12]

The way the 12V battery system in my Kia EV is designed just doesn't make sense to me. The electronics that control things like the clock and remote commands use very little power – a small 12V battery could easily last for weeks.

It's also not a complete system. The main car battery should be able to charge the 12V battery, and it usually does. But sometimes it doesn't, and the 12V battery drains because of inefficient controller hardware and software.

Kia's advice to just stop using Kia Connect is ridiculous. They need to fix this. They need to improve the controller hardware and software and ensure the 12V battery is properly charged by the main car battery. It's frustrating because these are basic functions that should work reliably.